Thousands of stories about Bernie Parent roamed the concourse of Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night, that all brought smiles to retell.
They were from those who watched him, those who played with him, those of his era and far after, those who knew him, and even those who just ran into him on a chance encounter. But they all brought bright smiles, even if through teary eyes and choked voices.
"He means everything to this city," said Kathy Aversa, a Flyers fan going back to the 1970s, when the Broad Street Bullies won their two Stanley Cups behind their iconic goaltender.
"He was as Philadelphia as you can get," said Chris Foley, a fan who wasn't born until way after in the late 90s, but grew up hearing and listening to stories about how special Parent was in net, then saw a glimpse of it back at the 2012 Winter Classic Alumni Game.
"The first time meeting Bernie, it felt like we were friends for life," said Geoff Rabinowitz, who watched Parent and the Flyers as a kid and then, alongside his wife Jennifer and daughter Nicole, got to know him as an adult.
"For many, he is the quintessential Philadelphia Flyer," team governor Dan Hilferty said. "You cannot tell the story of the Flyers without talking, at length, about Bernie Parent."
Or the story of the NHL, or the mythos of Philadelphia sports on the whole – all told with smiles.
On Friday night, the Flyers and the Ed Snider Youth Hockey and Education Foundation hosted their celebration of life for the late Hall of Fame goaltender. Parent passed away in September at 80 years old.
The ceremony was attended by more than a thousand Flyers fans, across various generations, and was ushered by speeches from Hilferty, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Parent's wife, Gini, Philadelphia council president Kenyatta Johnson, Snider Hockey president Scott Tharp, and Parent's old teammates Bill Clement, Bill Barber, Joe Watson, and Bobby Clarke.
Video speeches were also shown on the lowered scoreboard above center ice from Parent's daughter, Kim, current Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet, and team general manager Danny Brière, and for the first time in years, anthemist Lauren Hart sang "God Bless America" inside the arena, as Parent's No. 1 and the Stanley Cup banners hung behind her.
Flyers legend Bobby Clarke pays tribute to Bernie Parent during the late goaltender's celebration of life as fans look on at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night.
Parent had everything a goalie could want out of a career: the All-Star nods, the Vezina Trophy, the Conn Smythe, and above all, the two Stanley Cup championships that bonded Philadelphia to hockey and changed the NHL forever.
But it was Parent, the person, who everyone's stories kept coming back to – the French Canadian who chose to stay in the area long after his career was over, the charitable presence who was always willing to help and give back, and the beaming grin who could light up any room.
"He inspired people to pursue their dreams, set goals and follow their passions with courage," Gini said. "He didn't just talk about positivity. He lived it and shared it generously….Bernie made me a better person."
MORE: Bernie Parent was a Flyers icon, and Philadelphia's friend
And for millions, he helped make the Philadelphia Flyers, those Broad Street Bully teams that flipped the entire NHL on its head, the kind of legends that the city nor the game had ever seen before – or since.
Parent was a great goaltender, but greater than that, he was a one-of-a-kind personality, which Clement remembered shining through that menacing white goalie mask, on the biggest stage of their lives.
As Clement retold:
"I'm out to take a faceoff to Bernie's left, and just before the puck is dropped, here comes Bernie: 'Hey! Wait, ref! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Don't drop the puck! Hey, Billy! Come here, come here, Billy!'
"So I turned around and I skated over to him, and all I could see were his eyes, but I could tell he was smiling. I said, 'Benny, what is it?'
"He said, 'How's she going?'… I say, 'It's going pretty good, Benny. How's it going with you?' [He said,] 'Good! Good!'
"So I went back and I took the faceoff, and to this day, I don't know if he was trying to relax me or himself.
"But it didn't matter, because that was the day we won our first Stanley Cup."
"I think Bernie spent half of his life laughing, and the rest of the time he spent trying to get everybody else to laugh," Clement said. "That's just the kind of guy Bernie was."
He was one to inspire, too.
When the Flyers went on their first run in 1974 and captured the city's hearts, a bumper sticker and a saying became popular for their star goalie: "Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent."
"I know what team Bernie's on now," Clement said, calling back to those days. "I just haven't been able to figure out if he's the starter or the backup…But I guarantee you one thing, the combined save percentage of the team that he is on now is the greatest save percentage in the history of the sport."
Clarke, the Flyers' captain through the 70s and the other half of that unmistakable photo of him and Parent skating off with the Stanley Cup, remembered his teammate by calling back to the other saying that their coach, Fred Shero, made synonymous with the team.
"We got two Stanley Cups because of Bernie," Clarke said.
"We lost five players from the Stanley Cup teams, Barry Ashbee, Eddie Van Impe, Billy Flett, Ross Lonsberry, and Ricky MacLeish…And now, God bless Bernie, because he's going to join them…
"The rest of us, until we go join them, we will walk together forever."
Because there are still thousands more stories to tell.
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