Bobby Clarke < br > Robert Earle Clarke , OC ( born August 13 , 1949 in Flin Flon , Manitoba ) , better known as Bobby Clarke or , in later life , Bob Clarke , is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played his entire National Hockey League ( NHL ) career with the Philadelphia Flyers and is currently an executive with the team . During his 15 season playing career , he led the Flyers to two Stanley Cup s and was awarded the Hart Trophy as league MVP three times . A 1987 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame , Clarke was rated number 24 on the List of 100 greatest hockey players by The Hockey News in 1998 . A talented playmaker , he had three 100 - point seasons , twice led the league in assists , and played in eight NHL All - Star Games . He was also a great defensive player , a great checker , and one of the best in the face - off circle . One of the game ' s great leaders , Clarke was the captain of the notorious Broad Street Bullies during their heyday in the mid - 1970s . The Bullies were a reflection of their captain , who had a tireless work ethic and a strong will to win even if it meant breaking the rules . The latter , some say , is exemplified best by Clarke ' s infamous slash to the ankle of Valeri Kharlamov during the Summit Series in 1972 , which is still a source of controversy to the present day . Clarke retired following the 1983 - 84 season with 358 goals and 852 assists for a total of 1210 points in 1144 games , and immediately became general manager of the Flyers . He spent 19 of the following 23 seasons as a GM of the Flyers , also briefly serving as GM of the Minnesota North Stars and Florida Panthers , and reached the Stanley Cup Finals three times with the Flyers and once with Minnesota . His time as an NHL GM had its share of controversy , perhaps none greater than the rift between him and star player Eric Lindros during the late 1990s and early 2000s . He resigned from the GM position less than a month into the 2006 - 07 season and is currently the Flyers Senior Vice President . Early life . Born in the small northern Manitoban mining town of Flin Flon , Clarke began playing organized hockey when he was eight years old . Around the time he was 12 or 13 years old , he learned he had diabetes . Even though he progressed into a highly touted prospect playing for the Flin Flon Bombers , leading the league in which the Bombers played in scoring in each of his last three years of junior hockey , NHL teams feared Clarke would never be able to play in the NHL because of his diabetes . Bombers coach Pat Ginnell took Clarke to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota following the 1967 - 68 season and the doctors concluded that as long as he took care of himself he could play professionally . Ginnell asked the doctors to write that statement down and when NHL scouts came to watch the Bombers play during the 1968 - 69 season , Ginnell showed them the doctor ' s verdict . Even with such assurances Clarke fell to the second round of the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft and was finally selected by the Philadelphia Flyers 17th overall . After Gerry Melnyk , a scout and administrative assistant with the Flyers , tried to convince general manager Bud Poile to draft Clarke with their first round pick and failed Poile drafted Bob Currier instead , a player who retired five years later and , ironically , never played a game in the NHL . Melnyk called a diabetes specialist in Philadelphia who said Clarke would be fine if he looked after his health . Melnyk then successfully convinced Poile to draft Clarke when the Flyers second round pick came around . The Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens immediately offered the Flyers a deal for Clarke , Detroit offering two veteran players and Montreal offering a deal " Flyers management could hardly refuse " . The Flyers refused both offers and made it clear Clarke was not for sale . NHL career . Wearing # 16 , Clarke made his NHL debut on October 11 , 1969 against the Minnesota North Stars . He recorded his first point on October 22 against the Toronto Maple Leafs , an assist on Lew Morrison ' s 3rd period goal , and he scored his first goal on October 30 against the New York Rangers , beating Rangers goaltender Ed Giacomin 16 : 36 into the 3rd period . Clarke played the entire 76 - game schedule his rookie season , recording 46 points ( 15 goals , 31 assists ) and earning a trip to the NHL All - Star Game . Clarke led the Flyers in scoring during his sophomore season , 1970 – 71 , with 27 goals and 36 assists for a total of 63 points in 77 games . His efforts helped the Flyers make the playoffs , but Clarke was held scoreless in his first playoff action and the Flyers lost in four games to the Chicago Blackhawks . A tooth abscess was the cause of a slow start to the 1971 – 72 season ; 20 pounds underweight , Clarke only managed 5 goals and 11 assists 31 games into the season . He rebounded over the final 47 games , scoring 30 goals and 35 assists and bringing his totals to 35 goals and 46 assists . His dedication was rewarded when he became the first Flyer to win a major NHL award , the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy , and the Flyers re - signed him to a five - year contract worth $ 100 , 000 per season , a raise of $ 75 , 000 per season . A few months following his strong play during the Summit Series for Team Canada , Clarke was named the Flyers ' captain at age 23 , the youngest to ever assume that role in NHL history at the time . As leader of the brawling Broad Street Bullies , Clarke became the first player from an expansion team to score more than 100 points in a season , 104 points ( 37 goals , 67 assists ) total . Facing the Minnesota North Stars in the first round , the Flyers and Clarke received a scare , as he was hit in the eye with a stick which broke his contact lens and was rushed to the hospital . After removing parts of his broken contact from under the eye , Clarke returned to the lineup the next game despite having suffered a scratched cornea , and the Flyers won their first playoff series . The Flyers lost to the Montreal Canadiens during the next round , but Clarke was later awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league ' s MVP . Clarke ' s production fell to 87 points in 77 games during the 1973 – 74 regular season , but his leadership and Bernie Parent ' s stellar goaltending led the Flyers to the second best record in the league and to the Stanley Cup Finals to play the team with the best record , the Boston Bruins . After losing Game 1 , Clarke scored arguably the biggest goal of his career in overtime of Game 2 , putting a rebound shot in over Bruins goaltender Gilles Gilbert . The Flyers won three of the next four games and became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup . Clarke was later awarded the Lester B . Pearson Award as the players MVP . Clarke set the NHL record , at the time , for most assists by a centreman with 89 during the 1974 – 75 season on his way to a 116 point season . The Flyers returned to the Stanley Cup Finals and defeated the Buffalo Sabres in six games , repeating as Stanley Cup champions . In addition to the second championship , Clarke was awarded the Hart Trophy for the second time . 1975 – 76 was a record breaking season for Clarke . Playing on the LCB line with Reggie Leach and Bill Barber , the trio set a record for most goals by a line with 141 . He also tied his mark of the previous season with 89 assists and set a personal best and franchise record for most points in a single season with 119 ( later broken by Mark Recchi in 1992 – 93 ) . The Flyers , without Parent and Rick MacLeish , returned to the Finals , but were swept by Montreal . Clarke was awarded the Hart Trophy one final time as the league ' s MVP . Clarke ' s production would drop off over the next few seasons ; in fact , his point total fell six seasons in a row . But the Flyers remained contenders , reaching the semifinals and losing to Boston in 1976 – 77 and 1977 – 78 . After a quarterfinal loss to the Rangers in 1978 – 79 , Clarke was named an assistant coach . In order to become an assistant he had to give up the captaincy due to NHL rules , so Mel Bridgman was named the 4th captain in Flyers history . His first season as a playing assistant coach , 1979 – 80 , saw the Flyers go on an undefeated streak of 35 games , not only the longest in NHL history , but the longest in North American professional sports history . The Flyers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the New York Islanders in six games . During the playoffs , Clarke scored 8 goals and assisted on 12 others in 19 games , all 8 goals coming on the power play . Following the playoffs , Clarke was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy along with Flyers owner Ed Snider and former Flyers coach Fred Shero . During the 1980 – 81 season , Clarke hit a personal milestone in memorable fashion . On March 19 , 1981 during a game against the Boston Bruins , a Reggie Leach slapshot struck Clarke . After leaving the ice , he re - appeared moments later stitched up and with his jersey covered in blood . 31 seconds into the third period Clarke beat Bruins goalie Marco Baron for his 19th goal of the season and his 1000th career point . Despite his diabetes and hard - nosed play , Clarke proved to be remarkably durable . A broken foot suffered during the 1981 – 82 season limited him to 62 games , the only time in his career he played fewer than 70 games in a season . No longer an assistant coach , Clarke reassumed the captaincy from Bill Barber during 1982 – 83 . He skated in his 1000th career game on October 23 , 1982 against the Pittsburgh Penguins . Clarke had his best season since 1977 – 78 , scoring 85 points in 80 games . He also won the Frank J . Selke Trophy , given annually to the league ' s best defensive forward . After the Flyers were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round for the third straight season in 1983 – 84 and the general manager position opened up after Bob McCammon resigned , Clarke retired on May 15 , 1984 to become the General Manager of the Flyers . International play . Clarke played for Team Canada three times during his career . He played a major role in defeating the Soviet Union during the Summit Series in 1972 , captained the Canadian team to gold at the 1976 Canada Cup , and won a bronze medal at the 1982 World Championship . In addition , he led the Flyers to the only outright victory over the Soviet Union ' s best team , Central Red Army , during the 1976 Super Series , and took part in the 1979 Challenge Cup with the NHL All - Stars . After his playing career , he served as one of Canada ' s four general managers during the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup s and served as Canada ' s lone General Manager during the 1998 Winter Olympics . Summit Series . Coming off his third NHL season , Clarke was the last player Team Canada selected to play in the Summit Series . His line with Ron Ellis and Paul Henderson turned out to be Canada ' s best during the series , Clarke tallying two goals and four assists in the eight game series won by Canada as well as being awarded Team Canada MVP in game one of the series . Clarke ' s play earned the respect of many during the series , Henderson saying , " The best thing that could have happened to Ronnie ( Ellis ) and me was to get this young kid making plays for us . He was terrific ! " Wayne Cashman would add , " There were guys on Team Canada who took their game to new heights in that series . A perfect example would be Bobby Clarke . " The Soviet team ' s assistant coach , Boris Kulagin , thought Clarke was Canada ' s best player . Clarke ' s strong play was largely attributed to the fact that , unlike many of the Canadian players , Clarke reported to training camp in top physical condition , as he had always followed a strict off - season training regimen . Though he earned much praise due to his play , he was also criticized for an incident during the sixth game which is often referred to as , " The Slash . " Clarke ' s line played against the line of the Soviet ' s top player , Valeri Kharlamov , during the entire series . After being on the receiving end of some stick work from Kharlamov while going for the puck , Clarke caught up with Kharlamov and laid a two - handed slash across his already sore ankle . The slash broke Kharlamov ' s ankle and , though he finished the game , he missed the seventh game and was largely ineffective in the eighth . When asked about the slash years later , Clarke said , " If I hadn ' t learned to lay on a two - hander once in a while , I ' d never have left Flin Flon . " 30 years after the series , Henderson criticized Clarke , calling the slash , " the low point of the series . " Clarke responded saying that he thought it was , " improper to criticize a teammate 30 years later , " and that he didn ' t , " understand why he would bring it up now . " Henderson has since retracted his criticism . Kharlamov , prior to his death in 1981 , said he thought Clarke was tasked with , " taking me out of the game . " John Ferguson , Sr . , an assistant coach with Team Canada in 1972 , said , " I called Clarke over to the bench , looked over at Kharlamov and said , ' I think he needs a tap on the ankle . ' I didn ' t think twice about it . It was Us versus Them . And Kharlamov was killing us . I mean , somebody had to do it . And I sure wasn ' t going to ask Henderson . " Clarke , however , does not recall Ferguson telling him this . Nagano Olympics . Named general manager of Team Canada on January 30 , 1997 , Clarke was tasked with picking which NHLers would compete for Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , the first time NHLers would compete in the Olympics . A few of Clarke ' s choices were the source of some consternation , in particular omitting Mark Messier in favour of relative unknown Rob Zamuner and choosing 24 - year - old Eric Lindros as the team ' s captain over the likes of Wayne Gretzky , Ray Bourque , and Steve Yzerman . Ranked number one going into the tournament , Team Canada played strongly until being stymied by Czech goaltender Dominik Hašek in the semi - final penalty shootout . They then lost 3 – 2 to Finland in the bronze medal match . NHL management . Following his retirement , Clarke ' s first stint as Flyers general manager lasted six seasons and included two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1985 and 1987 . After making the playoffs in each of his first five seasons in the front office , the Flyers fell off during the 1989 – 90 season and missed the playoffs . Jay Snider fired Clarke following the season and Clarke moved on to the Minnesota North Stars and spent two seasons as the North Stars GM , one of which saw a surprise run to the Finals in 1991 . Leaving Minnesota , Clarke returned to Philadelphia to assume the role of Senior Vice President during the 1992 – 93 season , and served as a mentor for young phenom Eric Lindros during his first season . Clarke moved on shortly after and took the general manager position with the expansion Florida Panthers , a team which set the expansion team record for wins and points during a season in 1993 – 94 . He returned to the role of Flyers GM prior to the 1994 – 95 season ( Florida was compensated with cash and the 36th overall pick in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft ) , and he rebuilt the team into a Cup contender . Though the Flyers only reached the Finals once ( 1997 ) during his second tenure as Flyers GM , the Flyers made the playoffs 11 seasons in a row . Following a poor start to the 2006 – 07 season , Clarke resigned citing a possible burnout and a lack of desire . Clarke returned to the franchise on December 4 , 2006 and was named Senior Vice President . Controversy and criticism . Clarke failed to win a Stanley Cup over the 22 seasons he was a general manager . During his 19 seasons as Flyers GM , the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup finals three times and amassed a regular season record of 714 – 443 – 199 , but for one reason or another always came up short of a Cup title . While goaltending was a strength during his first stint with two Vezina Trophy winners between the pipes ( Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall ) , only Hextall in 1995 , a combination of Hextall and Garth Snow in 1997 , Brian Boucher in 2000 , and Robert Esche in 2004 got the Flyers past the second round of the playoffs during his second stint . To make matters worse the New Jersey Devils , their Atlantic Division rivals , were stable in net with Martin Brodeur and beat the Flyers twice on the way to that franchise ' s first two Stanley Cups in 1995 and 2000 . Clarke received his harshest criticism after first round playoff exits , including a string of four in five years from 1998 to 2002 , and several coaching changes . After Terry Murray was fired following the team ' s disappointing showing in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997 , five more coaching changes were made in the next five years . Some suggested his handling of Roger Neilson in 2000 , who took a medical leave to undergo cancer treatment and was replaced by Craig Ramsay , was disrespectful . Clarke explained " The Neilson situation - Roger got cancer - that wasn ' t our fault . We didn ' t tell him to go get cancer . It ' s too bad that he did . We feel sorry for him , but then he went goofy on us . " The firing of Bill Barber following a first round exit in 2002 led to calls for Clarke ' s dismissal . Clarke hired Ken Hitchcock shortly after and Hitchcock remained the head coach until Clarke ' s resignation four years later . Following the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , Clarke signed 6 ' 5 " defensemen Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje to four - year and five - year contracts respectively . While the moves were initially praised and even led some to label the Flyers Cup favorites in 2005 – 06 , some suggested Clarke couldn ' t compete in the new NHL after the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Buffalo , a smaller , quicker team that proved to be effective against such slower defensemen as Hatcher and Rathje . Such criticisms became louder after a poor start to the following season which led to his resignation . Eric Lindros . Nothing was more controversial during Clarke ' s time as a general manager than his dispute with Eric Lindros and his parents , particularly his father Carl who was Eric ' s agent . The trouble started following the 1997 – 98 season while negotiating a new contract for Lindros . Clarke threatened to trade him , saying , " If you want to be the highest - paid player in the game or close to it , you ' ve got to play that way . " While Lindros wasn ' t traded and he played well during the 1998 – 99 season , his season was cut short after sustaining a collapsed lung during a game on April 1 against the Nashville Predators . Lindros ' parents criticized team trainer John Worley and claimed Clarke tried to kill their son by trying to put him on a plane back to Philadelphia , which would have been fatal given his condition . After Lindros criticized Worley in March 2000 for failing to diagnose a concussion ( his second of the season ) , Clarke stripped Lindros of the role of team captain . A few weeks after suffering a third concussion during practice , Lindros returned to the Flyers lineup for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals and sustained his fourth concussion of the season ( his sixth in 27 months ) during Game 7 . Afterwards , Clarke said he didn ' t dislike Eric , but he had a problem with his parents , saying , " If he ' s going to come back , he can ' t have his dad calling us and telling us who to trade for and who he wants to play with Eric and who can ' t play with Eric . " Lindros never played for the Flyers again . He rejected the Flyers qualifying offer in the off - season and sat out the 2000 – 01 season . Clarke finally traded Lindros to the New York Rangers in August 2001 . Following the trade , Clarke said , " I don ' t give a crap whether he ever plays again or if I ever see him again . All he ever did was cause aggravation to our team . " Upon Lindros ' retirement in November 2007 , Clarke opined that Lindros belonged in the Hockey Hall of Fame . " Yes , based on his ability to play the game and based on his contributions as a player , I think you have to separate all the crap that went on . Particularly when he played for the Flyers , it was just outstanding , dominant hockey — the first of the huge , big men with small man ' s skill . " Legacy . On November 15 , 1984 , Bobby Clarke Night was held at the Spectrum . The Flyers retired Clarke ' s # 16 jersey and unveiled the Bobby Clarke Trophy which is awarded annually to the Flyers ' Most Valuable Player . Three years later Clarke was a first ballot inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame . The Flyers created a team Hall of Fame in 1988 , and the first two inductees were Clarke and Bernie Parent . In addition to his NHL honors , Clarke was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada ( O . C . ) . The trophy he won in 1968 and 1969 with the Bombers , given annually to the Western Hockey League ' s top scorer , was re - named the Bob Clarke Trophy . He was inducted into three more halls of fame , the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 as a charter member , Canada ' s Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 , and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame .