If there’s something every hockey fan knows about Philadelphia it’s that they’ll always be known for the “Broad Street Bullies” of the 1970s. Hell, they’ve been trying to recreate that atmosphere in Philly ever since then it seems and why not, those were the teams that brought Philadelphia their only two Stanley Cups in team history. If you’re wondering what it could take to have players from those teams endear themselves to the city of Philadelphia even more, how about becoming American citizens? That’s what four players from the Flyers’ golden age are doing.
Canadians Bill Clement, Orest Kindrachuk, Bob Kelly and Dave Schultz are known for leading the Flyers to their only two Stanley Cup titles in 1974 and 1975. They raised the Cup together and they’ll raise their right hands to take the citizenship oath.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” Kelly said. “It’s something we should have done a long, long time ago.”
The Flyers foursome was encouraged by former teammate Bob Dailey and U.S. Representative Bob Brady to start the citizenship process this year.
“They’re not terrorists, though they were terrorists on the ice,” Brady said. “They’re law-abiding contributing citizens in the Philadelphia area.”
Dave Schultz you may know better from his nickname as “The Hammer.” Schultz was one of the toughest guys on those Broad Street Bullies teams which is a compliment in and of itself. Don’t worry, with such a reputation on the ice it’s doubtful the United States will hold that against him while doing a background check on him to become a citizen. He’s been an upstanding person since retiring from the NHL, at least as far as we can tell. The thought of Schultz giving someone the business in an office setting is both hilarious and terrifying all the same.
With the process to become citizens underway, the foursome hope to become official dual citizens by the end of the year.