Who Was That Masked Man? Bernie Parent, the Flyers Legend Who Spent His Golden Years in Avalon Making Us Smile
There are not many times a person who is beloved can pass away, and after the initial shock and grief, the passing is met with a knowing smile.
The smile is a reaction to a life well lived, and in the case of Bernie Parent, who died Sept. 21 at 80, the smiles are in response to a lifetime of smiles that he put on the faces of so many Flyers fans from generation to generation.
From the days Bernard Marcel Parent left his home in Quebec, to his final years enjoying life in Avalon, the Flyers legend was putting smiles on the faces of Philadelphia sports fans.
There is just no way to count the number of people who just had a better day when they met Bernie Parent. Didn’t matter if he met you on the beach, or around his boat, or at some local charity event. Guaranteed you were going to feel better after you met Bernie Parent.
Check that. You didn’t meet Bernie Parent. Bernie Parent met YOU.
Often with a cigar in his mouth, and always with a huge smile, Bernie would make you feel like a long-lost friend. At a charity event, he would turn his hands over and show you the two Stanley Cup rings.
Mind you, this was not to boast about his achievements, but to make you feel better, to make you either remember those magical days, or yearn for them to return.
No matter if you were a hockey fan or not, didn’t matter if you were 80 years old or 8, and didn’t matter if you were even aware of how great he was in goal. There was just a connection to how sports could bring everybody together.
As a longtime shore resident from Wildwood to Cape May to Ocean City and Avalon, Bernie Parent was a regular at so many places, including the legendary Uncle Bill’s Pancake House. It’s been a staple for shore patrons in Avalon and Stone Harbor since the 1970s and owner Bill O’Hara has many memories of Bernie.
O’Hara is also a driving force for Snider Hockey, so he knew firsthand of Bernie’s support for that charity and many more. O’Hara is also on the board of Snider Hockey and knew firsthand of Bernie’s support of such organizations.
“He was just genuinely a nice guy, and he made people happy,” O’Hara says. “Little things made him smile.
“One day he called me from outside the restaurant and asked why there was such a line outside the place. I told him it was because he was going to be signing autographs, and he just let out that great laugh and said ‘Good reason!’”
Bernie would often take a walk past the restaurant with his dog. “He called from outside, and I could see him with the dog. He called and said he was hungry, could he get some food?
“I told him I would feed the dig, but not him. He just cracked up. Everything was just so much fun with him.”
Funny about the food, early in his career, Bernie was asked about the new diets going around for athletes.
“It’s called ‘Eat to win,’” he said. “That’s funny because we all had to win to eat!”
And did he ever win. For those of a certain age, there are actual memories of cars being driven around the shore in the summer with one huge beach tag on the rear bumper that read: “Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent.”
Even that bumper sticker has ties to the shore and Avalon as the person who originally coined the phrase and made the stickers was Bob Mitchell, a ticket agent at the Spectrum who also served as a summer DJ at Jack’s Place and The Princeton.
Indeed, nobody did save more than Bernie through those two magical seasons Parent was as good a goalie who ever skated on NHL ice, securing the goal as the Flyers blew away the dark cloud over the Philadelphia sports scene and won two consecutive Stanley Cups.
The images are everlasting, and it was Bernie who allowed the Flyers to play with their intimidating style, assured that he would take care of matters if they might have to play a man short.
It was hardly a case of a one-man show, but like all great hockey teams, the final defender was the man in goal, and for those two seasons he was as good as it gets.
There was never a doubt that Bernie Parent would end up in not only the Flyers Hall of Fame, but also the first Flyer elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he would later by joined by teammates Bob Clarke and Bill Barber.
The images will never fade, and on the wall from the practice rink to the Flyers locker room, there remains a huge poster of a magazine over with the words “War on Ice” over a picture of Bernie’s famed mask.
Truly, even the mask is iconic, and in honor of Parent, in addition to the number 1 painted behind the goal, the club will give their player of the game a Parent mask to wear following each victory.
But it was the whole mob of Flyers who won not only Cups, but the heart of the Delaware Valley – Hound and Moose and Big Bird and O and Hammer – and on and on through the roster.
Parent’s career was cut short by injuries, including a devastating eye injury. But in terms of his connection with fans in the area, he never really retired.
If there was a charity event that needed a “celebrity,” Bernie was there, and not just to show up and wave. He had a way of making everybody feel like he was a personal friend, and when he asked you, “Is anything better than this?” you folded into that moment and forgot all of the things that might be a challenge at that time.
No matter what the subject, at some point it seemed that Bernie would find a way to say, ‘It’s a beautiful thing,” whether it was about hockey, your family, your fandom, or maybe even just your golf game.
He love fishing, and loved to talk about his boat, and there was the never-ending love of life at the shore. So many of those Flyers, and ongoing members of the organization, have made family memories on the beaches of Avalon and beyond. But none was more appreciative of the water, waves, sand, and fishing than Bernie Parent.
Indeed, a life well-lived and a smile that will be remembered forever.