Bobby Clarke NHL All Time Dirtiest Player

Bobby Clarke, captain of the “Broad Street Bullies”
and dirtiest NHL player of all time.

Bobby Clarke (born August 13, 1949, Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada), 5’10”, 176 lbs, was the captain of the “Broad Street Bullie” aka the Philadelphia Flyers of the 70s and the dirtiest NHL player of all time.

For Bobby Clarke and his “Broad Street Bullies” winning was everything and losing wasn’t an option. The Philadelphia Flyers were tough, proud, hard-working and didn’t hesitate to break the rules to get the win. Fighting for the purpose of intimidation was a strategy wholly endorsed and encouraged by Flyers management. Now the simple word fighting is taboo in the NHL game. Hockey is now so lame, pathetic, and boring today.

Bobby Clarke was a great player, a very aggressive player, a dedicated player, a warrior, a cheap shot artist, a winner. And the Philadelphia Flyers were great too. From management to the rink, everybody in the Broad Street Bullies was a thug and a butcher. Butchering the opposing team was their mission. Winning was everything.

Bobby Clarke wasn’t a goon. He was the captain and a skilled player. He was teamed with the best goon squad of the entire league. Dave Schultz, Bob Kelly, Moose Dupont and Don Saleski were there to handle the fighting. And Bobby Clarke was there to score goals. But that didn’t stopped Bobby Clarke to be the dirtiest player of the game. One of his most famous cheap shot was when he two handed slashed and broke the left ankle of elite sniper Valeri Kharlamov to eliminate him from the Canada vs URSS Summit Series during the Cold War in 1972. It was good calculation, the incident happenned in game 6 into the series. Valeri finished the game, was unable to play game 7, and was ineffective in the final game. Injuring skillful player and prolific scorer Valeri Kharlamov was the best way to turn the tide in favour of the Canadians for the rest of the series. Bobby Clarke was acclaims as a national hero for his act and was named Team Canada’s MVP. Times have changed.

Career NHL Statistics