A Wish Fulfilled

I never had the opportunity to see Bobby Clarke play the game live and in-person, but watching video of him during his heyday in the NHL makes me realize that he was one of the first true power forwards of the game. While he never shied away from going to the areas of the ice where trouble would find him, he also had more than enough talent to be one of the game's elite scorers during his time. Being a two-time Stanley Cup winner and a two-time Hart Trophy winner is certainly enough accolades to make a case that he's among the game's best players, but Bobby Clarke won another prestigious award in 1975 that seemed to fulfill a wish that his parents had for him as he embarked on his hockey career.

For those that don't know, Bobby Clarke was the 1975 winner of the Lou Marsh Award, awarded annually to Canada's top athlete by a panel of journalists in December. Wayne Gretzky still holds the most wins for the Lou Marsh Award by any Canadian with four, and Maurice Richard was the first hockey player to win the award back in 1957.

Other hockey players to have won the award include Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Guy Lafleur, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and Carey Price while Marie-Philip Poulin was the first female hockey player to receive the honour in 2022. It should be noted that Poulin's win was the first under the award's new name of the Northern Star Award "after concerns were raised about racist language used by Marsh, who died in 1936, during his years of sportswriting."

The reason that I point out Clarke's win is that that he became the first Manitoban-born athlete to receive the national honour, and he also fulfilled a wish made by his parents about his hockey career.

As the Winnipeg Free Press article states, Bobby Clarke's mother said that it was his parents' "wish that he do well in hockey because he wanted it so badly." It seems the Clarkes had nothing to worry about in that regard because he had an incredible 1974 where he led the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup to become the first expansion team to win the NHL's biggest prize after beating the Orr-and-Esposito-powered Boston Bruins in six games.

His 1975 might have been even better as Clarke was all over the scoresheet in the 1974-75 season, notching a then-NHL record for centermen with 89 assists en route to a 116-point campaign, a second Stanley Cup with the Flyers after beating the Buffalo Sabres in six games, and he won his second Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. That great 1975 season and year would be capped off with Clarke being named Canada's top athlete as the "runaway choice by sportswriters and sports broacasters". I'd say that's a wish fulfilled!

There's a little trivia for you on this Friday as you now know how the first hockey player to be named as Canada's top athlete was, which hockey player holds the record for the most Northern Star Awards, and who the first Manitoban was to receive the award. And that last one certainly made Cliff and Yvonne Clarke proud!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!