Clarke, "Bobby" (Robert E.)
Hockey
b. Aug. 13, 1949, Flin Flon, MAN
A center, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Clarke was the leader of the Philadelphia Flyers teams known as the "Broad Street Bullies" that won consecutive Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975.
Most NHL teams avoided him because he suffered from diabetes, but the Flyers took a chance on Clarke by choosing him in the second round of the 1969 amateur draft. He joined the team that year and, during his first four NHL seasons, Clarke missed only one game, because of a boil on his elbow.
A fiery, scrappy redhead, Clarke won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player three times, in 1973, 1975, and 1976. In addition to his regular shifts, Clarke killed penalties and was a regular on the Flyers' power-play teams. He was also one of the NHL's best faceoff men.
Flyer Coach Fred Shero once said that Clarke was "the greatest player in the game for helping his team."
Clarke retired as a player in 1984 and was Philadelphia's general manager until 1990, when he became the GM of the Minnesota North Stars. Two years later, he took over as vice-president and general manager of the Florida Panthers, an expansion franchise. He returned to the Flyers as GM once again in 1994.