Flyers of the Past – The Curious Case of Todd Bergen

In doing research on a piece I’m working on regarding the 25th anniversary of the 1984-85 Flyers team and looking through the teams roster, Todd Bergen’s name caught my eye.  I remembered that Bergen came up late in the season and really had added to the Flyer attack.  I also remembered that after the playoffs he had basically disappeared from Philadelphia’s picture and hearing rumors that he had clashed with head coach Mike Keenan.  

Mario Lemieux.  Wayne Gretzky.  Gordie Howe.  Brett Hull.  Brendan Shanahan.  Some of the household names of the National Hockey League’s all-time greatest goal scorers.  But how many people know Bergen owns the NHL’s highest goals-per-game average with at least 10 games played?  That’s right, Todd Bergen of the ’84-85 Flyers.  He scored 11 goals in 14 games that season for an average of .786 goals per game but with such a low total of games played, it is not documented as an ”official” NHL record.

Every once in a while a player will burst onto the NHL scene and score goals at a higher rate than they did at any other level previously, then fizzle out.  That would be termed a “flash in the pan”.  Bergen was not in that category, not even close. 

He never played organized hockey until the age of 16, but joined the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders and excelled immediately.  So well that he was drafted in the 5th round by the Flyers in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, 98th overall.

That year he scored 34 goals and 81 points in 70 games, but it was the next season that it appeared Philadelphia had gotten themselves a real gem.  During the 1983-84 campaign, Bergen netted 50 goals in Prince Albert’s first 35 games.  He would go on to score 57 goals and 96 points in just 43 games.

Bergen began the 1984-85 season with Philadelphia’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears.  Once again his scoring talents were on display as he potted 20 goals and 39 points in his first 38 games.  Then came the call up to the big club.

On January 8th, 1985, Bergen played in his first NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at the Spectrum.  He would wear uniform #42, a number you might see a minor-league player wearing during training camp or an injury call-up during the season.  Bergen scored his first NHL goal off of a Dave Poulin feed to break a 2-2 tie with just 8 seconds left in the second period.  He would score his second goal of the game midway through the third, again from Poulin and again breaking a tie, and it became the game winning goal in a 5-3 Flyer victory.  Bergen was named the game’s first star.  Not a bad start at all.

The joy was short-lived though, as Bergen suffered an abdominal injury in the very next game against the Chicago Blackhawks and would miss the next two months. 

Though the injury never fully healed, Bergen returned to the lineup and his first game back was against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 10th.  Playing through pain, he notched a goal and two assists.  As a matter of fact, Bergen would score goals in each of his first three games back and also finish the regular season with 5 in his last 4 games.

Heading into the playoffs the Flyers, realizing this kid was talented and would be staying with the team, assigned Bergen a new uniform number, one that signified how much they thought of him.  It was #19, worn proudly for years by sniper Rick MacLeish during the teams Stanley Cup seasons.  That says alot of what the Philadelphia brass thought of his future with the Flyers.

During those ’84-85 playoffs, Bergen would register four goals and 13 points in 17 games as Philadelphia made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.  They would lose in five games to the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers, but it appeared that great things were on the horizon for both the Flyers and Bergen.

So what happened that he had so much success, then seemingly vanished? 

There were difficulties between Bergen and his coach.  Bergen often felt that “Iron Mike” Keenan was too critical of him and the coach reportedly made Todd do two a day drills both on and off ice, even having other players stay behind to watch and make sure Bergen completed his tasks…as Bergen was still nursing his abdominal pain.

Bergen understandably refused to report to training camp prior to the 1985-86 season, fearing more abuse by the tyranical Flyer taskmaster.  The Flyers suspended him and Bergen retired from hockey to take up a career as a professional golfer.

On November 29th, 1985, Philadelphia traded his NHL rights to the Minnesota North Stars.  After just two practices with his new team, Bergen again felt the abdominal pain.  After undergoing testing, his injury was far more serious than expected, and Bergen missed the entire 85-86 season.

He would start the next season with the North Stars AHL affiliate, the Springfield Indians.  He played in 27 games, scoring 12 goals and 23 points, but when his contract expired at the end of the year, he was not offered a new one.  He retired from hockey again to venture into professional golf.

Today, Bergen owns a bait and tackle company on the east coast of Vancouver Island.

I did contact Mr. Bergen to interview him for this article but he very graciously declined, saying that hockey is in his past and isn’t something he talks about anymore.  He was very open and forthcoming and did give me one quote that he said I could use about his time here in Philadelphia: 

“Flyer fans, or as I call them, the Flyer Faithful…yes, they are a tough bunch, but loyal to the end.  And at least at that time, the best rink in the world to play in.  I know that no team liked playing there.  Getting two points out of the Spectrum was going to cost you one way or another, it was never free.”

What a shame.  The Flyers could have used Bergen’s scoring to compliment scorers like Tim Kerr, Poulin, Brian Propp, Ilkka Sinisalo, etc.  And how much of a difference-maker could Bergen have been if he was part of the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1986-87, when they again met the juggernaut known as the Edmonton Oilers?  That team lost 58-goal scorer Kerr again in the Finals, which the Flyers lost in a 7-game war.  We will never know if Bergen could have been that one piece that could have pushed the Flyers over the top, but the sad thing is we never got the chance to find out.

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