Philadelphia Wings (1974–1975)

The Philadelphia Wings was one of six teams from the original National Lacrosse League. This team mimicked Philadelphia's NHL counterpart, the Flyers with its "Broad Street Bullies" style of play. The Wings played at the home of the Flyers, the Spectrum, and played their first game in that arena on May 19, 1974, mere hours after the Flyers won the Stanley Cup. The Wings were one of three teams that did not go bankrupt prior to the 1976 season cancellation.

The league only lasted two seasons. The regular season was played during the off-season of the NHL and consisted of 40 games in 1974 and 48 in 1975. Both seasons consisted of a two-round playoff with four of the six teams making the playoffs. Each round was a best-of-seven series.

The Wings were regular season champions in the first season (1974). After defeating the Maryland Arrows in the first round, they were eliminated in the final round by the Rochester Griffins four games to two in the first season. They failed to make the playoffs with a disappointing fifth-place finish (they missed the playoffs by one win).

The 1974–75 NLL is unrelated to the modern-day National Lacrosse League, which also has included two unrelated teams called the Philadelphia Wings (Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) and Philadelphia Wings (2018–)). This was the only original league logo resurrected in the rebirth of pro indoor lacrosse. The current NLL league and franchise makes no references to the original incarnation although in 2004 there was a "retro" night in Philadelphia where the Wings wore the original orange jersey and the Rochester Knighthawks donned the Rochester Griffins jersey. Members of the original Wings were honored at a ceremony at half-time.

The players included Doug Favell (NHL goalie), John Grant Sr., the only player to play for the first two versions of the NLL Wings and father of current NLL player John Grant Jr., Jimmy Wasson, goalkeeper Wayne Platt and Zeny Lipinski. Longtime Flyer television announcer Gene Hart called the games for the Wings.

1974 Players
NameGPGAPtsPIM
Tom Buckley 4 1 0 1 2
Carm Collins 23 22 24 46 97
Mike Collins 34 26 15 41 78
Doug Favell 18 9 7 16 23
Glen Ferguson 30 13 18 31 15
Larry Ferguson 40 36 49 85 22
Keith Goebey 10 0 0 0 0
Bob Goulding 39 38 52 90 36
John Grant Sr. 39 78 105 183 26
John Hamilton 19 0 7 7 0
Jim Hickey 23 7 12 19 0
Jim Hinkson 26 19 27 46 18
Paul Jones 16 3 5 8 4
Joe Krasnaj 38 23 42 65 110
John Linehan 4 0 0 0 2
Zeny Lipinski Sr. 40 29 49 74 123
Larry Lloyd 40 82 91 173 39
Terry Lloyd 40 77 34 111 27
Doug Maynard 10 7 9 16 7
Ian Montgomery 25 7 18 25 4
Joe Musical 6 0 0 0 0
Tim O'Grady 25 8 17 25 36
Ted Peters 4 0 1 1 0
Wayne Platt 35 0 47 47 4
Barry Richardson 21 5 16 21 23
Brian Robinson 36 61 63 124 20
Terry Rowland 24 32 33 65 68
Adock Shenandoah 1 0 0 0 0
Jim Vilneff 28 7 17 24 36
Jim Wasson 34 37 57 94 16

1975 Players
NameGPGAPtsPIM
Carm Collins 46 28 28 56 197
Mike Collins 2 2 0 2 2
Glen Ferguson 19 6 9 15 14
Larry Ferguson 18 18 24 42 6
Bob Goulding 34 14 32 46 57
John Grant Sr. 47 64 134 198 52
John Hamilton 25 0 7 7 0
Jim Hickey 35 2 23 25 28
Zeny Lipinski Sr. 46 26 63 89 178
Larry Lloyd 44 68 76 144 46
Terry Lloyd 48 113 56 169 54
Ted Peters 22 1 1 2 2
Wayne Platt 36 0 49 49 2
Brian Robinson 3 1 2 3 2
Terry Rowland 9 11 5 16 19
Jim Wasson 48 78 68 146 60

KEY:
GP = Games Played
G = Goals Scored
A = Assists
Pts = Points
PIM = Penalties In Minutes

See also

Lacrosse in Pennsylvania

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