On July 27, 1973, the Maple Leafs traded the rights to goaltender Bernie Parent to the Philadelphia Flyers, plus a second-round draft pick (Larry Goodenough) in exchange for a first-round draft choice (Bob Neely) and goalie Doug Favell.
The deal turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades against Toronto’s favour in the team’s history. Parent would go on to win a pair of Stanley Cups with the Flyers and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.
Two years earlier the Leafs had obtained Parent from Philadelphia in exchange for netminder Bruce Gamble and centre Mike “Shaky” Walton”. However a contract dispute over a difference of $8,000 left Parent fuming with Harold Ballard, and the 28-year-old backstop would go on to sign an enormous $750,000, five-year deal with the Miami Screaming Eagles of the WHA. Unfortunately, the Eagles franchise never took flight and became the only WHA team in league history to never play a game. Parent wound up playing one season for the Philadelphia Blazers of the fledgling league. By the time Parent was ready to return to the NHL, the bridge between him and Ballard had been burned, forcing the Leafs’ hand in the eventual trade.
Parent became the first goalie in NHL history to post consecutive seasons of 40 or more wins, a feat since matched by Martin Brodeur and Miikka Kiprusoff.
Meanwhile Favell posted a mediocre 26-26-16 record in just over two seasons for the Leafs before being sold to the Colorado Rockies prior to the start of the 1976-77 campaign as Toronto paved the way for rookie Mike Palmateer to becoming the team’s starting goalie.
Left-winger Neely registered 89 points in 261 career games for the Leafs.
