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. 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.
The 1974–75 NLL is unrelated to the modern-day National Lacrosse League, which also has included two unrelated teams called the Philadelphia Wings and Philadelphia Wings. 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, 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 Buckley41012
Carm Collins2322244697
Mike Collins3426154178
Doug Favell18971623
Glen Ferguson3013183115
Larry Ferguson4036498522
Keith Goebey100000
Bob Goulding3938529036
John Grant Sr.397810518326
John Hamilton190770
Jim Hickey23712190
Jim Hinkson2619274618
Paul Jones163584
Joe Krasnaj38234265110
John Linehan40002
Zeny Lipinski Sr.40294974123
Larry Lloyd40829117339
Terry Lloyd40773411127
Doug Maynard1079167
Ian Montgomery25718254
Joe Musical60000
Tim O'Grady258172536
Ted Peters40110
Wayne Platt35047474
Barry Richardson215162123
Brian Robinson36616312420
Terry Rowland2432336568
Adock Shenandoah10000
Jim Vilneff287172436
Jim Wasson3437579416

1975 Players

NameGPGAPtsPIM
Carm Collins46282856197
Mike Collins22022
Glen Ferguson19691514
Larry Ferguson181824426
Bob Goulding3414324657
John Grant Sr.476413419852
John Hamilton250770
Jim Hickey352232528
Zeny Lipinski Sr.46266389178
Larry Lloyd44687614446
Terry Lloyd481135616954
Ted Peters221122
Wayne Platt36049492
Brian Robinson31232
Terry Rowland91151619
Jim Wasson48786814660

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