On this date, July 6th, in 1943, Flyers Joe Watson was born in Smithers, British Columbia. Watson played 11 years in the black and orange. Watson and his younger brother Jim, became just the 4th brother duo ever to win a Stanley Cup together. Happy 75th birthday to the guy they called Thunder Mouth!
Joe Watson – Flyers/D (1967-68 to 1977-78) Joe Watson was a member of the Flyers Broad Street Bullies teams that won back to back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975. Watson was the second skater selected by the Flyers in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. Joe and his younger brother Jim were the second of five brother combos to play for the Flyers spending five years together in the orange and black (1973-78). Watson, not known as a goal-scoring defenseman, scored just 38 goals in 11 seasons for the Flyers. However, during the famous 1976 game against the vaunted Soviet team, Watson scored a short-handed goal against legendary Russian netminder Vladislav Tretiak. Flyers coach Fred Shero commented afterwards that Watson’s goal “set Russian hockey back 25 years.”
