
Originally written in November. In 2013, Shawn Reznick. Pelle Lindbergh is considered one of the greatest flyer goalkeepers. Now, here are some memories of the interstellar network.
Next to Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh is the best goalkeeper to play in a Philadelphia flyer. He has skills; he has charm. He has a passion for flyer hockey.
Philadelphia won 10 straight wins early this season. After defeating the Bruins on Saturday, November 10, the team had six days off before facing their latest rival, Edmonton. The previous year, in the Stanley Cup final, the Flyers were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers.
Pelle “Gump” Lindbergh is on the lights and recently won the Vezina Trophy in the 1984-85 season. The team was destined to be great, but instantly, the air escaped from Philadelphia.
Pelle Lindbergh hits his Porsche
On that fateful Sunday morning, Lindbergh crashed his Porsche 930 Turbo into the walls of Somerdale, New Jersey. A few hours later, he was pronounced dead and eventually removed from life support. So much talent, so much hope, so much hope… disappeared in a moment.
Bill Meltzer, a longtime flyer fan and hockey journalist, wrote a book about Lindbergh’s life and the events that led to his death, vividly recalling the unfortunate news:
I actually got a call from my best friend to turn on the TV to see Pelle Lindbergh in a car accident – it was before they knew he was dead. I remember asking him, “What channel?” He said, “every channel”. That’s when I realize it’s really bad. I watched the game the night before, so you were from the team in the middle of a huge streak and thrill and then worried and wrecked. It wasn’t until later that they discussed what the crash involved, but it was just shocking, just devastating.
Merzer remembers what he and other fans experienced in the week after Pell’s fatal crash:
Everyone has experienced the same emotion. They have won the joy of winning – not only have they won, but they are eliminating the team. They are clicking. They reached the finals that year. After the game, Mark Howe told Jay Snider that it was the best team I’ve ever had – that was the day before the crash. I think it was around 9:45 pm on Saturday and I think everyone really felt like this team was going to win the Stanley Cup. The next morning, it was a kick to the gut. Pell is so popular anyway. If anyone on the team would be terrible, shocked and fearful. But when your Vezina winning goalkeeper is one of two or three of the most popular people on the team, it becomes something like… “How do you keep going from there”.
If you’ve been on the flyer long enough, you’ll surely know Bruce “Scoop” Cooper. He has been on the team since the 1970s and has unhealthy hockey knowledge. Scoop taught me the root cause of Lindbergh not fighting the Boston Bruins in his Flyers winning streak:
Me and [Pelle] He was killed a few hours before he was killed. They were playing in Boston that night, and it was Saturday night. Bob Froese competes because he wants to trade to Los Angeles and they want to see him play again. [The Flyers’] The next game is until the next Saturday against Edmonton, which is a very unusual thing because that was the team they lost to the finals in the spring before the spring.
Therefore, Gump is not playing. Frosty played, then [Lindbergh] Killed in the accident, so the transaction never happened.
Scoop also has good memories of the Maine Mariners, with AHL team Lindbergh playing before being called to Philadelphia:
We flew back from the charter of Glens Falls to Portland [Lindbergh] Enter the PA system and start speaking in Swedish. There are now several Swedish players, Thomas Eriksson, and Kevin Cady is the Swedish coach. They were just dying with laughter because he was talking about the Swedish flight attendant so no one knew what he was talking about.
As mentioned, Kevin Cady is a trainer for the Maine Mariners who became friends with Pelle while serving in the AHL. These two are great companions, so Pell’s death hit Cardi’s home. CADY narrative:
I was in Portland, Maine when I learned of the Pell accident. I have been a flyer equipment manager for the past two seasons, but stayed to be a police officer in my hometown of Portland at the end of last season. I was 22 years old at the time and Pelle was 25 years old at the time. The last time I talked to Pelle a week before the crash, he told me the flyer players wanted me back on the team. I don’t think it was because I decided to continue my new career at that time. I’ve been starting with the AHL Maine Mariners since 1977.
I learned about the crash through ESPN and called the Flyers Coaches office in Voorhees, NJ. EJ Maguire told me that Pell is actually dead. He was the first to tell me about Pell’s death because the Internet reported a “severe situation” but no deaths.
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I immediately flew from Portland to Philadelphia and was rushed to the airport by Voorhees Township police Lieutenant and Pelle’s friend John Pretterman.
We went straight to the hospital where I met Kerstin Pietzch. She took me to Pel’s room and she asked me to say goodbye to him because it was a matter of time. As I walked out of Pel’s room, Mike Keenan grabbed me with a bear hug and whispered, “We lost the bastard.” We broke down then and sobbed in the hallway.
Before 1985, I spent part of three summers in Pelle, Stockholm. He was probably my best friend at the time and he brought me to celebrity football games. Therefore, I know his parents very well. More important than anyone in North America. Over the next few days, Anna Lise and Kerstin approached me and asked for a funeral in Sweden. The flight (Mr. Snider) took the cost of the flight and I accompanied my family, Thomas Eriksson and his girlfriend Malin, along with the body of Pelle, Sweden.
A few days later, we had a small party on the eve of the funeral at Kerstin’s home in Taby, Sweden. Bob Clarke, Bernie’s parents and Jay Snider were there. Bob Clarke, the general manager at the time, pulled me aside and said he and the team wanted me to return to the flyer as the equipment manager. I immediately accepted, Bob said he would take care of the logistics. I returned in December 1985.
Cady also led me through a surreal experience without Lindberg in the locker room:
The team rented a bus in Philadelphia to Pel’s memorial service. I got on that bus with the players. It seems like I belong to me and need to take the bus. When I go back to the locker room to work regularly, the empty stalls in the spectrum and the voorhees are a constant visual reminder. Honestly, I believe all of us are back to the hockey mill, and the loss of Pell to the team is constantly static. Finally, I think the emotional burden of the players at the end of a tough season exhausted the players, and we checked it early on, and it was easy to lose in the first round of the playoffs against the New York Rangers.
The two have a special bond. Every time they get together, they find something to talk about or laugh about. You can’t summarize Lindbergh with a single word, sentence, or paragraph, but Cady does his best:
My favorite Pell has too many memories to write in a short article like this. I’m going to say that he’s one of my consistent players in Maine and Philadelphia. Similarly, my time in Sweden has many memories that I still cherish today. I don’t care that he is an NHL goalkeeper or Olympic medal winner. I work with world-class hockey players every day. Some of these athletes will continue to be selected in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Pell was just a friend and he welcomed me into my life at home. I kept in touch with his mom until she died in 2011. Kerstin Pietzch and her family visited me in Maine in the summer of 2011. I still have regular contacts with Pelle’s best friend and his other relatives in Sweden.
Today, my oldest son Griffin (16) is a goalkeeper in high school hockey game. He is a stubborn flyer fan, and his number is 31 years old. Maybe Pell will be proud of him. I remember Pell telling me once: “I don’t think it’s so big to be a goalkeeper in the NHL. Well, I’m not sure that’s how it works.
Before summarizing, Cardi said:
The last thought of this anniversary was: In the summer of 1983, I actually bought the Porsche 911 turbo that he ended up killing. We went to the high-end car dealership Vag Stockholm, and Pell held the car. I took Kerstin’s car back from the dealership to the 24 of the Varnsgarten, and Perl led it. My memory of this is important because the car is the ultimate demise of Pell.
Lindberg is full of life. He attracted fans in the sport, but Philadelphia always had a special place in Lindger’s heart, dating back to his time in Hamabi in Sweden. His idol was Bernie, who became Lindbergh’s mentor. He crosses highs and lows, but puts everything on the ice.
His No. 31 will be retired informally by the flyer. On November 11, we remember Pell – goalkeeper, player, person.

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