What I really liked about the Broad Street Bullies documentary, was that it was back at a time when players were a part of the community. Even the blacks in Philadelphia embraced the Flyers, when is the last time you saw blacks engage with a Hockey team like that?
There was a CBC Hockey Documentary about the NHL in the 50’s entitled “Net Worth”. The central focus was on the Red Wings led by Terrible Ted Lindsay. Gordie Howe is a big farmboy rookie on that team.
Anyway, the game was different. Every player — if he was to survive — had to be able to defend himself. There was a lot of doubt in Montreal that Maurice Richard was “Tough enough” for the Game.
So my theory on Enforces was that with the league expansion in 1966 the league doubled. Gifted offensive players from the AHL were suddenly getting called up, but these guys weren’t particularly NHL tough. So the Bruins (to pick a team) starts putting tough players around their stars and the really new teams (Flyers) get schwacked. Ed Snider basically vows that his team will never be run off the ice again, and the Enforcers era begins.
The Flyers had just enough offensive talent to win a couple of Cups. But then you had the super teams... first Montreal, then the Islanders, Oilers & Penguins. There was by this time a formal Enforcer slot on all teams otherwise Wayne Gretzky would not have had the career he ended up having.