Nothing about Barry Ashbee’s career came easily, and he would not have had it any other way. He was rough around the edges and literally and figuratively fought for everything he had. That was what made him the perfect Broad Street Bully.
There was nothing special about his skills. On paper, he was unremarkable. In his four-plus NHL seasons, he did not top six goals or 23 assists in any of them, and his career was almost over right after it started.
Ashbee waited with increasing impatience to get his shot in the NHL. The Boston Bruins signed the blue liner in 1963, saying he would be a big part of their future. In 1965, he was still waiting for the opportunity to make the team. That chance came later that year when injuries forced Boston’s hand. This, sadly, was foreshadowing of what was to come next.
Ashbee was immobile. He was in pain, but one could imagine he never complained about it. It was clear something was wrong, and doctors found Ashbee had a crushed disc in his back. He had back surgery and was knocked out of the balance of that season as well as the 1966-67 one. Boston’s head coach, Harry Sinden, said he thought Ashbee was “jakeing it,” per Pro Hockey Alumni, suggesting Ashbee was milking his injury. So ended his time with the big club.
Opportunities opened for players when the league expanded and doubled in size, but not for Ashbee. It wasn’t until 1970 that Ashbee was traded to the Flyers and finally given a real chance at the age of 31. His impact was immediately felt, and he brought a new dimension to defensive play.
Ashbee was one of the first defensemen to cross center ice and chip in on offense. The concept of a two-way defenseman was born.
Injuries continued to take their toll on him, but he continued to push forward. Just to get through games, he began wearing a collar that supported his neck. Pain followed him around everywhere, including his kneecap that was falling apart. He just kept playing through it all, winning a Stanley Cup championship, an All-Star nod, and some Norris Trophy votes.
It was an eye injury that nearly took his sight and forced him to retire at 34. The team offered him an assistant coach position, helping the Flyers win their second Stanley Cup in the 1974-75 season. Ashbee remained in the position until 1977, when his body played one more act of cruelty on him. As the 1976-77 season drew to a close, he was diagnosed with Leukemia.
Ashbee died a month later, 48 years ago today. He was only 37, too old and beat up for hockey, but far too young to die. Flyers’ legend Bobby Clarke best summed it up in Ashbee’s eulogy.
"It took an incurable blood disorder to quell a spirit that the loss of sight in one eye, a spinal fusion, torn ligaments in his knee, and pinched nerve in his neck could not dampen. Barry never gave in to the luxury of exhaustion or pain.”
There are hockey players who could take devastating punches or pop their shoulder back into place without missing their next shift, but few were ever as tough as Barry Ashbee.
Ashbee's legacy persists through his retired number hanging in the rafters, his election into the Flyers Hall of Fame, and an award named in his honor given to the team's best defenseman.