"The Swede of Philadelphia" promotional poster, courtesy of swedeofphiladelphia.com.
Forty years ago, goaltender Pelle Lindbergh led the Philadelphia Flyers to the 1985 Stanley Cup Finals. He won the Vezina Trophy (given to the NHL's best goalie) and the Bobby Clarke Trophy (given to the Flyers' most valuable player). At 26 years old, he was on top of the world.
But on Nov. 10, 1985, less than five months after receiving all those accolades, Lindbergh lost control of his Porsche and crashed into a stone wall in Somerdale, N.J. The two other passengers in the car survived with extensive injuries; Lindbergh died the next day. He was later determined to be under the influence.
"I think even die-hard Flyers fans, to this day, all they know is that Pelle drank a lot of alcohol, drove a car, and died," director Charlie Minn said. "But they don't know the specifics."
Minn's new documentary film, "The Swede of Philadelphia," aims to do just that: explore who Pelle Lindbergh was as a person, and dive deeper into what exactly led to his fatal decision.
"The Swede of Philadelphia" will open on Friday in select AMC Theaters, including Voorhees and Cherry Hill in New Jersey, and Neshaminy and the Fashion District in Pennsylvania.
Oaks Center Cinema is also hosting a sneak preview and Q&A tonight, featuring Minn, Bernie Parent's daughter Kim, and Kathy McNeal, one of the two "miracle survivors" of the car crash.
Minn was able to get in contact with an extensive list of people who were on the scene in Somerdale that night, including fire officials, police officers and EMTs. Both survivors – McNeal and Ed Parvin – also share their perspective in the film.
"It was a thrill to sit down with them because they gave me a very rare play-by-play of that morning," Minn said. "Those two showed a lot of guts by somehow surviving that."
"The Swede of Philadelphia" also features one of Bernie Parent's last on-camera interviews before he passed away on Sept. 21.
Parent and Lindbergh had a special relationship. When Lindbergh was playing hockey in Sweden in the 1970s, he watched tapes of the Flyers, and he idolized Parent, who later became his goalie coach.
"Pelle was destined to be a Flyer. He was destined to work with Bernie," Minn said. "They're so alike in so many ways. When Pelle played – the mask, the look – he emulated Bernie. They almost looked like the same person on the ice."
Current Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet was Lindbergh's teammate at the time, and he was "front and center" during the immediate aftermath of the car crash, according to Minn.
Tocchet was called to a hospital to identify a crash victim; he thought it would be Lindbergh, but it was actually Parvin, and Lindbergh had been sent to a different hospital.
Minn interviewed Tocchet and many of Lindbergh's teammates for the film.
The Tocchet interview occurred while he was still coaching in Vancouver and not after he was hired by the Flyers.
At the time of Lindbergh's crash, he had been leaving a team party at the Flyers' practice facility. His blood alcohol level was 0.24.
"Pelle got screwed that night," Minn said. "He was not an avid drinker, so he was obviously over-served, whether it was a bartender or a teammate. I'm not clearing Pelle of all the blame here. He's a grown man. He's the one who decided to drink. He's the one who decided to drive and speed way too fast.
"But I think this was a chain of events that really worked against Pelle, and the end result is that the Flyers lost a superstar goalie that could have led them to Stanley Cups."
How that night is portrayed and how much factual information Minn is able to provide may cause debate about what happened on that fateful night.
It's worth noting that the Flyers have not publicly endorsed this documentary nor are they commenting on its release, despite having pre-screened the film.
Multiple sources from the Flyers and Comcast Spectacor have told On Pattison that the organization does not view the presentation of this story positively.
Lindbergh died a month into the 1985 NHL season, leaving the team and the fans reeling. Minn regards Lindbergh's death as "almost the beginning point of all the hardships the Flyers have suffered," including more premature deaths and many Stanley Cup Finals losses.
"It's going on 50 years now, and this has to be one of the most patient fanbases ever to put up with that," Minn said.
(Editor's note: Minn obviously doesn't experience Flyers Twitter on a daily basis.)
"The Swede of Philadelphia" purports to paint a complete picture of Lindbergh – who Minn says was "the nicest guy in the world" by all accounts – outside of his untimely death. It describes a 26-year-old athlete on top of the world whose life was cut far too short by one decision. It also revisits a bygone era of hockey, lightyears away from today's NHL.
"I think Flyers fans will walk away a lot more informed, and I think this is a film for the '80s, the hockey fans from that era," Minn said. "They're going to reminisce. They're going to feel younger, they're going to laugh, they're going to cry."
Showtimes and theater locations for "The Swede of Philadelphia" are being regularly updated at swedeofphiladelphia.com.
Minn hopes the film's message stays with viewers long after its initial one-week run in theaters.
"One decision that you make in life could have life-altering consequences. That could be any decision one makes. In Pelle's case, it was a decision to drink and drive. Obviously, that turned fatal," Minn said. "Just be very cautious. You could be on top of the world, but again, one thing could destroy that, one decision."
In his interview, Parent shared his one wish when it comes to Lindbergh: he wanted to see Lindbergh's number retired next to his own. Minn thinks the Flyers have a golden opportunity to honor Lindbergh one last time:
"I'm hoping the Flyers will retire (Lindbergh's) No. 31 next to Bernie's No. 1. And the Flyers are home on Jan. 31," Minn said. "That would be the day to do it."
(On Pattison's Editor-At-Large Anthony SanFilippo contributed to this report.)
