by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor
Forty years ago this weekend, former Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Darren Jensen played his last game in the National Hockey League.
It was a 7-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils, in which he started but was pulled after yielding 5 goals on 10 shots in less than 2 periods of action.
The goaltender he faced that afternoon at the Meadowlands, was Chico Resch. Resch would join the Flyers via trade only 3 days later, with Jensen earning a trip back to Hershey in the American Hockey League where he teamed up with another goalie prospect, Ron Hextall, to take the Bears all the way to the AHL finals.
Although it's been four decades since his last appearance in the pros, when I spoke to Jensen on Feb. 23, it was obvious he still appreciates the shot he was given here, promoted under the worst of circumstances.
Recall that, on Nov. 10, 1985, Flyers starter Pelle Lindbergh sustained fatal injuries in a one-vehicle accident in south Jersey. Two days later, backup Bob Froese was injured in a sensitive area and unable to start their next contest, Nov. 14 against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.
Enter Jensen. His lone NHL start occurred just over 9 months prior, left to face the fusillade in Uniondale when then-head coach Mike Keenan decided Lindbergh needed a break, suffering a 7-5 loss to the Islanders. With the heat intensified, Jensen stood firm. He stopped 29 shots in a pressure-packed and emotion-laden 5-3 victory as the Flyers took their 11th straight.
With Froese still sidelined, Jensen remained in net and the club continued to roll -- winning 5-2 at Hartford two nights later then rallying for a 5-4 OT victory against the Islanders. Two nights after that, the roller coaster ride came to a crashing halt with an 8-6 loss on the island which saw the Orange and Black rally from deficits of 5-1, 6-3 and 7-5.
“Everything happens so fast, so you don't have time to really think about it and really, it's kind of a good thing, I think, in the long run,” Jensen said of his being thrown into the starter's role at an unexpectedly tense period in franchise history. “The more you think, the worse off you're going to be.”
When Froese returned to action just before Thanksgiving, the gears were greased and set in motion. Froese, in his fourth NHL season, wound up leading the NHL with 31 wins, 5 shutouts and a 2.55 goals-against average. Jensen rode shotgun, picking up his first career shutout at the Spectrum on Jan. 9, 1986 against the Capitals, then added his second clean sheet 16 days later in St. Louis.
That night, Jensen halted 48 shots -- 24 in the third period alone -- along with a combined 18 from Blues scorers Joe Mullen, Rob Ramage and Bernie Federko. It still stands as a club record for most saves in a shutout victory, home or road, regular season or playoffs, according to Flyers PR guru Brian Smith. It was no surprise Jensen had no idea until I told him.
“I didn't even know if it was a record. It's kind of neat,” he said. “It was just such a special game. No expectations, nobody thought much. They were just bombarding us. And the puck just kept hitting me positionally."
“I absorbed it more after the game,” Jensen admitted. “Because I didn't realize I had that many shots. I just know I was getting a lot of rubber directed at me.”
That night at the old Arena served as the high point of Jensen’s NHL journey. As the Flyers and Capitals began to wage war for the Patrick Division lead, the team sagged a bit, starting on a late February West Coast trip and continuing into mid-March. Jensen – whose name eventually was engraved on the Jennings Trophy alongside Froese as the goalies who led the Flyers to the lowest total team GAA in 1985-86 – faltered as well.
First, it was a loss in Vancouver when the offense took a rare night off. Next, after playing the powerful Oilers in the season's rubber match to a 1-1 tie through regulation at Northlands Coliseum, a harmless Jari Kurri backhander slipped through his pads. Next, when subbing for Froese at home against Buffalo down 3-0, he allowed a goal on the first shot he faced and after watching the hosts storm back with 4 straight only to allow the Sabres’ game-winner to squeeze between his arm and body 30 seconds later. Jensen rebounded to win against a defense-averse Toronto Maple Leafs despite allowing 4 more scores ahead of his final NHL appearance in north Jersey.
With the benefit of hindsight, Jensen said his focus wasn’t on the division race or the season-long mental and physical effects of playing at a high level in the wake of a trusted teammate’s death.
“I just wasn't looking at it that way,” he noted. “I was really more focused on my play.”
“My job was to win, help the team, give them the best opportunity to win," Jensen added. That's all I really cared about. Fifth place, first place, it really didn't matter because I just believed if I do my job, everything will take care of itself."
Yes, he admitted, Philadelphia was striving to remain one of the NHL's top teams, so the element of pressure was ever present. Added to that pressure was stepping into the crease each time for both Froese and himself after the way Lindbergh established himself the year before by becoming the first European-born netminder to win the Vezina Trophy.
“You're trying to put it all together,” he said. “Sometimes it's bad luck, but I would never point the finger. I'm appreciative that I had the opportunity.”
Ultimately, Jensen ended his lone NHL season at 15-9-1, with a 3.69 GAA and two shutouts. The Flyers, with Resch backing up Froese, outlasted Washington and won the Patrick Division on the season’s final night, 5-3, on home ice vs. the Caps.
“We, thank God, had a great team,” he added. “Guys like Mark Howe and Brad McCrimmon and Brad Marsh (on defense) so that gave me probably more confidence than anything, just the quality of players that we had.”
Jensen currently resides in Kelowna, British Columbia. He and his wife act as a billet family for three players on the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League in Canadian juniors. From afar, he still keeps tabs on his former team and host city, even showing up to the Flyers-Penguins Alumni contest in January, 2017.
This year, a newbie, Dan Vladar, is dealing with his time in the line of fire as the prospective No. 1 starter as the Flyers attempt to claw back into the playoff chase. Vladar, who will continually set personal records for wins and games played as long as confidence is placed in him by now-head-coach Rick Tocchet, bears a burden familiar to many.
As an NCAA champion with North Dakota in 1982 and as a player who came to know about how to deal with being thrown into a tough situation in a city whose fans can be tough on their players, Jensen offered Vladar the usual time-tested wisdom spiced with some modern twists.
Goaltending, he said, has never changed. For elite athletes, it’s all mental and taking care of the mental side has not changed. What has since his time, Jensen added, is the legion of mental-health professionals invested in keeping goalies on an even keel. He bristled when recalling a memory of Keenan suggesting he seek help from a sports psychologist, as if his performance wasn’t enough of an indicator of his worthiness to stick in the NHL.
“I would never be on social media,” he offered.
Among the other time-tested chestnuts Jensen had for Vladar: never get too high or too low. Focus on each game, one at a time. Seek to sharpen the good points and remedy the bad ones. Ditch the memory of a bad game as quickly as the memory of a good one. When you play, you alone have control of your destiny and if you don’t play much, you’ll want to play as many games as possible.
“He’s just got to get through all the rubble at the beginning and then things will calm down,” Jensen said of Vladar’s development. “You’ve got to be strong mentally. Management reacts very fast, so, you’re there to win and these guys have the ability to be very consistent and that’s the biggest challenge – consistency.”
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