Doug Favell

Ever wonder who was the first goalie to paint his goalie mask? The answer is Doug Favell.

Now don't get too excited. His paint job was pretty lame compared to today's fancy paint jobs. Playing for the Philadelphia Flyers at the time, Doug painted his completely white mask Flyer Orange for Hallowe'en. I bet Doug had no idea what he started when he did that.

Doug Favell is best known for being the Flyers original goalie along with the legendary Bernie Parent. the two provided strong goaltending in the expansion Flyers formative years. Unfortunately for Favell, after 6 seasons with the Flyers, Doug was traded prior to the Flyers winning their two Stanley Cups in the mid 1970s.

Born on April 5, 1945 in St. Catharines, Ontario Doug was picked up by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft from the Boston Bruins organization. Doug had never played for the Bs but had put up impressive performances in 2 years with the Bruins farm teams.

Doug had a great rookie year, slightly better than Parent even. He recorded a career best 2.27 GAA and 4 shutouts in 37 games. He had a 15-15-6 record. Parent on the other hand had a similar year - 16-17-5 with 2.48 GAA and 4 more shutouts.

Doug struggled the next two years as Parent became the starting goalie, playing in most of the games. Favell saw little playing time over those two years, playing in just 36 contests, winning only 7.

Doug got to be the full time starter in 70-71 when Bernie Parent was traded midway through the year. He had another good year He finished the year with a 16-15-9 record. In 71-72. He played in 54 games, recording a 2.80 GAA and a career high 5 shutouts along with a 18-25-9 record. In 1972-73 Favell had a career high 20 wins against 15 losses and 4 ties, with a 2.83 GAA and 3 shutouts.

That proved to be Favell's final season in Philadelphia. Favell proved to be a good goalie, but not a great goalie. The Flyers were becoming a strong contender but were not getting the spectacular goaltending needed to take the Flyers to new heights in the playoffs..

Favell was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, ironically to complete the trade which saw the Flyers reacquired Bernie Parent. Favell played two decent years with the Leafs. In the meantime the Flyers won the next two Stanley Cups without him.

Prior to 76-77, Doug joined the Colorado Rockies, a new team that formed out of the old Kansas City Scouts. Doug was between the pipes for the Rockies first win on October 5, 1976. Otherwise highlights were few and far between in Denver. Favell won only 21 games in 3 seasons with the awful Rockies.

By the 1978-79 season Favell was demoted to the minors where he spent most of the season. He hung up his blocker and goal pads after that season.