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Flyers first head coach, Keith Allen, dead at age 90

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The man who oversaw two Stanley Cup championship teams in Philadelphia is dead.

Keith Allen passed away at the age of 90. He was the team’s first head coach during the 1967-68 season and was the general manager of the Flyers in 1974 and 1975 when he put together the “Broad Street Bullies” coached by Fred Shero.

Flyers chairman Ed Snider remembered Allen fondly.

“Keith was the first coach in the history of the Philadelphia Flyers and a man for whom I have tremendous respect,” said Snider. “In my mind, he was and always will be one of the greatest General Managers in the history of hockey. He was known as ‘Keith the Thief,’ I never knew of a bad deal he made. This team would never have reached the level of success we have had over the past 48 years if it were not for Keith.”

Allen coached the Flyers until 1970. In 1969 he became the general manager, a job he kept until May 1983. Allen was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 and won the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1988.

While Allen is remembered as a great executive, he was also a solid player in his day and was a member of the 1953-54 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

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