On May 5 1975 in Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the defending champions Philadelphia Flyers and the upstart Buffalo Sabres, one of the strangest events in the history of hockey occurred 

The 1975 Stanley Cup Finals was already rather unique even before we get to the third game. It was the first Cup Finals contested between two non-Original Six teams since 1926, the first to include a team, Buffalo, that entered the league after the 1967 expansion, and the only finals between 1965 and 1979 to not involve the Boston Bruins or Montreal Canadiens. The paths to the finals were different for both teams. The defending Stanley Cup holders Flyers lead by Captain Bobby Clarke and goalie Bernie Parent continued their bruising ways during the regular season that lead them to winning the Cup in 1974. In the Quarterfinals of the playoffs the ‘Broad Street Bullies’ easily swept aside the Toronto Maple Leafs, and then faced a much tougher test in the Semifinals against the rising New York Islanders; almost blowing a 3 game lead to finally win in 7 games. The Buffalo Sabres, led by the famed ‘French Connection’ line consisting  of Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and René Robert,  in their fifth season in the league were rather surprisingly among the best teams in the league during the ‘74-‘75 regular season. They knocked out the Chicago Black Hawks in five games in the Quarterfinals, before upsetting the superstar laden Montreal Canadiens in 6 games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time. In the first game of the 1975 Finals, played at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the Flyers easily handled the Sabres for a 4-1 win. Game two, still in Philadelphia was a tighter, closer, match in which the Flyers won 2-1. The series then moved over to the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (The Aud) for Game 3.

When the Aud was being built in 1939 it was deemed unnecessary for the stadium to include air-conditioning due to Buffalo’s climate. However in May of 1975,  Buffalo was in the middle of an unseasonable heatwave when the Stanley Cup Finals came to the city for the first time. The custodians of the Aud considered putting in makeshift air-conditioners to combat the humidity but decided against the idea; thinking the ice of the rink itself would keep the building cool. On May 20th 1975 the temperature in Buffalo was 82° F (28° C) with 62% humidity. Spectators at the Aud were noticeably uncomfortable due to the heat, using all sorts of  means to avoid the rising temperature. One such denizen used a rather creative, and ultimately unfortunate, way to beat the heat; A bat that lived in the rafters of the Aud. Before the game the little bat began buzzing around the players during warmups, then it would fly back up into the rafters, only to dive back, and hover around at ice level. When the game started the bat continued to fly around the ice, harassing the players. During a faceoff in the first period Sabres’ forward Jim Lorentz swatted at the poor creature with his stick, hitting it out of the air, and killing the bat instantly. Flyers’ center Rick MacLeish picked up the dead bat, and dumped the lifeless body into the penalty box. This was the moment when things really  got weird… 

Almost instantly after the bat died, a dense fog descended upon the Aud; covering the entire ice surface. Players, referees, spectators, and viewers on TV had trouble following the game in the ghostly atmosphere. Fans were treated to surreal moments as players seemed to disappear into the fog only to reappear in other areas of the ice. Players, especially the goalies, had trouble following the puck in the mist, often not being able to see the puck until it was right in front of them. Play was stopped five times during regulation as the players and officials skated around the ice in hopes of temporarily dissipating the fog. The game itself was a back and forth battle throughout the haze. The Flyers would take the lead and the Sabres would comeback with a goal of their own. Midway through the  third period Sabres’ defender Bill Hajt tied the game at 4-4 sending the game into overtime. During the extra period, the game was delayed seven more times in order to once again temporarily combat the fog. Despite the hazy conditions hindering the goalies, neither team could score almost throughout overtime. Then at 18:29 in the extra period Sabres’ right wing René Robert, on a pass from Gilbert Perreault, fired a rather weak shot on the Flyers’ goal not really intending to score hoping for a rebound; but Flyers’ goalie Bernie Parent never saw the puck until it was in the back of the net. The Sabres celebrated the team’s first ever win in a Stanley Cup Finals on the still fog covered ice. A few days later  the Sabres would win the fourth game at the, this time without the fog, Aud  4-2, but that would be the last win in the series for Buffalo. The Flyers would go on to win game five 5-1 in Philadelphia, then shutout the Sabres 2-0 at the, again fog-free, Aud to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. This would be, as of this writing, the last time the Philadelphia Flyers would win the Stanley Cup. The 1975 Flyers are also the NHL last team consisting of all Canadian-born players to win the Cup. The Buffalo Sabres would not return to the  Stanley Cup Finals until 1999; losing to the Dallas Stars in six games.