1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers season

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1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers
Division 5th West
1969–70 record 17–35–24
Home record 11–14–13
Road record 6–21–11
Goals for 197 (9th)
Goals against 225 (7th)
Team information
General Manager Bud Poile
(to Dec 19)
Keith Allen
(from Dec 22)
Coach Vic Stasiuk
Captain Ed Van Impe
Alternate captains Dick Cherry
Arena Spectrum
Average attendance 13,372[1]
Minor league affiliations Quebec Aces (AHL)[2]
Flint Generals (IHL)[3]
Jersey Devils (EHL)[3]
Team leaders
Goals Gary Dornhoefer (26)
Assists Andre Lacroix (36)
Points Andre Lacroix (58)
Penalties in minutes Earl Heiskala (171)
Plus/minus Simon Nolet (+12)
Wins Bernie Parent (13)
Goals against average Bernie Parent (2.79)
<1968–69 1970–71>

The 1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' third season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, setting a team record for fewest wins and an NHL record for most ties.

Off-season

On May 20, 1969, Keith Allen was named vice president and assistant general manager of the team and replaced as head coach by Vic Stasiuk.[4] Stasiuk spent the previous two seasons as the head coach of the Quebec Aces, the Flyers American Hockey League affiliate.[4]

The Flyers took a chance when they selected a 19-year-old diabetic from Flin Flon, Manitoba named Bobby Clarke with their second draft pick, 17th overall, in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft.

Regular season

By the time training camp came around it was clear that Clarke was the best player on the team, and he quickly became a fan favorite. His 15 goals and 31 assists earned him a trip to the NHL All-Star Game.

On December 11, 1969, the Flyers introduced what would become one of the team's best-known traditions: playing a recording of Kate Smith singing God Bless America instead of the The Star-Spangled Banner before important games. The perception was that the team was more successful on these occasions, so the tradition grew. The move was initially done by Flyers promotion director Lou Scheinfeld as a way to defray national tensions at the time of the Vietnam War: Scheinfeld noticed that people would regularly leave their seats and walk around during the anthem, but showed more respect and often sang along to "God Bless America". To this day, the team plays the song before major playoff games, currently with Lauren Hart (daughter of Hall of Fame Flyers broadcast announcer Gene Hart) performing the first part of the song, a recording of Smith singing the second part, and Lauren Hart joining the recording for the finale. As of the close of the 2013–14 Flyers season, the Flyers have a record of 96–28–4 when God Bless America is sung prior to Flyers home games.[5]

General manager Bud Poile was fired on December 19.[6] Keith Allen was named his replacement on December 22.[6]

The team struggled in 1969–70 recording a franchise worst (as of completion of the 2013–14 season) in wins (17). Even with such a bad output, the Flyers had a seven-point lead on the Oakland Seals with six games to play. However, the Flyers lost their last six games and Oakland made up the deficit. They lost the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot to Oakland, missing the playoffs for the first time.

Season standings

West Division[7]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 St. Louis Blues 76 37 27 12 224 179 +45 86
2 Pittsburgh Penguins 76 26 38 12 182 238 −56 64
3 Minnesota North Stars 76 19 35 22 224 257 −33 60
4 Oakland Seals 76 22 40 14 169 243 −74 58
5 Philadelphia Flyers 76 17 35 24 197 225 −28 58
6 Los Angeles Kings 76 14 52 10 168 290 −122 38


Schedule and results

Regular season

1969–70 regular season
October: 1–1–5, 7 Points (Home: 0–0–4; Road: 1–1–1)
November: 2–7–4, 8 Points (Home: 2–2–3; Road: 0–5–1)
December: 4–5–3, 11 Points (Home: 3–3–0; Road: 1–2–3)
January: 5–6–5, 15 Points (Home: 3–3–2; Road: 2–3–3)
February: 3–6–3, 9 Points (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 1–4–2)
March: 2–7–4, 8 Points (Home: 1–2–3; Road: 1–5–1)
April: 0–3–0, 0 Points (Home: 0–2–0; Road: 0–1–0)

Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season
No. Player Age Pos GP G A Pts +/- PIM
7 Andre Lacroix 24 C 74 22 36 58 −6 14
12 Gary Dornhoefer 26 RW 65 26 29 55 2 96
20 Jim Johnson 27 C 72 18 30 48 1 17
16 Bobby Clarke 20 C 76 15 31 46 1 68
11 Jean-Guy Gendron 35 LW 71 23 21 44 8 54
17 Simon Nolet 28 RW 56 22 22 44 12 36
10 Bill Sutherland 35 LW 51 15 17 32 −2 30
3 Larry Hillman 32 D 76 5 26 31 −9 73
9 Reg Fleming 33 LW 65 9 18 27 −4 134
24 Terry Ball 25 D 61 7 18 25 −7 20
8 Lew Morrison 21 RW 66 9 10 19 −3 19
15 Garry Peters 27 C 59 6 10 16 −9 69
19 Earl Heiskala 27 LW 65 8 7 15 −15 171
14 Joe Watson 26 D 54 3 11 14 0 28
23 Larry Hale 28 D 53 1 9 10 −4 28
2 Ed Van Impe 29 D 65 0 10 10 −1 117
6 Wayne Hillman 31 D 68 3 5 8 −9 69
5 Dick Cherry 32 D 68 3 4 7 −24 23
30 Bernie Parent 24 G 62 0 3 3 N/A 14
21 Dick Sarrazin 24 RW 18 1 1 2 −2 4
18 Rosaire Paiement 24 RW 9 1 1 2 −2 4
21 Serge Bernier 22 C 1 0 1 1 −1 0
4, 21 Ralph MacSweyn 27 D 17 0 0 0 −7 4
1 Doug Favell 24 G 15 0 0 0 N/A 2
21 Darryl Edestrand 24 D 2 0 0 0 −1 6
1 Dunc Wilson 21 G 1 0 0 0 N/A 0

Goaltenders

Regular season
No. Player Age GP W L T SO GA SV% GAA MIN
30 Bernie Parent 24 62 13 29 20 3 171 .920 2.79 3680
1 Doug Favell 24 15 4 5 4 1 43 .917 3.15 820
1 Dunc Wilson 21 1 0 1 0 0 3 .885 3.00 60

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors
Award or honor Recipient Ref
Selected to NHL All-Star Game Bobby Clarke [8]
Bernie Parent

Records

  •   *  NHL record
  •  **  Tied for NHL record
Individual single season records
Record Total Player
Losses 29 Bernie Parent
(tied by Antero Niittymaki in 2006–07)
Shots against 2,125 Bernie Parent
Team single season records
Record Total
Fewest wins 17
Fewest wins on road 6
(tied in 1968–69)
Most ties 24*
Most ties on road 13**
Team regular season streaks records
Record Games Date(s)
Longest home tie streak 4 October 19, 1969 through October 30, 1969

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 5, 1969, the day after the deciding game of the 1969 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 10, 1970, the day of the deciding game of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals.[9]

Trades

Date Details Ref
May 14, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
cash		 To St. Louis Blues
Ron Buchanan		 [10]
May 14, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
Wayne Hillman		 To Minnesota North Stars
John Miszuk		 [11]
June 7, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
Reg Fleming		 To New York Rangers
Don Blackburn
Leon Rochefort		 [12]
June 10, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
$30,000 cash
future considerations		 To Minnesota North Stars
Bob Barlow		 [13]
June 12, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
Jean-Guy Gendron		 To Montreal Canadiens
7th-round pick in 1969		 [14]

Signings

Free agency

The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency.

Date Player Previous team (league) Contract details Ref
September 29, 1969 Jim Mair Johnstown Jets (EHL) [15]

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date Player Contract details Ref
July 24, 1969 Andre Lacroix 2 years [16]
August 21, 1969 Serge Bernier [17]
August 21, 1969 Gerry Meehan [17]

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

Date Player Previous team (league) Draft Contract details Ref
October 1, 1969 Bobby Clarke Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL) 1969 2nd-round pick [18]

NHL Inter-League Draft

The 1969 NHL Inter-League Draft was held on June 10, 1969.[19] The draft featured NHL teams selecting players from American Hockey League (AHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) teams. It cost $15,000 to make a claim.[19]

Selections by the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1969 NHL Inter-League Draft[13][19]
Round Pick Player Selected by Selected from Notes
1 5 Bob Barlow Philadelphia Flyers Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Barlow was traded shortly after draft

NHL Intra-League Draft

The 1969 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 11, 1969.[20][21] Each NHL team placed 14 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.[20] It cost $30,000 to make a claim.[20]

The Flyers protected the following players:[20] goaltenders Doug Favell and Bernie Parent, and skaters Serge Bernier, Mike Byers, Reg Fleming, Jean-Guy Gendron, Wayne Hillman, Jim Johnson, Andre Lacroix, Ralph MacSweyn, Gerry Meehan, Rosaire Paiement, Dick Sarrazin, Bill Sutherland, Ed Van Impe, and Joe Watson.

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1969 NHL Intra-League Draft[20][22]
Round Pick Player Selected by Selected from Notes
1 5 Larry Hillman Philadelphia Flyers Montreal Canadiens Flyers removed Jean-Guy Gendron from protected list
Canadiens claimed Gendron in lieu of cash

NHL Reverse Draft

The 1969 NHL Reverse Draft was held on June 12, 1969.[23] The Reverse Draft featured American Hockey League (AHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) teams selecting unprotected players from NHL teams.[23] It cost $15,000 to make a claim.[23]

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1969 NHL Reverse Draft[23][24][25][26][27]
Round Pick Player Selected by Selected from Notes
1 5 Rene Drolet Quebec Aces (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Played entire 1968–69 season with Quebec
1 10 Jean Lapointe Hershey Bears (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Played entire 1968–69 season with Quebec
2 17 Bob Sneddon Springfield Kings (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Finished 1968–69 season with Quebec
2 18 Roger Pelletier Quebec Aces (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Played entire 1968–69 season with Quebec

Departures

The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement. Players who were under contract and left the team during the season are marked with an asterisk (*).

Date Player New team (league) Via Ref
N/A Myron Stankiewicz — Retirement [28]
N/A Larry Zeidel — Retirement [29]
September 24, 1969 Allan Stanley — Retirement [30]

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on June 11, 1969.[31]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1969 and their NHL career regular season statistics
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team (league) GP G A Pts PIM W L T GAA
1 6 Bob Currier Center  Canada Cornwall Royals (CJAHL) &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
2 17 Bobby Clarke Center  Canada Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL) 1144 358 852 1210 1453 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
3 28 Willie Brossart Defense  Canada Estevan Bruins (WCHL) 129 1 14 15 88 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
4 40 Michel Belhumeur Goaltender  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QJHL) 65 0 4 4 12 9 36 7 4.61
5 52 Dave Schultz Left Wing  Canada Sorel Eperviers (QJHL) 535 79 121 200 2294 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
6 64 Don Saleski Right Wing  Canada Regina Pats (SJHL) 543 128 125 253 629 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
8 81 Claude Chartre Center  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QJHL) &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
Draft notes[32]

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Quebec Aces of the AHL,[2][33] the Flint Generals of the IHL,[3] and the Jersey Devils of the EHL.[3]

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ FlyersHistory.com webpage with complete Kate Smith record Retrieved May 12, 2014
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Ron Buchanan at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Jim Mair at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Rene Drolet at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Bob Sneddon at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  27. ↑ Roger Pelletier at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  28. ↑ Myron Stankiewicz's biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved March 11, 2015
  29. ↑ Larry Zeidel's biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved March 11, 2015
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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