1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers season

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1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers
Campbell Conference Champions
Patrick Division Champions
Division 1st Patrick
Conference 1st Campbell
1975–76 record 51–13–16
Home record 36–2–2
Road record 15–11–14
Goals for 348 (1st)
Goals against 209 (3rd)
Team information
General Manager Keith Allen
Coach Fred Shero
Captain Bobby Clarke
Alternate captains None
Arena Spectrum
Average attendance 17,077[1]
Minor league affiliations Richmond Robins (AHL)[2]
Philadelphia Firebirds (NAHL)[3]
Team leaders
Goals Reggie Leach (61)
Assists Bobby Clarke (89)
Points Bobby Clarke (119)
Penalties in minutes Dave Schultz (307)
Plus/minus Bobby Clarke (+83)
Wins Wayne Stephenson (40)
Goals against average Gary Inness (1.50)
<1974–75 1976–77>

The 1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' ninth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the third consecutive year, but they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in a four-game sweep.

Regular season

The Flyers recorded the best record in team history (points wise) with a record of 51–13–16 in 1975–76. They also tied the record set by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins for most consecutive home ice wins, with 20. The LCB line, featuring Reggie Leach at right-wing, Bobby Clarke at center, and Bill Barber at left-wing, set an NHL record for goals by a single line with 141 (Leach 61, Clarke 30, Barber 50). Clarke, on his way to a third Hart Trophy, set a club record for points in one season with 119.

The highlight of the season had no bearing on the season standings. On January 11 at the Spectrum, the Flyers, as part of the Super Series '76, played a memorable exhibition game against the Soviet Union's dominant Central Red Army team. As the Bullies had put intimidation to good use the past three years, the Flyers' rugged style of play led the Soviets to leave the ice midway through the first period, protesting a hit by Ed Van Impe on Valeri Kharlamov (whom Clarke had slashed on the ankle in the famous Summit Series '72). After some delay, the Soviets returned after they were warned that they would lose their salary for the entire series. The Flyers went on to win the game rather easily, 4–1, and were the only team to defeat the Red Army outright in the series. Head coach Fred Shero would proclaim, "Yes we are world champions. If they had won, they would have been world champions. We beat the hell out of a machine."[4]

Season standings

Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Philadelphia Flyers 80 51 13 16 348 209 118
New York Islanders 80 42 21 17 297 190 101
Atlanta Flames 80 35 33 12 262 237 82
New York Rangers 80 29 42 9 262 333 67

[5]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

Heading into the playoffs, the Flyers squeaked past Toronto in seven games and defeated Boston in five games, Game 5 featuring a five-goal outburst by Leach, the Riverton Rifle, to head to a third straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the Flyers didn't come close to a third straight championship, as they ran into an up-and-coming dynasty in Montreal, and were swept in four straight games. Despite the loss, Leach was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for scoring 19 goals in 16 playoff games.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1975–76 regular season
October: 7–1–2, 16 Points (Home: 5–0–0; Road: 2–1–2)
November: 9–2–4, 22 Points (Home: 8–1–2; Road: 1–1–2)
December: 6–3–2, 14 Points (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 3–2–2)
January: 8–4–2, 18 Points (Home: 4–0–0; Road: 4–4–2)
February: 10–0–4, 24 Points (Home: 7–0–1; Road: 3–0–3)
March: 9–2–2, 20 Points (Home: 7–0–0; Road: 2–2–2)
April: 2–1–0, 4 Points (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 0–0–0)

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

Playoffs

1976 Stanley Cup playoffs
Quarterfinals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - Flyers win 4–3
Semifinals vs. Boston Bruins - Flyers win 4–1
Stanley Cup Finals vs. Montreal Canadiens - Canadiens win 4–0

Legend:       Win       Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
  • dagger = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
  • double-dagger = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
Regular season Playoffs
No. Player Age Pos GP G A Pts +/- PIM GP G A Pts PIM
16 Bobby Clarke 26 C 76 30 89 119 83 136 16 2 14 16 28
7 Bill Barber 23 LW 80 50 62 112 74 104 16 6 7 13 18
27 Reggie Leach 25 RW 80 61 30 91 73 41 16 19 5 24 8
26 Orest Kindrachuk 25 C 76 26 49 75 32 101 16 4 7 11 4
12 Gary Dornhoefer 32 RW 74 28 35 63 14 128 16 3 4 7 43
10 Mel Bridgman 20 C 80 23 27 50 22 86 16 6 8 14 31
11 Don Saleski 26 RW 78 21 26 47 33 68 16 6 5 11 47
18 Ross Lonsberry 28 LW 80 19 28 47 29 87 16 4 3 7 2
19 Rick MacLeish 26 C 51 22 23 45 6 16 — — — — —
5 Larry Goodenough 23 D 77 8 34 42 45 83 16 3 11 14 6
3 Tom Bladon 23 D 80 14 23 37 45 68 16 2 6 8 14
6 Andre Dupont 26 D 75 9 27 36 40 214 15 2 2 4 46
20 Jimmy Watson 23 D 79 2 34 36 65 66 16 1 8 9 6
8 Dave Schultz 26 LW 71 13 19 32 24 307 16 2 2 4 90
14 Joe Watson 32 D 78 2 22 24 56 28 16 1 1 2 10
9 Bob Kelly 25 LW 79 12 8 20 3 125 16 0 2 2 44
15 Terry Crisp 32 C 38 6 9 15 6 28 10 0 5 5 2
2 Ed Van Impedouble-dagger 35 D 40 0 8 8 16 60 — — — — —
29 Jack McIlhargey 23 D 57 1 2 3 11 205 15 0 3 3 41
21 Larry Wright 24 C 2 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
35 Wayne Stephenson 31 G 66 0 0 0 N/A 11 8 0 0 0 0
1 Bernie Parent 30 G 11 0 0 0 N/A 2 8 0 0 0 0
30 Bobby Taylordouble-dagger 31 G 4 0 0 0 N/A 2 — — — — —
25 Terry Murray 25 D 3 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 1 1 0
30 Gary Innessdagger 26 G 2 0 0 0 N/A 0 — — — — —
33 Jerome Mrazek 24 G 1 0 0 0 N/A 0 — — — — —
21 Bob Siroisdouble-dagger 21 RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
17 Paul Holmgren 20 RW 1 0 0 0 0 2 — — — — —

Goaltenders

  • dagger = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
  • double-dagger = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
Regular season Playoffs
No. Player Age GP W L T SO GA SV% GAA MIN GP W L SO GA SV% GAA MIN
35 Wayne Stephenson 31 66 40 10 13 1 164 .907 2.58 3819 8 4 4 0 22 .904 2.67 494
1 Bernie Parent 30 11 6 2 3 0 24 .908 2.34 615 8 4 4 0 27 .892 3.38 480
30 Bobby Taylordouble-dagger 31 4 3 1 0 0 15 .880 3.75 240 — — — — — — — —
30 Gary Innessdagger 26 2 2 0 0 0 3 .950 1.50 120 — — — — — — — —
33 Jerome Mrazek 24 1 0 0 0 0 1 .667 10.00 6 — — — — — — — —

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors
Award or honor Recipient Notes Ref
Conn Smythe Trophy Reggie Leach [6]
Hart Memorial Trophy Bobby Clarke [7]
NHL First All-Star Team Bill Barber (Left Wing) [8]
Bobby Clarke (Center)
NHL Second All-Star Team Reggie Leach (Right Wing) [8]
Selected to NHL All-Star Game Bill Barber [9][10]
Bobby Clarke Did not play
Andre Dupont
Reggie Leach
Rick MacLeish Replaced Clarke
Fred Shero (Coach)
Wayne Stephenson
Jim Watson
Team awards[11]
Award Recipient
Barry Ashbee Trophy Jim Watson

Records

  •   *  NHL record
  •  **  Tied for NHL record
Individual single season records
Record Total Player
Goals 61 Reggie Leach
Assists 89 Bobby Clarke
(tied by Clarke in 1974–75)
Shots on goal 380 Bill Barber
Goals, playoffs 19** Reggie Leach
Team single season records
Record Total
Wins at home 36**
Fewest losses at home 2
Points 118
Winning percentage .738
Individual post season single game records
Record Player Total Date and opponent
Goals Reggie Leach 5** May 6, 1976 vs. Boston Bruins
Assists Bobby Clarke 4 May 6, 1976 vs. Boston Bruins
(tied five times by five different players)
Penalties in minutes Dave Schultz 42* April 22, 1976 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Team post season single game records
Record Total Date and opponent
Goals, one period 5 April 25, 1976 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
(tied four times)
Fastest two goals 13 seconds apart April 20, 1976 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
(goals scored by Gary Dornhoefer and Don Saleski)
Individual regular season streaks records
Record Player Games Dates
Longest assists streak Bobby Clarke 12 March 11, 1976 through April 3, 1976
(tied by Clarke from February 1, 1978 through March 16, 1978)
Individual post season streaks records
Record Player Total Dates
Longest goals streak Reggie Leach 10* April 17, 1976 through May 9, 1976
Team regular season streaks records
Record Games Dates
Longest home winning streak 20 January 4, 1976 through April 3, 1976

Milestones

Franchise firsts
Milestone Player Details Date Ref
60-goal season Reggie Leach Even-strength goal at 10:06 of the second period against Ron Low April 1, 1976 [12]
5-goal game, playoffs Reggie Leach 1: Even-strength goal at 5:45 of the first period against Gilles Gilbert May 6, 1976 [13]
2: Even-strength goal at 2:02 of the second period against Gilbert
3: Even-strength goal at 8:51 of the second period against Gilbert
4: Even-strength goal at 17:09 of the second period against Gilbert
5: Even-strength goal at 8:07 of the third period against Gilbert

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 28, 1975, the day after the deciding game of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 16, 1976, the day of the deciding game of the 1976 Stanley Cup Finals.[14]

Trades

Date Details Ref
June 3, 1975 To Philadelphia Flyers
1st-round pick in 1975		 To Washington Capitals
Bill Clement
Don McLean
1st-round pick in 1975		 [15]
December 15, 1975 To Philadelphia Flyers
future considerations[a]		 To Washington Capitals
Bob Sirois		 [16]
March 9, 1976 To Philadelphia Flyers
Gary Inness
future considerations[b]		 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Bobby Taylor
Ed Van Impe		 [17]
Trade notes
  • a The Capitals sent John Paddock to the Flyers on September 1, 1976 to complete trade.[16]
  • b The Flyers later received the Penguins' 1977 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th-round picks to complete the trade.

Signings

Free agency

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

Date Player Previous team (league) Contract details Ref
August 6, 1975 Dave Kelly Providence Friars (HE) [18]
September 10, 1975 Larry Wright California Golden Seals [19]
September 10, 1975 Wayne Schaab Omaha Knights (CHL) [19]
September 23, 1975 Terry Murray California Golden Seals [20]

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date Player Contract details Ref
September 5, 1975 Dave Schultz 5 years, $350,000 [21]
September 16, 1975 Orest Kindrachuk multi-year

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

Date Player Previous team (league) Draft Contract details Ref
June 6, 1975 Mel Bridgman Victoria Cougars (WCHL) 1975 1st-round pick 5 years, $500,000 [22]
August 6, 1975 Bob Ritchie Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL) 1975 3rd-round pick [18]
March 7, 1976 Paul Holmgren Minnesota Fighting Saints (WHA) 1975 6th-round pick multi-year [23]

NHL Intra-League Draft

The 1975 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 17, 1975.[24] Each NHL team placed 18 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.[24] It cost $40,000 to make a claim.[24] The Flyers were not involved in any selections during the draft.[24]

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 Notes Ref
June 2, 1975 Ted Harris — Retirement Named head coach of Minnesota North Stars [25]

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the NHL's office in Montreal, Quebec on June 3, 1975.[26]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975 and their NHL career regular season statistics
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team (league) GP G A Pts PIM W L T GAA Notes
1 1 Mel Bridgman Center  Canada Victoria Cougars (WCHL) 977 252 449 701 1625 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 [a]
3 54 Bob Ritchie Left Wing  Canada Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL) 29 8 4 12 10 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
4 72 Rick St. Croix Goaltender  Canada Oshawa Generals (OHL) 131 0 2 2 2 49 54 18 3.71
5 90 Gary Morrison Forward  United States Michigan Wolverines (CCHA) 43 1 15 16 70 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
6 108 Paul Holmgren Forward  United States Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA) 527 144 179 323 1684 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
7 126 Dana Decker Left Wing  United States Michigan Tech Huskies (WCHA) &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
9 160 Viktor Khatulev Defense  Latvia Dynamo Riga (USSR) &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
10 175 Duffy Smith Defense  Canada Bowling Green Falcons (CCHA) &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
Draft notes[27]

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Richmond Robins of the AHL[2][28] and the Philadelphia Firebirds of the NAHL.[3]

References

General
Specific
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  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 2014–15 NHL Official Guide & Record Book, p. 230–32
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  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 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.
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  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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