1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers | |
---|---|
Division | 5th West |
1971–72 record | 26–38–14 |
Home record | 19–13–7 |
Road record | 7–25–7 |
Goals for | 200 (14th) |
Goals against | 236 (7th) |
Team information | |
General manager | Keith Allen |
Coach | Fred Shero |
Captain | Ed Van Impe |
Alternate captains | Larry Brown (Oct.–Jan.) Jean-Guy Gendron |
Arena | Spectrum |
Average attendance | 14,379[1] |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Richmond Robins San Diego Gulls Jersey Devils Salem Rebels |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Bobby Clarke (35) |
Assists | Bobby Clarke (46) |
Points | Bobby Clarke (81) |
Penalty minutes | Gary Dornhoefer (183) |
Plus/minus | Bobby Clarke (+22) |
Wins | Doug Favell (18) |
Goals against average | Doug Favell (2.81) |
The 1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' fifth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.
The Flyers fired head coach Vic Stasiuk on May 27, 1971,[2] after heavy criticism by Flyers players.[3] On June 2, the Flyers hired Fred Shero to replace him.[3] In the previous two seasons Shero had guided two teams to league championships, the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League and the Omaha Knights of the Central Hockey League.[3]
Bobby Clarke continued to progress as he led the team in goals (35), assists (46), and points (81) in 1971–72 and he became the first Flyer to win an NHL award, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. However, in the season's final game, the Flyers needed a win or a tie against the second-year Buffalo Sabres to beat out the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final playoff spot. The score was tied late in the game, but with just four seconds on the clock, former Flyer Gerry Meehan took a shot from just inside the blue line that eluded Flyers goalie Doug Favell.[4] With identical records, the playoff berth went to the Penguins because Philly lost the season series 2–3–1.
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 78 | 46 | 17 | 15 | 256 | 166 | +90 | 107 |
2 | Minnesota North Stars | 78 | 37 | 29 | 12 | 212 | 191 | +21 | 86 |
3 | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 28 | 39 | 11 | 208 | 247 | −39 | 67 |
4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 26 | 38 | 14 | 220 | 258 | −38 | 66 |
5 | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 26 | 38 | 14 | 200 | 236 | −36 | 66 |
6 | California Golden Seals | 78 | 21 | 39 | 18 | 216 | 288 | −72 | 60 |
7 | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 20 | 49 | 9 | 206 | 305 | −99 | 49 |
Vs. West Division[edit]
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Vs. East Division[edit]
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1971–72 regular season[7] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 5–4–1, 11 points (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–3–1)
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November: 2–7–3, 7 points (home: 2–4–2; road: 0–3–1)
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December: 4–7–1, 9 points (home: 4–2–1; road: 0–5–0)
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January: 3–8–3, 9 points (home: 3–2–1; road: 0–6–2)
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February: 5–6–3, 13 points (home: 2–1–1; road: 3–5–2)
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March: 7–5–2, 16 points (home: 5–3–1; road: 2–2–1)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
16 | Bobby Clarke | C | 78 | 35 | 46 | 81 | 22 | 87 |
12 | Gary Dornhoefer | RW | 75 | 17 | 32 | 49 | −15 | 183 |
17 | Simon Nolet | RW | 67 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 6 | 22 |
22 | Rick Foley† | D | 58 | 11 | 25 | 36 | −16 | 168 |
9 | Bob Kelly | LW | 78 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 16 | 157 |
20 | Jim Johnson‡ | C | 46 | 13 | 15 | 28 | −21 | 12 |
21 | Serge Bernier‡ | C | 44 | 12 | 11 | 23 | −20 | 51 |
10[a] | Bill Clement | C | 49 | 9 | 14 | 23 | −14 | 39 |
5 | Brent Hughes | D | 63 | 2 | 20 | 22 | 6 | 35 |
21 | Bill Flett† | RW | 31 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 5 | 26 |
4 | Barry Ashbee | D | 73 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 2 | 75 |
11 | Jean-Guy Gendron | LW | 56 | 6 | 13 | 19 | −2 | 36 |
25 | Jean Potvin† | D | 29 | 3 | 12 | 15 | −6 | 6 |
18 | Ross Lonsberry† | LW | 32 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −9 | 22 |
7 | Michel Parizeau† | LW | 37 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −6 | 10 |
18 | Bill Lesuk‡ | LW | 45 | 7 | 6 | 13 | −14 | 31 |
2 | Ed Van Impe | D | 73 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −8 | 78 |
8 | Lew Morrison | LW | 58 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −18 | 26 |
14 | Joe Watson | D | 65 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −17 | 38 |
20 | Eddie Joyal† | C | 26 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −13 | 8 |
24 | Dick Sarrazin | RW | 28 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
3 | Willie Brossart | D | 42 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −7 | 12 |
19 | Rick MacLeish | C | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −9 | 9 |
15 | Larry Mickey‡ | RW | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 8 |
6 | Wayne Hillman | D | 47 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −16 | 21 |
23 | Larry Keenan† | LW | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −4 | 2 |
25 | Pierre Plante | RW | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −11 | 15 |
1 | Doug Favell | G | 54 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 32 | |
19[b] | Larry Hale | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −5 | 0 |
19 | Ralph MacSweyn | D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
10 | Larry Wright | C | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −6 | 2 |
3 | Larry Brown‡ | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
23 | Rene Drolet | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
30 | Bruce Gamble‡ | G | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
3 | Jim Mair | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
24[c] | Don McLeod | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
25 | Don Saleski | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
25 | Dave Schultz | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
30 | Bobby Taylor | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
No. | Player | Regular season | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
1 | Doug Favell | 54 | 52 | 18 | 25 | 9 | 1655 | 140 | 2.81 | .915 | 5 | 2,985 |
30 | Bruce Gamble‡ | 24 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 659 | 58 | 2.94 | .912 | 2 | 1,184 |
30 | Bobby Taylor | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 193 | 16 | 3.00 | .917 | 0 | 320 |
24[c] | Don McLeod | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 109 | 14 | 4.65 | .872 | 0 | 181 |
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (annual) |
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy | Bobby Clarke | [8] |
League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Bobby Clarke | [9] |
Simon Nolet |
Among the team records set during the 1971–72 season was a 19-game winless streak on the road (15 losses and 4 ties) from October 23 to January 27.[10] On October 31, Simon Nolet became the first Flyer to score three goals in a single period and four points in a single period, both franchise regular season records that have been matched but not exceeded several times, the earliest instance occurring on March 9, 1972, by Bill Flett for the goals record and Flett and Bobby Clarke for the points record.[11][12] On January 9, the Flyers scored six power play goals during a game against the California Golden Seals, a mark which was later matched during the 1988–89 season.[13]
Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
First game | Pierre Plante | October 9, 1971 | [14] |
Larry Wright | |||
Bill Clement | December 11, 1971 | ||
Don Saleski | January 11, 1972 | ||
Dave Schultz | January 20, 1972 | ||
Bobby Taylor | February 16, 1972 | ||
Rene Drolet | April 2, 1972 |
Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
30-goal season | Bobby Clarke | March 13, 1972 | [15] |
The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 19, 1971, the day after the deciding game of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 11, 1972, the day of the deciding game of the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals.[16]
Date | Details | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|
June 13, 1971 | To Philadelphia Flyers |
To Los Angeles Kings |
[17] |
September 8, 1971 | To Philadelphia Flyers
|
To Portland Buckaroos (WHL) |
[18] |
October 15, 1971 | To Philadelphia Flyers |
To Chicago Black Hawks |
[19] |
November 16, 1971 | To Philadelphia Flyers |
To Buffalo Sabres |
[20] |
January 28, 1972 | To Philadelphia Flyers |
To Los Angeles Kings |
[21] |
Date | Player | Former team | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 8, 1971 | Larry Brown | New York Rangers | Intra-league draft | [22][23][24] |
Frank Spring | Boston Bruins | Intra-league draft | [22][24][23][25] | |
June 9, 1971 | Don McLeod | Detroit Red Wings | Reverse draft[d] | [26][27] |
July 1971 | Orest Kindrachuk | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) | Free agency | [28] |
September 11, 1971 | Bob Hurlburt | Quebec Aces (AHL) | Free agency | |
December 8, 1971 | Michel Parizeau | St. Louis Blues | Waivers | [29] |
Date | Player | New team | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 8, 1971 | Garry Peters | Boston Bruins | Intra-league draft | [22][23][30] |
September 20, 1971 | Keith Wright | Release | ||
February 9, 1972 | Bruce Gamble | Retirement[e] | [31] |
Date | Player | Term | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
August 7, 1971 | Pierre Plante | 2-year | [32] |
August 16, 1971 | Bruce Gamble | [33] | |
September 2, 1971 | Larry Brown | [34] | |
Bob Kelly | [34] | ||
Rick MacLeish | [34] | ||
September 5, 1971 | Jim Johnson | [35] | |
Lew Morrison | [35] | ||
Joe Watson | [35] | ||
September 7, 1971 | Gary Dornhoefer | [36] | |
Wayne Hillman | [36] | ||
Danny Schock | [36] | ||
Frank Spring | [36] | ||
Ed Van Impe | [36] | ||
September 8, 1971 | Serge Bernier | [18] | |
Jean-Guy Gendron | [18] | ||
Bill Lesuk | [18] | ||
Larry Mickey | [18] | ||
September 10, 1971 | Andre Lacroix | ||
October 7, 1971 | Doug Favell | ||
March 20, 1972 | Bobby Clarke | 5-year extension | [32] |
N/A | Glen Irwin | 2-year | [32] |
Don McCulloch | 2-year | [32] | |
Larry Wright | 2-year | [32] |
Philadelphia's picks at the 1971 NHL amateur draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, on June 10, 1971.[37]
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | Larry Wright | Center | Canada | Regina Pats (WCHL) | |
1 | 9 | Pierre Plante | Right wing | Canada | Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL) | [f] |
3 | 36 | Glen Irwin | Defense | Canada | Estevan Bruins (WCHL) | |
4 | 50 | Ted Scharf | Right wing | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHA) | |
5 | 64 | Don McCulloch | Defense | Canada | Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA) | |
6 | 78 | Yvon Bilodeau | Defense | Canada | Estevan Bruins (WCHL) | |
7 | 92 | Bobby Gerrard | Right wing | Canada | Regina Pats (WCHL) | |
8 | 106 | Jerome Mrazek | Goaltender | Canada | University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA) |
The Flyers were affiliated with the Richmond Robins of the AHL,[39][40] the San Diego Gulls of the WHL,[41] and the Jersey Devils and Salem Rebels of the EHL.[41]