1977–78 Philadelphia Flyers | |
---|---|
Division | 2nd Patrick |
Conference | 2nd Campbell |
1977–78 record | 45–20–15 |
Home record | 29–6–5 |
Road record | 16–14–10 |
Goals for | 296 (4th) |
Goals against | 200 (2nd) |
Team information | |
General manager | Keith Allen |
Coach | Fred Shero |
Captain | Bobby Clarke |
Alternate captains | None[a] |
Arena | Spectrum |
Average attendance | 17,077[1] |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Maine Mariners Philadelphia Firebirds |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Bill Barber (41) |
Assists | Bobby Clarke (68) |
Points | Bobby Clarke (89) |
Penalty minutes | André Dupont (225) |
Plus/minus | Bobby Clarke (+47) |
Wins | Bernie Parent (29) |
Goals against average | Bernie Parent (2.22) |
The 1977–78 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 11th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Flyers lost their hold on the Patrick Division in 1977–78 and settled for second place.
Tom Bladon's 8 points (4 goals and 4 assists) in a game against the Cleveland Barons on December 11 set an NHL record for a defenseman.[2]
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Islanders | 80 | 48 | 17 | 15 | 334 | 210 | 111 |
Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 45 | 20 | 15 | 296 | 200 | 105 |
Atlanta Flames | 80 | 34 | 27 | 19 | 274 | 252 | 87 |
New York Rangers | 80 | 30 | 37 | 13 | 279 | 280 | 73 |
[3]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.
Patrick Division record vs. opponents
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After sweeping the Colorado Rockies in 2 games in the preliminary round, the Flyers moved on and beat Buffalo in five games. They faced Boston in the semifinals for the second consecutive season, and lost again, this time in five games.
1977–78 regular season[5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 5–2–1, 11 points (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–1–1)
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November: 9–2–2, 20 points (home: 6–1–1; road: 3–1–1)
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December: 10–3–1, 21 points (home: 5–1–0; road: 5–2–1)
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January: 4–4–5, 13 points (home: 3–0–3; road: 1–4–2)
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February: 7–4–2, 16 points (home: 5–2–0; road: 2–2–2)
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March: 8–4–2, 18 points (home: 6–0–1; road: 2–4–1)
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April: 2–1–2, 6 points (home: 1–1–0; road: 1–0–2)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
1978 Stanley Cup playoffs[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preliminary Round vs. Colorado Rockies – Flyers win 2–0
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Quarterfinals vs. Buffalo Sabres – Flyers win 4–1
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Semifinals vs. Boston Bruins – Bruins win 4–1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legend:
Win Loss |
No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
16 | Bobby Clarke | C | 71 | 21 | 68 | 89 | 47 | 83 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −5 | 8 |
7 | Bill Barber | LW | 80 | 41 | 31 | 72 | 31 | 34 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 9 | −2 | 2 |
19 | Rick MacLeish | LW | 76 | 31 | 39 | 70 | 24 | 33 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 4 |
26 | Orest Kindrachuk | C | 73 | 17 | 45 | 62 | 35 | 128 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
2 | Bob Dailey | D | 76 | 21 | 36 | 57 | 45 | 62 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −2 | 22 |
27 | Reggie Leach | RW | 72 | 24 | 28 | 52 | 20 | 24 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
18 | Ross Lonsberry | LW | 78 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 41 | 45 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −3 | 6 |
10 | Mel Bridgman | C | 76 | 16 | 32 | 48 | 26 | 203 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 36 |
11 | Don Saleski | RW | 70 | 27 | 18 | 45 | 34 | 44 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
3 | Tom Bladon | D | 79 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 32 | 57 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −4 | 11 |
17 | Paul Holmgren | RW | 62 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 23 | 190 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −7 | 26 |
9 | Bob Kelly | LW | 74 | 19 | 13 | 32 | 15 | 95 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 26 |
29 | Barry Dean | LW | 56 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 12 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
5 | Rick Lapointe | D | 47 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 35 | 91 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −3 | 19 |
20 | Jimmy Watson | D | 71 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 33 | 62 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
25 | Kevin McCarthy | D | 62 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 29 | 32 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
14 | Joe Watson | D | 65 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
6 | Andre Dupont | D | 69 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 31 | 225 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
12 | Gary Dornhoefer | RW | 47 | 7 | 5 | 12 | −3 | 62 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
8 | Dave Hoyda | LW | 41 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −5 | 119 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
22 | Harvey Bennett‡ | C | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
32 | Blake Dunlop† | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
21 | Frank Bathe | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
28 | Drew Callander | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
21 | Jim Cunningham | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
15 | Al Hill | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
1 | Bernie Parent | G | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
30 | Rick St. Croix | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
35 | Wayne Stephenson | G | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
No. | Player | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
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GP | GS | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | GS | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
1 | Bernie Parent | 49 | 48 | 29 | 6 | 13 | 1223 | 108 | 2.22 | .912 | 7 | 2,919 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 306 | 33 | 2.75 | .892 | 0 | 719 |
35 | Wayne Stephenson | 26 | 25 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 648 | 68 | 2.76 | .895 | 3 | 1,480 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
30 | Rick St. Croix | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 165 | 20 | 3.05 | .879 | 0 | 394 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Bill Barber | [6] |
Tom Bladon | |||
Bobby Clarke | |||
Bob Dailey | |||
Fred Shero (Coach) | |||
Wayne Stephenson | |||
Jim Watson | |||
Team | Barry Ashbee Trophy | Jim Watson | [7] |
Class Guy Award | Joe Watson | [7] |
On December 11, 1977, defenseman Tom Bladon had a record-breaking game against the Cleveland Barons. He scored four goals, tying a team record, and picked up four assists for a total of eight points, a team record and tied for the NHL record among defenseman.[8][9][10] His plus/minus of +10 in the game is an NHL single game record.[11] Goaltender Bernie Parent won a team record ten consecutive games from November 20 to December 28.[12] On April 1, Bill Barber tied a team record by scoring two shorthanded goals in a single game.[13]
During the playoffs, Mel Bridgman scored the fastest playoff overtime goal in team history (23 seconds) to end game one of the team's preliminary round series against the Colorado Rockies.[14] The three goals they allowed to Colorado in two games is the fewest goals the Flyers have allowed in any playoff series.[15] On May 11, Orest Kindrachuk scored the two fastest goals by a single player in team playoff history, scoring eleven seconds apart.[16]
Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
First game | Kevin McCarthy | October 13, 1977 | [17] |
Dave Hoyda | October 15, 1977 | ||
Rick St. Croix | February 16, 1978 | ||
Jim Cunningham | February 28, 1978 | ||
500th game played | Bernie Parent | December 8, 1977 | [18] |
The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 15, 1977, the day after the deciding game of the 1977 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 25, 1978, the day of the deciding game of the 1978 Stanley Cup Finals.[19]
Date | Details | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|
June 14, 1977 | To Philadelphia Flyers
|
To Buffalo Sabres
|
|
June 17, 1977 | To Philadelphia Flyers
|
To Los Angeles Kings |
[20] |
August 5, 1977 | To Philadelphia Flyers |
To Colorado Rockies |
[21] |
October 28, 1977 | To Philadelphia Flyers
|
To Minnesota North Stars |
[22] |
November 1, 1977 | To Philadelphia Flyers |
To Detroit Red Wings
|
[23] |
Date | Player | Former team | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
August 16, 1977 | Guy Delparte | Oklahoma City Blazers (CHL) | Free agency | [24] |
August 17, 1977 | Brian Burke | Providence College (HE) | Free agency | [25] |
September 1977 | Jim Cunningham | Michigan State University (CCHA) | Free agency | [26] |
September 15, 1977 | Larry Romanchych | Atlanta Flames | Free agency | [27] |
September 28, 1977 | Bernie Johnston | Syracuse Blazers (NAHL) | Free agency | [28] |
October 7, 1977 | Frank Bathe | Port Huron Flags (IHL) | Free agency | [29] |
October 23, 1977 | Mike Busniuk | Nova Scotia Voyageurs (AHL) | Free agency | [30] |
November 6, 1977 | Rudolf Tajcnar | HC Slovan Bratislava (TCH) | Free agency | [31] |
Date | Player | New team | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
September 14, 1977 | Gary Inness | Indianapolis Racers (WHA) | Free agency | [32] |
April 1978 | Gary Dornhoefer | Retirement[c] | [33] |
Date | Player | Term | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
June 30, 1977 | Kevin McCarthy | 3-year | [34] |
August 2, 1977 | Tom Gorence | [35] | |
Dave Hoyda | [35] |
Philadelphia's picks at the 1977 NHL amateur draft, which was held at the NHL's office in Montreal, on June 14, 1977.[36]
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | Kevin McCarthy | Defense | Canada | Winnipeg Monarchs (WCHL) | |
2 | 35 | Tom Gorence | Right wing | United States | University of Minnesota (CCHA) | |
3 | 53 | Dave Hoyda | Left wing | Canada | Portland Winter Hawks (WCHL) | |
4 | 67 | Yves Guillemette | Goaltender | Canada | Shawinigan Dynamos (QMJHL) | [d] |
4 | 71 | Rene Hamelin | Right wing | Canada | Shawinigan Dynamos (QMJHL) | |
5 | 89 | Dan Clark | Defense | Canada | Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL) | |
6 | 107 | Alain Chaput | Center | Canada | Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL) | |
7 | 123 | Richard Dalpe | Center | Canada | Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL) | |
8 | 135 | Pete Peeters | Goaltender | Canada | Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL) | [e] |
8 | 136 | Clint Eccles | Center | Canada | Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL) | [f] |
8 | 139 | Mike Greeder | Defense | United States | St. Paul Vulcans (MJHL) | |
9 | 150 | Tom Bauer | Wing | United States | Providence College (HE) | [e] |
9 | 151 | Michael Bauman | Defense | Canada | Hull Olympiques (QMJHL) | [f] |
9 | 153 | Bruce Crowder | Forward | Canada | University of New Hampshire (HE) | |
10 | 158 | Rob Nicholson | Defense | United States | St. Paul Vulcans (MJHL) | [e] |
10 | 159 | Dave Isherwood | Center | Canada | Winnipeg Monarchs (WCHL) | [f] |
10 | 161 | Steve Jones | Goaltender | Canada | Ohio State University (CCHA) | |
11 | 165 | Jim Trainor | Defense | United States | Harvard University (ECAC) | [e] |
11 | 166 | Barry Duench | Center | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHA) | [f] |
11 | 168 | Rod McNair | Defense | Canada | Ohio State University (CCHA) | |
12 | 172 | Mike Laycock | Goaltender | Canada | Brown University (ECAC) | [e] |
The Flyers were affiliated with the Maine Mariners of the AHL[38][39] and the Philadelphia Firebirds of the NAHL.[40]
The Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League announced today the signing of NHL defenseman Guy Delparte, 27, a veteran of over 500 games in seven pro hockey seasons. Although signing with the parent club, the Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers' Gary Dornhoefer, honored in pregame ceremonies because he is retiring