1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers season

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
= Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
= 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	Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke	26	C	76	30	89	119	83	136	16	2	14	16	28
7	Barber, BillBill Barber	23	LW	80	50	62	112	74	104	16	6	7	13	18
27	Leach, ReggieReggie Leach	25	RW	80	61	30	91	73	41	16	19	5	24	8
26	Kindrachuk, OrestOrest Kindrachuk	25	C	76	26	49	75	32	101	16	4	7	11	4
12	Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer	32	RW	74	28	35	63	14	128	16	3	4	7	43
10	Bridgman, MelMel Bridgman	20	C	80	23	27	50	22	86	16	6	8	14	31
11	Saleski, DonDon Saleski	26	RW	78	21	26	47	33	68	16	6	5	11	47
18	Lonsberry, RossRoss Lonsberry	28	LW	80	19	28	47	29	87	16	4	3	7	2
19	MacLeish, RickRick MacLeish	26	C	51	22	23	45	6	16	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
5	Goodenough, LarryLarry Goodenough	23	D	77	8	34	42	45	83	16	3	11	14	6
3	Bladon, TomTom Bladon	23	D	80	14	23	37	45	68	16	2	6	8	14
6	Dupont, AndreAndre Dupont	26	D	75	9	27	36	40	214	15	2	2	4	46
20	Watson, JimmyJimmy Watson	23	D	79	2	34	36	65	66	16	1	8	9	6
8	Schultz, DaveDave Schultz	26	LW	71	13	19	32	24	307	16	2	2	4	90
14	Watson, JoeJoe Watson	32	D	78	2	22	24	56	28	16	1	1	2	10
9	Kelly, BobBob Kelly	25	LW	79	12	8	20	3	125	16	0	2	2	44
15	Crisp, TerryTerry Crisp	32	C	38	6	9	15	6	28	10	0	5	5	2
2	Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe	35	D	40	0	8	8	16	60	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
29	McIlhargey, JackJack McIlhargey	23	D	57	1	2	3	11	205	15	0	3	3	41
21	Wright, LarryLarry Wright	24	C	2	1	0	1	1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
35	Stephenson, WayneWayne Stephenson	31	G	66	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	11	8	0	0	0	0
1	Parent, BernieBernie Parent	30	G	11	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	2	8	0	0	0	0
30	Taylor, BobbyBobby Taylor	31	G	4	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
25	Murray, TerryTerry Murray	25	D	3	0	0	0	0	2	6	0	1	1	0
30	Inness, GaryGary Inness	26	G	2	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
33	Mrazek, JeromeJerome Mrazek	24	G	1	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
21	Sirois, BobBob Sirois	21	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
17	Holmgren, PaulPaul Holmgren	20	RW	1	0	0	0	0	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

= Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
= 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	Stephenson, WayneWayne Stephenson	31	66	40	10	13	1	164	.907	2.58	3819	8	4	4	0	22	.904	2.67	494
1	Parent, BernieBernie Parent	30	11	6	2	3	0	24	.908	2.34	615	8	4	4	0	27	.892	3.38	480
30	Taylor, BobbyBobby Taylor	31	4	3	1	0	0	15	.880	3.75	240	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
30	Inness, GaryGary Inness	26	2	2	0	0	0	3	.950	1.50	120	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
33	Mrazek, JeromeJerome Mrazek	24	1	0	0	0	0	1	.667	10.00	6	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

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]
NHL First All-Star Team	Bobby Clarke (Center)		^[8]
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)	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	Bridgman, MelMel Bridgman	Center	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WCHL)	977	252	449	701	1625	& —	& —	& —	& —	^[a]
3	54	Ritchie, BobBob Ritchie	Left Wing	Canada	Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL)	29	8	4	12	10	& —	& —	& —	& —
4	72	St. Croix, RickRick St. Croix	Goaltender	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)	131	0.1 !0	2	2	2	49	54	18	3.71
5	90	Morrison, GaryGary Morrison	Forward	United States	Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)	43	1	15	16	70	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	108	Holmgren, PaulPaul Holmgren	Forward	United States	Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA)	527	144	179	323	1684	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	126	Decker, DanaDana Decker	Left Wing	United States	Michigan Tech Huskies (WCHA)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	160	Khatulev, ViktorViktor Khatulev	Defense	Latvia	Dynamo Riga (USSR)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
10	175	Smith, DuffyDuffy Smith	Defense	Canada	Bowling Green Falcons (CCHA)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

Draft notes^[27]

^a The Flyers acquired the 1st overall pick from the Washington Capitals for Bill Clement, Don McLean and the Flyers' first-round pick, 18th overall, on June 3, 1975.
The Flyers traded their second-round pick, 36th overall, along with the rights to Randy Andreachuk to the St. Louis Blues for Wayne Stephenson on September 16, 1974.

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

hockeyDB.com: Roster and player statistics · Results and Schedule
hockey-reference.com: Roster and Statistics · Schedule and Results
Flyers History: Season Overview · Game Scores & Results · Playoff Results

Specific

↑ "All Time Team Attendance". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
1 2 "AHL Franchise Statistics". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
1 2 "Non-AHL Affiliates". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
↑ "Flyers History - Historic Moments". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
↑ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
↑ "Conn Smythe Trophy". National Hockey League. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
↑ "Hart Memorial Trophy". National Hockey League. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
1 2 2014–15 NHL Official Guide & Record Book, p. 230–32
↑ "29th NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
↑ "Flyers History – All-Star Game Representatives". P.Anson. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
↑ "Flyers History – Team Awards". P.Anson. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
↑ "Flyers History - Philadelphia Flyer Goal Season List". P.Anson. Retrieved August 12, 2015. Goal List for Reggie Leach 1975-76 Season
↑ "Flyers History - Philadelphia Flyer Game Summary". P.Anson. Retrieved August 14, 2015. 6-May-76 Boston Bruins 3 @ Philadelphia Flyers 6
↑ "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
↑ "Flyers Trade Clement For First Draft Choice" (PDF). UPI. Watertown Daily Times. June 4, 1975. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
1 2 "Robert Sirois - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
↑ "Van Impe won't go to Pittsburgh after trade". AP. Chicago Tribune. March 10, 1976. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
1 2 "Philly Flyers Ink Ritchie and Kelly". AP. The Gettysburg Times. August 7, 1975. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 "no title". Bucks County Courier Times. September 11, 1975. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Terry Murray - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
↑ "Schultz a rich fighter". AP. Brandon Sun. September 6, 1975. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "NHL champion Flyers sign top draft choice". UPI. Pocono Record. June 7, 1975. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Flyers Sign Holmgren". AP. Silver City Daily Press. March 8, 1976. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 3 4 Parsons, Mark (November 24, 2012). "1975 NHL Intra-League Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
↑ "Harris named coach of North Stars". AP. Fergus Falls Daily Journal. June 2, 1975. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "1975 NHL Amateur Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
↑ "1975 NHL Amateur Draft Pick Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
↑ "AHL Season Overview: 1975–76". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.

External links

Mulvoy, Mark (January 19, 1976). "This Was Détente, Philly Style". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 8, 2014.

Philadelphia Flyers seasons

1960s	1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

Philadelphia Flyers

Founded in 1967 Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season

History	1967 NHL expansion 1967 NHL Expansion Draft Eric Lindros trade Records Award winners

Personnel	Owner Comcast Spectacor (Ed Snider, chairman) President Paul Holmgren General manager Ron Hextall Head coach Dave Hakstol Team captain Claude Giroux Current roster

Arenas	Spectrum Wells Fargo Center

Rivalries	Pittsburgh Penguins New York Rangers New Jersey Devils

Affiliates	AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms ECHL Reading Royals USPHL Premier Philadelphia Flyers-USPHL Affiliate history

Media	CSN Philadelphia Comcast Network Philadelphia 97.5 The Fanatic Broadcasters

Culture/Lore	1976 Flyers–Red Army game 2010 NHL Winter Classic 2012 NHL Winter Classic Broad Street Bullies Curse of Billy Penn Ed Snider Flyers–Senators brawl Gene Hart "God Bless America" Kate Smith Lauren Hart Legion of Doom Lou Nolan Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame

1975–76 NHL season

Patrick	Atlanta NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia

Adams	Boston Buffalo California Toronto

Norris	Detroit Los Angeles Montreal Pittsburgh Washington

Smythe	Chicago Kansas City Minnesota St. Louis Vancouver

See also	Draft Super Series '76 All-Star Game Stanley Cup Finals

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