2004–05 Philadelphia Flyers season

2004–05 Philadelphia Flyers
2004–05 record	Did not play
Team information
General Manager	Bob Clarke
Coach	Ken Hitchcock
Captain	Keith Primeau
Arena	Wachovia Center
Minor league affiliations	Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL)[1] Trenton Titans (ECHL)[2]
Team leaders
<2003–04 2005–06>

The 2004–05 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 38th season in the National Hockey League (NHL), however its games were canceled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The other 29 teams did not play either due to the labor dispute.

Off-season

After being defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003–04,^[3] the Flyers prepared for the looming labor unrest that was to come.^[4] While team captain Keith Primeau was re-signed to a four-year contract worth $17 million prior to hitting the free agent market,^[4] leading scorer Mark Recchi was not — general manager Bob Clarke said he would not re-sign Recchi until a new collective bargaining agreement was in place^[4][5] — and instead signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 9.^[5]

Unsigned 2001 first-round draft pick R. J. Umberger, whose NHL rights had previously been held by the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers, signed with the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent on June 16.^[6] The Flyers signed free agent right wingers Mike Knuble of the Boston Bruins and Turner Stevenson of the New Jersey Devils to three-year contracts after the free agency period began.^[7] On July 13 undrafted free agent forward Tony Voce, who played four seasons at Boston College, became the first native of Philadelphia to sign with the Flyers.^[8]

Schedule

Pre-season

2004 pre-season[9]
Pre-season

Regular season

2004–05 regular season[10]
October
November
December
January
February
March
April

NHL lockout

The lockout started on September 16, 2004 and those Flyers with two-way contracts were sent down to the Phantoms. Those Flyers with NHL-only contracts either sat out or played in another league.

Player activity

The following is a list of Flyers with NHL-only contracts and whether they were active during the lockout.^[11] Vladimir Malakhov and Alexei Zhamnov are not included since their contracts expired prior to the lockout.^[12]

Player	Team	League/event	Ref
Amonte, TonyTony Amonte	Inactive	—	[13]
Brashear, DonaldDonald Brashear	Quebec Radio X	LNAH	[14]
Burke, SeanSean Burke	Inactive	—	[15]
Desjardins, EricEric Desjardins	Inactive	—	[16]
Esche, RobertRobert Esche	Inactive	—	[17]
Fedoruk, ToddTodd Fedoruk	Philadelphia Phantoms	American Hockey League	[18]
Gagne, SimonSimon Gagne	Canada	2005 World Championships	[19]
Handzus, MichalMichal Handzus	HKm Zvolen	Slovak Extraliga	[20]
	Slovakia	2005 World Championships
Johnsson, KimKim Johnsson	HC Ambri-Piotta	Nationalliga A	[21]
Kapanen, SamiSami Kapanen	KalPa	Mestis	[22]
Knuble, MikeMike Knuble	Linkopings HC	Elitserien	[23]
	United States	2005 World Championships
Lapointe, ClaudeClaude Lapointe	Inactive	—	[24]
LeClair, JohnJohn LeClair	Inactive	—	[25]
Markov, DannyDanny Markov	Vityaz Podolsk	Vysshaya Liga	[26]
Primeau, KeithKeith Primeau	Inactive	—	[27]
Radivojevic, BrankoBranko Radivojevic	Vsetin HC	Czech Extraliga	[28]
	Lulea HF	Elitserien
Ragnarsson, MarcusMarcus Ragnarsson	Almtuna	Allsvenskan	[29]
Roenick, JeremyJeremy Roenick	Inactive	—	[30]
Somik, RadovanRadovan Somik	MHC Martin	Slovak 1.Liga	[31]
	Vsetin HC	Czech Extraliga
	Malmo IF	Elitserien
Stevenson, TurnerTurner Stevenson	Inactive	—	[32]
Timander, MattiasMattias Timander	Modo Hockey	Elitserien	[33]

Farm teams

The Phantoms won their second Calder Cup on June 10, 2005.

The Flyers were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League (AHL)^[1] and the Trenton Titans of the ECHL.^[2] Both teams were their league's champions.

Philadelphia Phantoms

With the Flyers season canceled, many players who would normally be in orange and black were in purple, orange, and black instead. Joni Pitkanen and Todd Fedoruk had spent the entirety of the previous season with the Flyers and over a dozen others on the Phantoms roster had previously spent time in the NHL. Led by mid-season acquisition Jon Sim's 35 goals and R. J. Umberger's 65 points, the Phantoms finished second in their division with a record of 48–25–3–4.^[34][35] Reinforced by the arrivals of top junior prospects Jeff Carter and Mike Richards to the team, the Phantoms defeated the Norfolk Admirals in six games, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in five games, and the Providence Bruins in six games to reach the finals.^[36] Holding the Chicago Wolves to four goals the entire series, the Phantoms swept the series and won the Calder Cup.^[36] Goaltender Antero Niittymaki was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.^[37]

Trenton Titans

Trenton finished second in their division and after defeating the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in three games, the Reading Royals in four games, and the Alaska Aces in seven games, the Titans defeated the Florida Everblades in six games to win the Kelly Cup.^[38]

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 8, 2004, the day after the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, through February 16, 2005, the day the 2004–05 season was officially canceled.^[39]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 27, 2004	To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-round pick in 2005	To Tampa Bay Lightning 5th-round pick in 2004 6th-round pick in 2004 San Jose's 6th-round pick in 2004	[40]

Signings

Free agency

The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk (*).

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Contract details	Ref
July 3, 2004	Mike Knuble	Boston Bruins	3 years	[7]
July 3, 2004	Turner Stevenson	New Jersey Devils	3 years	[7]
July 14, 2004	Eric Meloche	Pittsburgh Penguins	3 years*	[41][42]
August 23, 2004	Ryan Ready	St. Louis Blues	1 year*	[43]

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk (*).

Date	Player	Contract details	Notes	Ref
June 14, 2004	Keith Primeau	4 years, $17 million		[4]
August 2, 2004	Simon Gagne	1 year		[44]
August 2, 2004	Antero Niittymaki	2 years*		[44]
August 2, 2004	Branko Radivojevic	1 year		[44]
August 6, 2004	Michal Handzus	3 years, $8.4 million		[45]
August 8, 2004	Kim Johnsson	1 year, $2.8 million	Salary arbitration award	[46]
August 12, 2004	Mattias Timander	2 years		[47]
August 19, 2004	Sami Kapanen	2 year extension		[48]
September 8, 2004	Nick Deschenes	1 year*		[49]
September 8, 2004	Mark Murphy	2 years*		[49]

Entry level contracts

The following players — Flyers draft picks, undrafted free agents, and the unsigned draft picks of other teams — were signed by the Flyers to entry level contracts.

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Draft	Contract details	Ref
June 16, 2004	R. J. Umberger	New York Rangers	Unsigned 2001 1st-round pick (Vancouver)	2 years	[6]
June 23, 2004	Brent Robinson	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Undrafted free agent	2 years	[50]
July 13, 2004	Tony Voce	Boston College Eagles (HE)	Undrafted free agent		[8]
July 27, 2004	Josh Gratton	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (AHL)	Undrafted free agent	2 years	[51]
September 8, 2004	David Printz	AIK (Elitserien)	2001 7th-round pick	1 year	[49]

Departures

The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement.

Date	Player	New team (league)	Via	Notes	Ref
July 6, 2004	Kirby Law	Minnesota Wild	Free agency		[52]
July 9, 2004	Mark Recchi	Pittsburgh Penguins	Free agency		[5]
July 22, 2004	Andre Savage	Colorado Avalanche	Free agency		[53]
August 16, 2004	Peter Vandermeer	Detroit Red Wings	Free agency		[54]
September 8, 2004	Ian MacNeil	Schwenninger Wild Wings (2nd Bundesliga)	Free agency		[55]
September 17, 2004	Steve Gainey	Epinal Dolphins (FRA)	Free agency		[56]
N/A	Vladimir Malakhov	—	Free agency	Signed with New Jersey Devils on August 4, 2005	[57][58]
N/A	Mike Peluso	—	Retirement	No official announcement	[59]
November 15, 2004	Alexei Zhamnov	Vityaz Chekhov (RUS-2)	Free agency	Signed with Boston Bruins on August 4, 2005	[60][61]

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on June 26–27, 2004.^[62]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2004 and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	OT	GAA	Notes
3	92	Bellamy, RobRob Bellamy	Right Wing	United States	New England Jr. Coyotes (EJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
4	101	Anderson, R. J.R. J. Anderson	Defense	United States	Centennial High School (Minn.)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	^[a]
4	124	Laliberte, DavidDavid Laliberte	Right Wing	Canada	Prince Edward Island Rocket (QMJHL)	11	2	1	3	6	& —	& —	& —	& —
5	144	Zarb, ChrisChris Zarb	Defense	United States	Tri-City Storm (USHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	^[b]
5	149	Pisellini, GinoGino Pisellini	Right Wing	United States	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	^[c]
6	170	Scurko, LadislavLadislav Scurko	Center	Slovakia	Spišská Nová Ves (Slovakia)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	^[d]
6	171	Cabana, FrederikFrederik Cabana	Center	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	^[e]
8	232	Houle, MartinMartin Houle	Goaltender	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30.00	^[f]
8	253	Gawryletz, TravisTravis Gawryletz	Defense	Canada	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	286	Grant, TristonTriston Grant	Left Wing	Canada	Vancouver Giants (WHL)	11	0	1	1	19	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	291	Carter, JohnJohn Carter	Center	United States	Brewster Bulldogs (EmJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	^[g]

Draft notes^[63]

• The Flyers traded their first-round pick, 25th overall, their 2005 third-round pick, and Jeff Woywitka to the Edmonton Oilers for Mike Comrie on December 16, 2003.
• ^a The Flyers traded Roman Cechmanek to the Los Angeles Kings for the Kings' second-round pick, 41st overall, on May 28, 2003. The Flyers traded the Kings' pick, Jim Vandermeer, and the rights to Colin Fraser to the Chicago Blackhawks for Alexei Zhamnov and the Blackhawks' fourth-round pick, 101st overall, on February 19, 2004.
• The Flyers traded their second-round pick, 60th overall, the Atlanta Thrashers' 2003 third-round pick, and Guillaume Lefebvre to the Phoenix Coyotes for Tony Amonte on March 10, 2003.
• ^b The Flyers traded Eric Chouinard to the Minnesota Wild for the Wild's fifth-round pick, 144th overall, on December 17, 2003.
• ^c The Flyers traded Eric Weinrich to the St. Louis Blues for the Blues' fifth-round pick, 149th overall, on February 9, 2004.
• The Flyers traded their fifth-round pick, 158th overall, their sixth-round pick, 188th overall, and the San Jose Sharks' sixth-round pick, 191st overall, to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Lightning's 2005 third-round pick on June 27, 2004.
• ^d The Flyers traded their 2003 seventh-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for the Florida Panthers' sixth-round pick, 170th overall, on June 22, 2003.
• ^e The Flyers traded Marty Murray to the Carolina Hurricanes for the Hurricanes' sixth-round pick, 171st overall, on June 21, 2003.
• The Flyers traded their seventh-round pick, 221st overall, and their 2003 fourth-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for Dmitri Yushkevich on March 1, 2003.
• ^f The Flyers traded Chris Therien to the Dallas Stars for the Phoenix Coyotes' eight-round pick, 232nd overall, and the Stars' 2005 third-round pick on March 8, 2004.
• ^g The Flyers traded their 2003 eighth and ninth-round picks to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Lightning's seventh, 227th overall, and ninth-round picks, 291st overall, on June 22, 2003. The Flyers traded the Lightning's seventh-round pick to the New York Islanders for Mattias Timander on January 22, 2004.

References

General

• Flyers History: Season Overview

Specific

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