1972–73 Philadelphia Flyers season

1972–73 Philadelphia Flyers
Division	2nd West
1972–73 record	37–30–11
Home record	27–8–4
Road record	10–22–7
Goals for	296 (4th)
Goals against	256 (11th)
Team information
General Manager	Keith Allen
Coach	Fred Shero
Captain	Ed Van Impe (Oct-Jan) Bobby Clarke (Jan-Apr)
Alternate captains	Bill Clement Joe Watson
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	16,063
Team leaders
Goals	Rick MacLeish (50)
Assists	Bobby Clarke (67)
Points	Bobby Clarke (104)
Penalties in minutes	Dave Schultz (259)
Plus/minus	Bobby Clarke (+32)
Wins	Doug Favell (20)
Goals against average	Doug Favell (2.83)
<1971–72	1973–74>

The 1972–73 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' sixth season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

It was during the 1972–73 season that the Flyers shed the mediocre expansion team label and became the intimidating Broad Street Bullies, a nickname coined by Jack Chevalier and Pete Cafone of the Philadelphia Bulletin on January 3, 1973 after a 3 to 1 brawling victory over the Atlanta Flames that led Chevalier to write in his game account, "The image of the fightin' Flyers spreading gradually around the NHL, and people are dreaming up wild nicknames. They're the Mean Machine, the Bullies of Broad Street and Freddy's Philistines." Cafone wrote the accompanying headline, "Broad Street Bullies Muscle Atlanta". That same month, Bobby Clarke was the youngest player (at that time) in NHL history to be named team captain, replacing Ed Van Impe. Rick MacLeish became the first Flyer to score 50 goals in a season and the Flyers recorded their first winning season. An overtime goal by Gary Dornhoefer in Game 5 turned the tide of their first round series with the Minnesota North Stars in the Flyers' favor, as the Flyers got their first playoff series win in six games. The goal was later immortalized as a bronze statue on the south side of the Spectrum. They were outmatched in the semifinals by the Montreal Canadiens, however, losing in five games. After the season, Clarke was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player.

Regular season

Season standings

West Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Chicago Black Hawks	78	42	27	9	284	225	93
Philadelphia Flyers	78	37	30	11	296	256	85
Minnesota North Stars	78	37	30	11	254	230	85
St. Louis Blues	78	32	34	12	233	251	76
Pittsburgh Penguins	78	32	37	9	257	265	73
Los Angeles Kings	78	31	36	11	232	245	73
Atlanta Flames	78	25	38	15	191	239	65
California Golden Seals	78	16	46	16	213	323	48

Game log

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

1972–73 Game Log
October: 4–4–2 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 1–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts 1 October 7 Philadelphia 4 – 4 St. Louis Favell 19,031 0–0–1 1 2 October 12 Vancouver 3 - 7 Philadelphia Favell 14,929 1-0-1 3 3 October 14 Philadelphia 0 - 5 Detroit Taylor 13,002 1-1-1 3 4 October 15 California 4 - 1 Philadelphia Favell 14,553 1-2-1 3 5 October 18 Philadelphia 4 - 3 Los Angeles Favell 7,554 2-2-1 5 6 October 20 Philadelphia 3 - 3 California Taylor 3,727 2-2-2 6 7 October 25 Philadelphia 1 - 6 Rangers Taylor 17,500 2-3-2 6 8 October 26 Detroit 1 - 2 Philadelphia Favell 14,648 3-3-2 8 9 October 28 Philadelphia 1 - 2 Minnesota Favell 15,194 3-4-2 8 10 October 29 Toronto 2 - 5 Philadelphia Taylor 15,514 4-4-2 10
November: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts November 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
December: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts December 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
January: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts January 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
February: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts February 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
March: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts March 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
April: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts April 1 0 – 0 0–0–0

Playoffs

Game log

      Win       Loss

1973 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota - Flyers win 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series 1 April 4 Minnesota 3 – 0 Philadelphia Favell 16,600 North Stars lead 1–0 2 April 5 Minnesota 1 – 4 Philadelphia Favell 16,600 Series tied 1–1 3 April 7 Philadelphia 0 – 5 Minnesota Favell 15,647 North Stars lead 2–1 4 April 8 Philadelphia 3 – 0 Minnesota Favell 15,449 Series tied 2–2 5 April 10 Minnesota 2 – 3 Philadelphia OT Favell 16,600 Flyers lead 3–2 6 April 12 Philadelphia 4 – 1 Minnesota Favell 15,450 Flyers win 4–2 Semifinals vs. Montreal - Canadiens win 4–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series 1 April 14 Philadelphia 5 – 4 Montreal OT Favell 16,929 Flyers lead 1–0 2 April 16 Philadelphia 3 – 4 Montreal OT Favell 17,010 Series tied 1–1 3 April 19 Montreal 2 – 1 Philadelphia Favell 16,600 Canadiens lead 2–1 4 April 22 Montreal 4 – 1 Philadelphia Favell 16,600 Canadiens lead 3–1 5 April 24 Philadelphia 3 – 5 Montreal Favell n/a Canadiens win 4–1

Player stats

Skaters

Note: Pos = Position (C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing); GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus (playoff plus-minus not available); PIM = Penalties in minutes; = Joined team via trade or waivers during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only. = Left team via trade or waivers during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.

#	Player	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	P	PIM
				Regular season						Playoffs
16	Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke	23	C	78	37	67	104	32	80	11	2	6	8	06 !6
19	MacLeish, RickRick MacLeish	23	C	78	50	50	100	15	69	10	3	4	7	02 !2
12, 24	Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer	29	RW	77	30	49	79	17	168	11	3	3	6	16
21	Flett, BillBill Flett	29	RW	69	43	31	74	31	53	11	3	4	7	00 !0
07 !7	Barber, BillBill Barber	20	LW	69	30	34	64	10	46	11	3	2	5	22
18	Lonsberry, RossRoss Lonsberry	25	LW	77	21	29	50	6	59	11	4	3	7	09 !9
23	Bladon, TomTom Bladon	20	D	78	11	31	42	9	26	11	0	4	4	02 !2
17, 22	Nolet, SimonSimon Nolet	31	RW	70	16	20	36	-3	6	11	3	1	4	04 !4
10	Clement, BillBill Clement	22	C	73	14	14	28	-11	51	02 !2	0	0	0	00 !0
14	Watson, JoeJoe Watson	29	D	63	2	24	26	30	46	11	0	2	2	12
28	Dupont, AndreAndre Dupont	23	D	46	3	20	23	8	164	11	1	2	3	29
11	Saleski, DonDon Saleski	23	RW	78	12	9	21	-20	205	11	1	2	3	04 !4
09 !9	Kelly, BobBob Kelly	22	LW	77	10	11	21	1	238	11	0	1	1	08 !8
08 !8	Schultz, DaveDave Schultz	23	LW	76	9	12	21	4	259	11	1	0	1	51
04 !4	Ashbee, BarryBarry Ashbee	33	D	64	1	17	18	-2	106	11	0	4	4	20
05 !5	Hughes, BrentBrent Hughes	29	D	29	2	11	13	-8	32	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
25	Potvin, JeanJean Potvin	23	D	35	3	9	12	-1	10	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
02 !2	Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe	32	D	72	1	11	12	22	76	11	0	0	0	16
06 !6	Hillman, WayneWayne Hillman	34	D	74	0	10	10	16	33	08 !8	0	0	0	00 !0
29	Crisp, TerryTerry Crisp	29	C	12	1	5	6	4	2	11	3	2	5	02 !2
20	Plante, PierrePierre Plante	21	RW	2	0	3	3	3	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
01 !1	Favell, DougDoug Favell	27	G	44	0	2	2	-0.1 !N/A	4	11	0	0	0	02 !2
30, 35	Belhumeur, MichelMichel Belhumeur	23	G	23	0	1	1	-0.1 !N/A	0	01 !1	0	0	0	00 !0
30	Taylor, BobbyBobby Taylor	28	G	23	0	1	1	-0.1 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
15, 20	Wright, LarryLarry Wright	21	C	9	0	1	1	-3	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
03 !3	Brossart, WillieWillie Brossart	23	D	4	0	1	1	-5	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
20	Watson, JimmyJimmy Watson	20	D	4	0	1	1	-1	5	02 !2	0	0	0	00 !0
26	Kindrachuk, OrestOrest Kindrachuk	22	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GA = Goals against; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average; MIN = Minutes played

#	Player	Age	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN	GP	W	L	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN
			Regular season									Playoffs
01 !1	Favell, DougDoug Favell	27	44	20	15	4	3	114	.913	2.83	2419	11	5	6	1	29	.920	2.60	669
30, 35	Belhumeur, MichelMichel Belhumeur	23	23	9	7	3	0	60	.903	3.22	1117	1	0	0	0	1	.889	6.00	10
30	Taylor, BobbyBobby Taylor	28	23	8	8	4	0	78	.888	4.09	1144	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

Awards and records

NHL
Award	Recipient
All-Star Game representative	Bobby Clarke Gary Dornhoefer
Hart Memorial Trophy	Bobby Clarke
NHL Second All-Star Team	Bobby Clarke (C)

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions before/during the 1972–73 season.

Trades

Date	Details
December 14, 1972	To Philadelphia Flyers Andre Dupont 3rd-round pick in 1973	To St. Louis Blues Brent Hughes Pierre Plante
March 5, 1973	To Philadelphia Flyers Terry Crisp	To New York Islanders Glen Irwin Jean Potvin

Additions and subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via Jack McIlhargey Flin Flon (WCHL) free agency (9/1)

Subtractions Player New team Via Lew Morrison Atlanta Expansion Draft (6/6) Larry Hale Atlanta Expansion Draft (6/6) Jim Mair NY Islanders Expansion Draft (6/6) Hank Nowak Hershey (AHL) intra-league draft (6/8)

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Quebec.

Rnd	#	Player	Position	Nationality	Drafted From
1	7	Bill Barber	Left wing	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
2	23	Tom Bladon	Defenseman	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
3	39	Jim Watson	Defenseman	Canada	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
4	55	Al MacAdam	Right wing	Canada	Charlottetown Islanders (MJHL)
5	71	Darryl Fedorak	Goaltender	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WCHL)
6	87	Dave Hastings	Goaltender	Canada	Charlottetown Islanders (MJHL)
7	103	Serge Beaudoin	Defenseman	Canada	Trois-Rivières Ducs (QMJHL)
8	119	Pat Russell	Right wing	Canada	Vancouver Nats (WCHL)
9	135	Ray Boutin	Goaltender	Canada	Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL)

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Richmond Robins of the AHL, the San Diego Gulls of the WHL, and the Jersey Devils of the EHL.

See also

• 1972–73 NHL season

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