1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers season

1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers
Atlantic Division Champions
Division	1st Atlantic
Conference	1st Eastern
1995–96 record	45–24–13
Home record	27–9–5
Road record	18–15–8
Goals for	282 (4th)
Goals against	208 (4th)
Team information
General Manager	Bob Clarke
Coach	Terry Murray
Captain	Eric Lindros
Alternate captains	Rod Brind'Amour Craig MacTavish (Oct-Mar) Eric Desjardins (Mar-Apr)
Arena	CoreStates Spectrum
Average attendance	17,345
Team leaders
Goals	John LeClair (51)
Assists	Eric Lindros (68)
Points	Eric Lindros (115)
Penalties in minutes	Shawn Antoski (204)
Plus/minus	Petr Svoboda (+28)
Wins	Ron Hextall (31)
Goals against average	Ron Hextall (2.17)
<1994–95	1996–97>

The 1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers 29th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Eric Lindros eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time in 1995–96, gathering 115 points, and John LeClair scored 51 goals, as the Flyers repeated as Atlantic Division champs and clinched the No.1 seed in the East. Facing the 8th-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers dropped two of the first three games. They rallied by winning three straight games to win the series. After taking two of the first three games against the Florida Panthers, the Flyers were defeated in overtime in Game 4 and double-overtime in Game 5. An upstart Florida club with stellar goaltending from John Vanbiesbrouck ended the Flyers' season in Game 6. The Flyers said goodbye to the Spectrum and prepared to open a new arena - the CoreStates Center - for the next season.

Regular season

Building on the success of the lockout season, the Flyers began the year with a 7–1 rout in Montreal over the Canadiens. An early 5–0–1 stretch was derailed in a 5–4 loss to Chicago on October 22, in which Dominic Roussel turned in a poor performance in net. It would be one of several in the early going which forced head coach Terry Murray to favor Garth Snow as the backup to Ron Hextall.

Lindros was hurt in early November, and the club limped to a 2–4–1 record in his absence. However, after his return they ripped off eight straight wins as part of a 12–2–2 stretch which put them in contention in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers. However, the momentum switched and the club struggled to a 3–6–7 record thereafter.

A 3–2 home overtime win over Montreal on February 1, in which defenseman Petr Svoboda was elbowed in the head by Marc Bureau, finally lit a fire under the team. In addition, the trade-deadline acquisition of Dale Hawerchuk, who was needed in Mikael Renberg's absence, spurred a 13–3–0 charge at the end of the season. Thanks to a 6–5 Bruins win over the Penguins on the final day, the Flyers gained the top spot in the Eastern Conference following a 3–1 win over Tampa.

Lindros hit the 100-point mark in a 3–0 win over Hartford on March 25, while LeClair netted his 50th goal of the season in a 5–1 win in New Jersey on April 10. In an ironic twist, Avalanche forward Claude Lemieux notched the game-winning goal on a fluke shot in a Colorado 5–3 win in Philly on February 11. With the Devils the previous June, Lemieux hit the net from 50 feet out to give his club a 3–2 win in Game 5 of the conference finals.

On April 11, the Flyers organization celebrated the final regular-season game in the Spectrum. The home team took care of their end, topping the Canadiens 3–2. After the game, an emotional torch-passing ceremony saw past and present team members skating alongside each other, with a symbolic transference of leadership from Bobby Clarke to Lindros.

Season standings

Atlantic Division

No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	New York Rangers	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
3	Florida Panthers	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
4	Washington Capitals	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
5	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	38	32	12	238	248	88
6	New Jersey Devils	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
7	New York Islanders	82	22	50	10	229	315	54

Game log

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

1995–96 Game log
October: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 1 October 7 Philadelphia 7 – 1 Montreal Hextall 17,646 1–0–0 2
November: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT 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 OT 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 OT 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 OT 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 OT 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 OT Decision Attendance Record Pts April 1 0 – 0 0–0–0

Playoffs

With the top spot in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers drew their division rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning, coached by former Flyer Terry Crisp. After a 7–3 Philly home rout in Game 1, Lightning goalie Daren Puppa was spectacular and Brian Bradley notched the OT winner in a 2–1 Game 2 triumph. Former draft pick Alexander Selivanov ended Game 3 in Tampa with an overtime goal. Hawerchuk and LeClair provided leadership and goals in a 4–1 road win in Game 4, then the Flyers won 4–1 in Game 5 at the Spectrum. The Flyers closed out the series with a 6–1 score in Game 6 at the Thunderdome.

Next up in the conference semifinals were the Florida Panthers, a team which relied on goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck and the neutral zone trap for success. Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2–0 shutout in Game 1, and it took until midway through Game 2 for the Flyers to get rolling offensively in a narrow 3–2 win. Game 3 saw Flyers veterans Dan Quinn, Hawerchuk, Desjardins and Hextall set the tone in a 3–1 victory.

Game log

      Win       Loss

1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. Tampa Bay - Flyers win 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series 1 April 16 Tampa Bay 3 – 7 Philadelphia Hextall 17,380 Flyers lead 1–0 2 April 18 Tampa Bay 2 – 1 Philadelphia OT Hextall 17,380 Series tied 1–1 3 April 21 Philadelphia 4 – 5 Tampa Bay OT Hextall 25,945 Lightning lead 2–1 4 April 23 Philadelphia 4 – 1 Tampa Bay Hextall 28,183 Series tied 2–2 5 April 25 Tampa Bay 1 – 4 Philadelphia Hextall 17,380 Flyers lead 3–2 6 April 27 Philadelphia 6 – 1 Tampa Bay Hextall 27,189 Flyers win 4–2 Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. Florida - Panthers win 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series 1 May 2 Florida 2 – 0 Philadelphia Hextall 17,380 Panthers lead 1–0 2 May 4 Florida 2 – 3 Philadelphia Hextall 17,380 Series tied 1–1 3 May 7 Philadelphia 3 – 1 Florida Hextall 14,703 Flyers lead 2–1 4 May 9 Philadelphia 3 – 4 Florida OT Hextall 14,703 Series tied 2–2 5 May 12 Florida 2 – 1 Philadelphia 2OT Hextall 17,380 Panthers lead 3–2 6 May 14 Philadelphia 1 – 4 Florida Hextall 14,703 Panthers win 4–2

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; 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
88	Lindros, EricEric Lindros	22	C	73	47	68	115	26	163	12	6	6	12	-1	43
10	LeClair, JohnJohn LeClair	26	LW	82	51	46	97	21	64	11	6	5	11	3	06 !6
17	Brind'Amour, RodRod Brind'Amour	25	C	82	26	61	87	20	110	12	2	5	07 !7	-2	06 !6
15	Falloon, PatPat Falloon	23	RW	62	22	26	48	15	6	12	3	2	05 !5	-2	02 !2
37	Desjardins, EricEric Desjardins	26	D	80	7	40	47	19	45	12	0	6	06 !6	-5	02 !2
19	Renberg, MikaelMikael Renberg	23	RW	51	23	20	43	8	45	11	3	6	09 !9	1	14
29	Otto, JoelJoel Otto	34	C	67	12	29	41	11	115	12	3	4	07 !7	4	11
23	Svoboda, PetrPetr Svoboda	29	D	73	1	28	29	28	105	12	0	6	06 !6	6	22
25	Podein, ShjonShjon Podein	27	LW	79	15	10	25	25	89	12	1	2	03 !3	2	50
06 !6	Therien, ChrisChris Therien	24	D	82	6	17	23	16	89	12	0	0	00 !0	-5	18
11	Quinn, DanDan Quinn	30	C	35	7	14	21	2	22	12	1	4	05 !5	-3	06 !6
09 !9	DiMaio, RobRob DiMaio	27	RW	59	6	15	21	0	58	03 !3	0	0	00 !0	-1	00 !0
24	Dykhuis, KarlKarl Dykhuis	23	D	82	5	15	20	12	101	12	2	2	04 !4	6	22
18	Hawerchuk, DaleDale Hawerchuk	32	RW	16	4	16	20	10	4	12	3	6	09 !9	0	12
44	Semenov, AnatoliAnatoli Semenov	33	C	44	3	13	16	3	14	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
18	Fedyk, BrentBrent Fedyk	28	LW	24	10	5	15	1	24	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
05 !5	Haller, KevinKevin Haller	25	D	69	5	9	14	18	92	06 !6	0	1	01 !1	0	08 !8
28	Samuelsson, KjellKjell Samuelsson	37	D	75	3	11	14	20	81	12	1	0	01 !1	0	24
14	MacTavish, CraigCraig MacTavish	37	C	55	5	8	13	-3	62	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
20	Klatt, TrentTrent Klatt	25	RW	49	3	8	11	2	21	12	4	1	05 !5	1	00 !0
26	Druce, JohnJohn Druce	29	RW	13	4	4	8	6	13	02 !2	0	2	02 !2	1	02 !2
22	Corkum, BobBob Corkum	28	C	28	4	3	7	3	8	12	1	2	03 !3	-1	06 !6
12	Juhlin, PatrikPatrik Juhlin	25	RW	14	3	3	6	4	17	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
08 !8	Antoski, ShawnShawn Antoski	25	LW	64	1	3	4	-4	204	07 !7	1	1	02 !2	3	28
42	Romaniuk, RussRuss Romaniuk	25	LW	17	3	0	3	-2	17	01 !1	0	0	00 !0	-1	00 !0
22	Montgomery, JimJim Montgomery	26	C	5	1	2	3	1	9	01 !1	0	0	00 !0	-1	00 !0
18	Dupre, YanickYanick Dupre	23	LW	12	2	0	2	0	28	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
26	Crowe, PhilPhil Crowe	25	LW	16	1	1	2	0	28	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
02 !2	Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman	28	D	4	1	1	2	0	6	06 !6	0	0	00 !0	0	02 !2
11	Dineen, KevinKevin Dineen	32	RW	26	0	2	2	-8	50	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
40	Brimanis, ArisAris Brimanis	23	D	17	0	2	2	-1	12	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
21	Kordic, DanDan Kordic	24	LW	9	1	0	1	1	31	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
27	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	31	G	53	0	1	1	-0.1 !N/A	28	12	0	0	00 !0	-0.1 !N/A	06 !6
45	Dionne, GilbertGilbert Dionne	25	LW	2	0	1	1	0	0	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
30	Snow, GarthGarth Snow	26	G	26	0	0	0	-0.1 !N/A	18	01 !1	0	0	00 !0	-0.1 !N/A	00 !0
33	Roussel, DominicDominic Roussel	25	G	9	0	0	0	-0.1 !N/A	0	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
03 !3	Rumble, DarrenDarren Rumble	27	D	5	0	0	0	0	4	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—
53	Bowen, JasonJason Bowen	22	D	2	0	0	0	0	2	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-0.1 !—	-01 !—

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
27	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	31	53	31	13	7	4	112	.913	2.17	3102	12	6	6	0	27	.915	2.13	760
30	Snow, GarthGarth Snow	26	26	12	8	4	0	69	.894	2.88	1437	01 !1	0	0	0	00 !0	-1 !—	0.00	001 !1
33	Roussel, DominicDominic Roussel	25	9	2	3	2	1	22	.876	2.89	456	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-01 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-001 !—

Awards and records

Awards

NHL
Award	Recipient
All-Star Game representative	Eric Desjardins John LeClair Eric Lindros Craig MacTavish
NHL Player of the Month	Eric Lindros (October)
NHL Player of the Week	John LeClair (November 11)
NHL Second All-Star Team	John LeClair (LW) Eric Lindros (C)
Team
Award	Recipient
Barry Ashbee Trophy	Eric Desjardins
Bobby Clarke Trophy	Eric Lindros
Class Guy Award	Ron Hextall
Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy	Shjon Podein

Milestones

Player	Milestone	Reached
Craig MacTavish	1000th NHL Game	December 19, 1995

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions before/during the 1995–96 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 27, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers Russ Romaniuk	To Winnipeg Jets rights to Jeff Finley
July 8, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers 5th-round pick in 1996	To Toronto Maple Leafs Rob Zettler
July 12, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers rights to Garth Snow	To Colorado Avalanche 3rd-round pick in 1996 6th-round pick in 1996
August 30, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers 1st-round pick in 1996 2nd-round pick in 1997 Los Angeles' 4th-round pick in 1996	To Toronto Maple Leafs Dmitri Yushkevich 2nd-round pick in 1996
September 20, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers 7th-round pick in 1997	To Winnipeg Jets Andre Faust
November 16, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers Pat Falloon	To San Jose Sharks 1st-round pick in 1996 4th-round pick in 1996 Martin Spanhel
December 13, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers Trent Klatt	To Dallas Stars Brent Fedyk
December 28, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-round pick in 1997 7th-round pick in 1997	To Hartford Whalers Kevin Dineen
January 23, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Dan Quinn	To Ottawa Senators future considerations
February 6, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Bob Corkum	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Chris Herperger Winnipeg's 7th-round pick in 1997
March 15, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Dale Hawerchuk	To St. Louis Blues Craig MacTavish
March 19, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Kerry Huffman	To Ottawa Senators 9th-round pick in 1996
March 19, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Brian Wesenberg	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Anatoli Semenov rights to Mike Crowley
March 19, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers John Druce 7th-round pick in 1997	To Los Angeles Kings Los Angeles' 4th-round pick in 1996

Other transactions

Date	Player	Team (League)	Notes
Signed via free agency
June 30, 1995	Les Kuntar	Hershey (AHL)
July 7, 1995	Kjell Samuelsson	Pittsburgh (NHL)
July 17, 1995	Tony Horacek	Chicago (NHL)
July 20, 1995	Joel Otto	Calgary (NHL)
July 31, 1995	Shawn McCosh	NY Rangers (NHL)
July 31, 1995	Scott Morrow	Calgary (NHL)
July 31, 1995	Darren Rumble	Ottawa (NHL)
August 1, 1995	Todd Nelson	Washington (NHL)
Lost via free agency
February 29, 1996	Gilbert Dionne	Florida (NHL)
Re-signed
June 30, 1995	Rob DiMaio	—
June 30, 1995	Yanick Dupre	—
July 10, 1995	Kevin Dineen	—
August 1, 1995	Dominic Roussel	—
August 3, 1995	Shjon Podein	—
August 7, 1995	Shawn Antoski	—
August 14, 1995	Rod Brind'Amour	—
September 11, 1995	John LeClair	—
October 5, 1995	Eric Desjardins	—	extension
October 6, 1995	Kevin Haller	—	extension
October 15, 1995	Mikael Renberg	—	extension

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

Rnd	#	Player	Position	Nationality	Drafted from
1	22	Brian Boucher	Goaltender	United States	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
2	48	Shane Kenny	Defenseman	Canada	Owen Sound Platers (OHL)
4	100	Radovan Somik	Left Wing	Slovakia	Martimex ZTS Martin HC (Slovakia)
6	132	Dmitri Tertyshny	Defenseman	Russia	Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia)
6	135	Jamie Sokolsky	Defenseman	Canada	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
6	152	Martin Spanhel	Left Wing	Czech Republic	ZPS Zlin Jrs. (CZE)
7	178	Martin Streit	Forward	Czech Republic	HC Olomouc (CZE)
8	204	Ruslan Shafikov	Forward	Russia	Salavat Yulajev (Russia)
9	230	Jeff Lank	Defenseman	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL and the Mobile Mysticks of the ECHL.

See also

• 1995–96 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