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1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers season

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1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers
Division2nd Patrick
Conference2nd Campbell
1978–79 record40–25–15
Home record26–10–4
Road record14–15–11
Goals for281 (8th)
Goals against248 (3rd)
Team information
General managerKeith Allen
CoachBob McCammon
(to Jan 30)
Pat Quinn
(from Jan 30)
CaptainBobby Clarke
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaSpectrum
Average attendance17,077[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Maine Mariners (AHL)[2]
Milwaukee Admirals (IHL)[3]
Jersey Aces (NEHL)[3]
Team leaders
GoalsBill Barber (34)
Reggie Leach (34)
AssistsBobby Clarke (57)
PointsBill Barber (87)
Penalty minutesBehn Wilson (197)
Plus/minusBlake Dunlop (+27)
WinsWayne Stephenson (20)
Goals against averageRobbie Moore (1.77)

The 1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 12th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Off-season

Head coach Fred Shero, who had one more year left on his contract, submitted a letter of resignation on May 22, 1978,[4] stating that the Flyers needed a change whether they realized it or not. Flyers management had previously heard rumors about Shero wanting to leave Philadelphia and re-join the New York Rangers organization, and refused to accept his letter of resignation.[5] Shero then signed a $250,000, five-year contract with the Rangers to be their new head coach and general manager, believing he no longer had a contractual agreement to the Flyers.[6] A few weeks after signing Shero, the Rangers gave the Flyers their first-round pick (7th overall) in the 1978 draft and cash as compensation, allowing the Rangers to avoid tampering charges.[5] Bob McCammon, who had just coached the Flyers' first year American Hockey League Maine Mariners farm club to a Calder Cup title, was named Shero's replacement on July 6.[7]

The Flyers acquired the 6th overall pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins for three veterans from their Stanley Cup championship teams — Tom Bladon, Orest Kindrachuk and Ross Lonsberry — on the eve of the draft. The trade gave the Flyers three first-round picks and they selected defenseman Behn Wilson and forwards Ken Linseman and Dan Lucas.

Two other longtime Flyers also left the team during the off-season. Gary Dornhoefer retired and Joe Watson was traded to the Colorado Rockies.

Regular season

After an eight-game winless streak in January that saw the team drop to last place in the division, McCammon and assistant coach Terry Crisp were fired.[8] Replacing him was Shero's previous assistant coach Pat Quinn, who had replaced McCammon as head coach in Maine.[8] While McCammon returned to Maine and coached the Mariners to a second consecutive Calder Cup title, the Flyers rallied under Quinn and finished in 2nd place.

On February 17, 1979, Bernie Parent suffered a career-ending eye injury in a game against the New York Rangers.[9] An errant stick entered the right eye hole of his mask, causing permanent damage to his vision.[9] After hospitalization, including the complete loss of sight for two weeks, Parent recovered and eventually regained sight, although not at the level required to resume his playing career.[9]

Season standings

Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
New York Islanders 80 51 15 14 358 214 116
Philadelphia Flyers 80 40 25 15 281 248 95
New York Rangers 80 40 29 11 316 292 91
Atlanta Flames 80 41 31 8 327 280 90

Playoffs

Matched-up against the Vancouver Canucks in the preliminary round, the Flyers won the series in three games. The Flyers' season came to an end against Shero's Rangers in a five-game quarterfinal loss.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1978–79 regular season
October: 3–4–2, 8 Points (Home: 2–3–0; Road: 1–1–2)
November: 9–4–2, 20 Points (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 5–3–1)
December: 7–5–2, 16 Points (Home: 6–1–0; Road: 1–4–2)
January: 3–4–5, 11 Points (Home: 2–1–3; Road: 1–3–2)
February: 5–2–2, 12 Points (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 2–0–2)
March: 11–4–2, 24 Points (Home: 7–1–0; Road: 4–3–2)
April: 2–2–0, 4 Points (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 0–1–0)

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

Playoffs

1979 Stanley Cup playoffs
Preliminary Round vs. Vancouver Canucks - Flyers win 2–1
Quarterfinals vs. New York Rangers - Rangers win 4–1

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
7 Bill Barber 26 LW 79 34 46 80 19 22 8 3 4 7 10
16 Bobby Clarke 29 C 80 16 57 73 12 68 8 2 4 6 8
10 Mel Bridgman 23 C 76 24 35 59 14 184 8 1 2 3 17
19 Rick MacLeish 29 LW 71 26 32 58 4 47 7 0 1 1 0
27 Reggie Leach 28 RW 76 34 20 54 −3 20 8 5 1 6 0
3 Behn Wilson 20 D 80 13 36 49 13 197 5 1 0 1 8
32 Blake Dunlop 25 C 66 20 28 48 27 16 8 1 1 2 4
2 Bob Dailey 25 D 70 9 30 39 21 63 8 1 2 3 14
9 Bob Kelly 28 LW 77 7 31 38 15 132 8 1 1 2 10
17 Paul Holmgren 23 RW 57 19 10 29 2 168 8 1 5 6 22
26 Ken Linseman 20 C 30 5 20 25 16 23 8 2 6 8 22
20 Jimmy Watson 26 D 77 9 13 22 11 52 8 0 2 2 2
5 Rick Lapointe 23 D 77 3 18 21 15 53 7 0 1 1 14
22 Tom Gorence 21 RW 42 13 6 19 16 10 7 3 1 4 0
29 Barry Dean 23 LW 30 4 13 17 −1 20 — — — — —
11 Don Saleski‡ 29 RW 35 11 5 16 3 14 — — — — —
28, 43 Dennis Ververgaert† 25 RW 37 9 7 16 −4 6 3 0 2 2 2
15, 37 Al Hill 23 LW 31 5 11 16 5 28 7 1 0 1 2
8 Dave Hoyda 21 LW 67 3 13 16 2 138 3 0 0 0 0
6 Andre Dupont 29 D 77 3 9 12 21 135 8 0 0 0 17
23 Paul Evans 24 C 44 6 5 11 −3 12 — — — — —
18 Yves Preston 22 LW 9 3 1 4 −2 0 — — — — —
31, 38 Frank Bathe 24 D 21 1 3 4 9 76 6 1 0 1 12
28 Drew Callander‡ 22 C 15 2 1 3 −1 5 — — — — —
25 Kevin McCarthy‡ 21 D 22 1 2 3 2 21 — — — — —
1 Bernie Parent 33 G 36 0 2 2 N/A 8 — — — — —
15 Danny Lucas 20 LW 6 1 0 1 −2 0 — — — — —
35 Wayne Stephenson 34 G 40 0 1 1 N/A 2 4 0 0 0 5
39 Robbie Moore† 24 G 5 0 1 1 N/A 0 5 0 1 1 2
24 Terry Murray 28 D 5 0 0 0 0 5 — — — — —
33 Pete Peeters 21 G 5 0 0 0 N/A 6 — — — — —
30 Rick St. Croix 24 G 2 0 0 0 N/A 0 — — — — —
44 Glen Cochrane 21 D 1 0 0 0 −2 0 — — — — —
25 Norm Barnes 25 D — — — — — — 2 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) 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 Wayne Stephenson 34 40 20 10 5 2 122 .871 3.35 2187 4 0 3 0 16 .843 4.51 213
1 Bernie Parent 33 36 16 12 7 4 89 .893 2.70 1979 — — — — — — — —
39 Robbie Moore† 24 5 3 0 1 2 7 .929 1.77 237 5 3 2 0 18 .838 4.03 268
33 Pete Peeters 21 5 1 2 1 0 16 .853 3.43 280 — — — — — — — —
30 Rick St. Croix 24 2 0 1 1 0 6 .889 3.08 117 — — — — — — — —

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors
Award or honor Recipient Notes Ref
NHL Second All-Star Team Bill Barber (Left Wing) [10]
Selected to Challenge Cup Bill Barber Played in all 3 games [11]
Bobby Clarke Played in all 3 games
Team awards[12]
Award Recipient
Barry Ashbee Trophy Bob Dailey
Class Guy Award Bernie Parent

Records

Individual single season records
Record Total Player
Points by a rookie defenseman 49 Behn Wilson
Individual regular season single game records
Record Player Total Date and opponent
Penalties in minutes Frank Bathe 55 March 11, 1979 vs. Los Angeles Kings
Team regular season single game records
Record Total Date and opponent
Fastest three goals 35 seconds apart March 1, 1979 vs. Boston Bruins
(goals scored by Behn Wilson, Blake Dunlop, and Al Hill)

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 26, 1978, the day after the deciding game of the 1978 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 21, 1979, the day of the deciding game of the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals.[13]

Trades

Date Details Ref
June 2, 1978[a] To Philadelphia Flyers
1st-round pick in 1978
cash 		To New York Rangers
Fred Shero 		[14]
June 14, 1978 To Philadelphia Flyers
1st-round pick in 1978
future considerations[b] 		To Pittsburgh Penguins
Tom Bladon
Orest Kindrachuk
Ross Lonsberry 		[15]
June 15, 1978 To Philadelphia Flyers
2nd-round pick in 1979 		To Colorado Rockies
2nd-round pick in 1978
June 15, 1978 To Philadelphia Flyers
10th-round pick in 1978
11th-round pick in 1978 		To Buffalo Sabres
cash
June 15, 1978 To Philadelphia Flyers
12th-round pick in 1978 		To Chicago Black Hawks
cash
August 31, 1978 To Philadelphia Flyers
cash 		To Colorado Rockies
Joe Watson 		[16]
December 29, 1978 To Philadelphia Flyers
Dennis Ververgaert 		To Vancouver Canucks
Drew Callander
Kevin McCarthy 		[17]
March 3, 1979 To Philadelphia Flyers
future considerations 		To Colorado Rockies
Don Saleski 		[18]
Trade notes
  • a The Flyers received the draft pick and cash as compensation for the Rangers hiring Shero as general manager and head coach.[14]
  • b The Flyers later received the Penguins' 1978 8th-round pick.

Signings

Free agency

The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency.

Date Player Previous team (league) Contract details Ref
September 1978 M. F. Schurman Spokane Flyers (WIHL) [19]
October 9, 1978 Yves Preston Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) [20]
November 7, 1978 Robbie Moore Western Ontario Mustangs (OUAA) [21]
November 20, 1978 Reid Bailey Port Huron Flags (IHL) [22]

NHL Waiver Draft

The 1978 NHL Waiver Draft was held on October 9, 1978.[23] Each NHL team placed 18 skaters, 2 goaltenders, and up to 2 additional players with no more than 2 years of pro experience on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.[23] First-year professional players were exempt.[23] The Flyers were not involved in any selections during the draft.[23]

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 Ref
N/A Gary Dornhoefer — Retirement [24]
July 19, 1978 Brian Burke — Retirement
July 22, 1978 Mike Korney St. Louis Blues Free agency [25]

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on June 15, 1978.[26]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1978 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 6 Behn Wilson Defense  Canada Kingston Canadians (OHA) 601 98 260 358 1480 — — — — [a]
1 7 Ken Linseman Forward  Canada Birmingham Bulls (WHA) 860 256 551 807 1727 — — — — [b]
1 14 Dan Lucas Wing  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA) 6 1 0 1 0 — — — —
2 33 Mike Simurda Right Wing  Canada Kingston Canadians (OHA) — — — — — — — — —
3 37 Gord Salt Right Wing  Canada Michigan Tech Huskies (WCHA) — — — — — — — — — [c]
3 50 Glen Cochrane Defense  Canada Victoria Cougars (WCHL) 411 17 72 89 1556 — — — —
4 67 Russ Wilderman Center  Canada Seattle Breakers (WCHL) — — — — — — — — —
5 83 Brad Tamblyn Defense  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA) — — — — — — — — —
6 100 Mark Taylor Forward  Canada North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA) 209 42 68 110 73 — — — —
7 117 Mike Ewanouski Right Wing  United States Boston College Eagles (HE) — — — — — — — — —
8 126 Jerry Price Goaltender  Canada Portland Winter Hawks (WCHL) — — — — — — — — — [a]
8 134 Darre Switzer Left Wing  Canada Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL) — — — — — — — — —
9 151 Greg Francis Defense  Canada St. Lawrence Saints (ECAC) — — — — — — — — —
10 167 Rick Berard Defense  Canada Saint Mary's Huskies (CIAU) — — — — — — — — — [d]
10 168 Don Lucia Defense  United States Notre Dame Fighting Irish (CCHA) — — — — — — — — —
11 182 Mike Berge Forward  United States North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA) — — — — — — — — — [d]
11 183 Ken Moore Goaltender  United States Clarkson Golden Knights (ECAC) — — — — — — — — —
12 195 Jim Olson Right Wing  United States St. Paul Vulcans (USHL) — — — — — — — — — [e]
12 198 Anton Stastny Forward  Slovakia Bratislava (CFIHL) 650 252 384 636 150 — — — — [f]
Draft notes[27]

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Maine Mariners of the AHL,[2][29] the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL,[3] and the Jersey Aces of the NEHL.[3]

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "All Time Team Attendance". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "AHL Franchise Statistics". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Non-AHL Affiliates". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  4. ^ Juliano, Joe (November 25, 1990). "Fred Shero, Ex-flyers Coach, Dead". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 8, 2014. he announced his resignation on May 22, 1978 {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b Karabell, Eric (2008), The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, debatable questions for die-hard fans, Sourcebooks Inc., p. 235, ISBN 978-1-4022-1412-7
  6. ^ Kirshenbaum, Jerry (1978-11-20). "A Revival Is A Smash Off Broadway". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  7. ^ "Flyers hire McCammon". AP. The Free Lance–Star. July 7, 1978. Retrieved December 8, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b "Flyers Ax Coach McCammon, Name Quinn as Replacement". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 31, 1979. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  9. ^ a b c "Parent's eye injury forces his retirement". AP. Lakeland Ledger. June 1, 1979. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  10. ^ 2014–15 NHL Official Guide & Record Book, p. 230–32
  11. ^ "Legends of Hockey – Time Capsule – Pro Classics: Challenge Cup 1979 NHL All-Star Team Roster". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  12. ^ "Flyers History – Team Awards". P.Anson. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  13. ^ "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  14. ^ a b "Rangers hire Shero for reported $200,000". AP. Chicago Tribune. June 2, 1978. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Flyers Trade Three Veterans to Penguins". AP. Kane Republican. June 15, 1978. Retrieved December 14, 2014 – via Newspapers.com. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Joe Watson - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Dennis Ververgaert - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "Donald Saleski - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Maynard Schurman - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "Yves Preston - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Robert Moore - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Reid Bailey - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ a b c d Parsons, Mark (November 8, 2013). "1978 NHL Waiver Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  24. ^ Gary Dornhoefer biography at Legends of Hockey (archived), retrieved December 14, 2014
  25. ^ "Mike Korney - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ "1978 NHL Amateur Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  27. ^ "1978 NHL Amateur Draft Pick Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  28. ^ "1978 NHL Amateur Draft -- Anton Stastny". Hockey Draft Central. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  29. ^ "AHL Season Overview: 1978–79". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
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