1968–69 Philadelphia Flyers season

1968–69 Philadelphia Flyers
Division	3rd West
1968–69 record	20–35–21
Home record	14–16–8
Road record	6–19–13
Goals for	174 (12th)
Goals against	225 (7th)
Team information
General Manager	Bud Poile
Coach	Keith Allen
Captain	Ed Van Impe (from Nov 5)
Alternate captains	Dick Cherry Jean-Guy Gendron (from Nov 5) Allan Stanley Ed Van Impe (to Nov 5)
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	11,196[1]
Minor league affiliations	Quebec Aces (AHL)[2] Seattle Totems (WHL)[3] Jersey Devils (EHL)[3]
Team leaders
Goals	Andre Lacroix (24)
Assists	Jean-Guy Gendron (35)
Points	Andre Lacroix (56)
Penalties in minutes	Forbes Kennedy (195)
Plus/minus	Bill Sutherland (+5)
Wins	Bernie Parent (17)
Goals against average	Bernie Parent (2.69)
<1967–68 1969–70>

The 1968–69 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' second season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers lost in the quarterfinals to the St. Louis Blues for the second consecutive season.

Off-season

The Flyers coaxed Dick Cherry, who they selected in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, out of retirement by agreeing to a three-year contract.^[4]

Lou Angotti, the Flyers first captain, was involved in a three-team trade.^[5] The Flyers traded Angotti to the St. Louis Blues for Darryl Edestrand and Gerry Melnyk and the Blues subsequently traded Angotti to the Pittsburgh Penguins.^[5] Melnyk suffered a heart attack in training camp and retired to become a scout for the team.^[6]

The Flyers claimed veteran defenseman Allan Stanley in the reverse draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[7]

Regular season

Defenseman Ed Van Impe was named Angotti's replacement as captain in November.^[8]

Led by Van Impe and the team-leading 24 goals of Andre Lacroix, the Flyers struggled finishing 15 games under .500.

Season standings

West Division^[9]

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	St. Louis Blues	76	37	25	14	204	157	+47	88
2	Oakland Seals	76	29	36	11	219	251	-32 −32	69
3	Philadelphia Flyers	76	20	35	21	174	225	-51 −51	61
4	Los Angeles Kings	76	24	42	10	185	260	-75 −75	58
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	76	20	45	11	189	252	-63 −63	51
6	Minnesota North Stars	76	18	43	15	189	270	-81 −81	51

Playoffs

Despite the poor regular season showing, they made the playoffs; however, they were manhandled by St. Louis in a four-game sweep. Not wanting his team to be physically outmatched again, owner Ed Snider instructed General Manager Bud Poile to acquire bigger, tougher players.^[10]

Schedule and results

Regular season

1968–69 regular season
October: 1–5–2 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 0–4–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Points 1 October 13 Philadelphia 2–3 Boston Parent 14,011 0–1–0 0 2 October 16 Philadelphia 1–3 New York Favell 15,906 0–2–0 0 3 October 17 Pittsburgh 0–3 Philadelphia Parent 9,862 1–2–0 2 4 October 24 Minnesota 3–3 Philadelphia Parent 8,933 1–2–1 3 5 October 26 Philadelphia 2–6 Los Angeles Favell 6,597 1–3–1 3 6 October 27 Philadelphia 2–2 Oakland Favell 1,892 1–3–2 4 7 October 30 Philadelphia 1–4 St. Louis Parent 10,754 1–4–2 4 8 October 31 New York 2–1 Philadelphia Parent 9,429 1–5–2 4
November: 5–8–0 (Home: 3–5–0; Road: 2–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Points 9 November 2 Philadelphia 3–2 Toronto Parent 16,470 2–5–2 6 10 November 3 Montreal 2–3 Philadelphia Parent 12,431 3–5–2 8 11 November 6 Philadelphia 1–7 Boston Parent 13,744 3–6–2 8 12 November 7 St. Louis 8–0 Philadelphia Favell 9,164 3–7–2 8 13 November 9 Philadelphia 3–0 Pittsburgh Favell 7,284 4–7–2 10 14 November 13 Philadelphia 3–4 Minnesota Favell 10,918 4–8–2 10 15 November 14 Boston 2–4 Philadelphia Parent 10,192 5–8–2 12 16 November 17 Los Angeles 1–3 Philadelphia Parent 9,125 6–8–2 14 17 November 21 Montreal 3–0 Philadelphia Parent 11,269 6–9–2 14 18 November 23 Oakland 2–1 Philadelphia Favell 11,932 6–10–2 14 19 November 24 Los Angeles 3–1 Philadelphia Parent 9,086 6–11–2 14 20 November 27 Detroit 5–2 Philadelphia Favell 11,380 6–12–2 14 21 November 30 Philadelphia 0–1 St. Louis Parent 15,314 6–13–2 14
December: 3–6–5 (Home: 1–2–3; Road: 2–4–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Points 22 December 1 Philadelphia 3–3 Detroit Parent 13,039 6–13–3 15 23 December 4 Philadelphia 1–3 Los Angeles Parent 5,847 6–14–3 15 24 December 6 Philadelphia 0–4 Oakland Favell 3,166 6–15–3 15 25 December 8 St. Louis 4–4 Philadelphia Parent 10,329 6–15–4 16 26 December 12 Toronto 1–0 Philadelphia Parent 8,531 6–16–4 16 27 December 14 Philadelphia 0–1 Montreal Parent 16,584 6–17–4 16 28 December 15 Philadelphia 3–1 New York Parent 12,731 7–17–4 18 29 December 17 Pittsburgh 2–8 Philadelphia Parent 6,986 8–17–4 20 30 December 19 Minnesota 5–5 Philadelphia Parent 8,394 8–17–5 21 31 December 21 Philadelphia 2–1 Los Angeles Favell 7,108 9–17–5 23 32 December 22 Philadelphia 1–2 Oakland Favell 1,829 9–18–5 23 33 December 25 New York 2–2 Philadelphia Favell 9,545 9–18–6 24 34 December 27 Philadelphia 3–3 Detroit Parent 11,935 9–18–7 25 35 December 29 Oakland 2–1 Philadelphia Parent 12,767 9–19–7 25
January: 3–6–5 (Home: 2–4–2; Road: 1–2–3) Game Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Points 36 January 2 Chicago 2–2 Philadelphia Favell 13,290 9–19–8 26 37 January 4 Philadelphia 1–1 Pittsburgh Favell 6,329 9–19–9 27 38 January 5 Toronto 2–2 Philadelphia Parent 11,274 9–19–10 28 39 January 8 Philadelphia 4–4 Toronto Favell 16,331 9–19–11 29 40 January 9 New York 3–1 Philadelphia Parent 10,147 9–20–11 29 41 January 11 Philadelphia 4–2 Minnesota Parent 12,462 10–20–11 31 42 January 15 Philadelphia 3–4 St. Louis Favell 13,184 10–21–11 31 43 January 16 Montreal 4–0 Philadelphia Parent 12,728 10–22–11 31 44 January 18 Boston 5–3 Philadelphia Favell 14,558 10–23–11 31 45 January 19 Detroit 1–3 Philadelphia Parent 13,949 11–23–11 33 46 January 23 Philadelphia 2–2 Chicago Parent 18,500 11–23–12 34 47 January 25 Philadelphia 3–6 Montreal Parent 16,884 11–24–12 34 48 January 26 Pittsburgh 3–5 Philadelphia Favell 10,987 12–24–12 36 49 January 30 Chicago 12–0 Philadelphia Favell 13,005 12–25–12 36
February: 1–8–4 (Home: 1–4–1; Road: 0–4–3) Game Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Points 50 February 1 Philadelphia 2–2 Pittsburgh Parent 5,866 12–25–13 37 51 February 2 Minnesota 3–2 Philadelphia Parent 13,294 12–26–13 37 52 February 4 Detroit 2–0 Philadelphia Parent 8,375 12–27–13 37 53 February 8 Philadelphia 5–6 Boston Parent 14,659 12–28–13 37 54 February 9 Philadelphia 3–3 New York Parent 5,723 12–28–14 38 55 February 12 Philadelphia 3–3 Chicago Parent 17,800 12–28–15 39 56 February 13 St. Louis 2–1 Philadelphia Parent 9,362 12–29–15 39 57 February 15 Chicago 3–0 Philadelphia Parent 14,558 12–30–15 39 58 February 16 Oakland 2–3 Philadelphia Parent 11,104 13–30–15 41 59 February 19 Philadelphia 1–3 St. Louis Parent 15,072 13–31–15 41 60 February 22 Philadelphia 1–4 Montreal Parent 17,304 13–32–15 41 61 February 23 Philadelphia 1–9 Detroit Parent 14,361 13–33–15 41 62 February 27 Toronto 1–1 Philadelphia Parent 11,935 13–33–16 42
March: 7–2–5 (Home: 6–0–1; Road: 1–2–4) Game Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Points 63 March 1 Philadelphia 2–2 Los Angeles Parent 9,534 13–33–17 43 64 March 2 Philadelphia 4–4 Oakland Parent 4,484 13–33–18 44 65 March 6 Los Angeles 1–5 Philadelphia Parent 9,428 14–33–18 46 66 March 8 Philadelphia 2–2 Toronto Parent 16,485 14–33–19 47 67 March 9 Oakland 3–5 Philadelphia Parent 13,885 15–33–19 49 68 March 13 Boston 1–2 Philadelphia Parent 14,558 16–33–19 51 69 March 15 Philadelphia 2–2 Minnesota Parent 14,662 16–33–20 52 70 March 16 Philadelphia 2–6 Chicago Parent 17,000 16–34–20 52 71 March 20 Minnesota 2–5 Philadelphia Parent 12,582 17–34–20 54 72 March 22 Philadelphia 5–1 Minnesota Parent 14,664 18–34–20 56 73 March 23 St. Louis 3–4 Philadelphia Parent 14,558 19–34–20 58 74 March 27 Los Angeles 2–4 Philadelphia Parent 11,669 20–34–20 60 75 March 29 Pittsburgh 3–3 Philadelphia Parent 11,039 20–34–21 61 76 March 30 Philadelphia 1–2 Pittsburgh Favell 5,738 20–35–21 61
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1969 Stanley Cup playoffs
Quarterfinals vs. St. Louis Blues – Blues win 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series 1 April 2 Philadelphia 2–5 St. Louis Parent 15,156 Blues lead 1–0 2 April 3 Philadelphia 0–5 St. Louis Favell 15,261 Blues lead 2–0 3 April 5 St. Louis 3–0 Philadelphia Parent 14,558 Blues lead 3–0 4 April 6 St. Louis 4–1 Philadelphia Parent 10,995 Blues 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
7	Lacroix, AndreAndre Lacroix	23	C	75	24	32	56	-12 −12	4	4	0	0	0	0
11	Gendron, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Gendron	34	LW	74	20	35	55	-8 −8	65	4	0	0	0	6
21	Sarrazin, DickDick Sarrazin	23	RW	54	16	30	46	-7 −7	14	4	0	0	0	0
20	Johnson, JimJim Johnson	26	C	69	17	27	44	-5 −5	20	3	0	0	0	2
9	Rochefort, LeonLeon Rochefort	29	RW	65	14	21	35	-7 −7	10	3	0	0	0	0
12	Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer	25	RW	60	8	16	24	-20 −20	80	4	0	1	1	20
10	Selby, BritBrit Selby	23	LW	63	10	13	23	-11 −11	23	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
2	Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe	28	D	68	7	12	19	-13 −13	112	1	0	0	0	17
17	Hale, LarryLarry Hale	27	D	67	3	16	19	-24 −24	28	4	0	0	0	10
6	Stanley, AllanAllan Stanley	42	D	64	4	13	17	-4 −4	28	3	0	1	1	4
8	Blackburn, DonDon Blackburn	30	LW	48	7	9	16	-13 −13	36	4	0	0	0	2
5	Cherry, DickDick Cherry	31	D	71	9	6	15	-11 −11	18	4	1	0	1	4
22	Kennedy, ForbesForbes Kennedy	33	C	59	8	7	15	-25 −25	195	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
15	Peters, GarryGarry Peters	26	C	66	8	6	14	-20 −20	49	4	1	1	2	16
14	Nolet, SimonSimon Nolet	27	RW	35	4	10	14	-10 −10	8	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
4	Miszuk, JohnJohn Miszuk	28	D	66	1	13	14	-6 −6	70	4	0	0	0	0
10	Sutherland, BillBill Sutherland	34	LW	12	7	3	10	5	4	4	1	1	2	0
3	Watson, JoeJoe Watson	25	D	60	2	8	10	-21 −21	14	4	0	0	0	0
19	Heiskala, EarlEarl Heiskala	26	LW	21	3	3	6	-4 −4	51	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
19	Paiement, RosaireRosaire Paiement	23	RW	27	2	4	6	-14 −14	52	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
23	Stankiewicz, MyronMyron Stankiewicz	33	LW	19	0	5	5	-11 −11	25	1	0	0	0	0
24	MacSweyn, RalphRalph MacSweyn	26	D	24	0	4	4	4	6	4	0	0	0	4
23	Meehan, GerryGerry Meehan	22	C	12	0	3	3	-1 −1	4	4	0	0	0	0
22	Byers, MikeMike Byers	22	RW	5	0	2	2	-1 −1	0	4	0	1	1	0
14	Hannigan, PatPat Hannigan	32	LW	7	0	1	1	-4 −4	22	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
30	Parent, BernieBernie Parent	23	G	58	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	4	3	0	0	0	0
1	Favell, DougDoug Favell	23	G	21	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	4	1	0	0	0	0
24	Zeidel, LarryLarry Zeidel	40	D	9	0	0	0	-3 −3	6	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
16	LaForge, ClaudeClaude LaForge	32	LW	2	0	0	0	-2 −2	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
19	Bernier, SergeSerge Bernier	21	C	1	0	0	0	0	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

			Regular season									Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN	GP	W	L	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN
30	Parent, BernieBernie Parent	23	58	17	23	16	1	151	.923	2.69	3365	3	0	3	0	12	.872	4.00	180
1	Favell, DougDoug Favell	23	21	3	12	5	1	71	.902	3.56	1195	1	0	1	0	5	.861	5.00	60

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors

Award or honor	Recipient
All-Star Game representative	Bernie Parent Ed Van Impe

Records

Team single season records

Record	Total
Fewest wins on road	6 (tied in 1969–70)
Fewest playoff wins	0 (tied in 1970–71, 1982–83, 1983–84)

Team regular season single game records

Record	Total	Date and opponent
Most goals against	12	January 30, 1969 vs. Chicago Black Hawks

Team regular season streaks records

Record	Games	Date(s)
Longest tie streak	4	January 2, 1969 through January 8, 1969 (tied December 8, 1991 through December 15, 1991)
Longest road tie streak	4	March 1, 1969 through March 15, 1969

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 12, 1968, the day after the deciding game of the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 4, 1969, the day of the deciding game of the 1969 Stanley Cup Finals.^[11]

Trades

Date	Details
May 20, 1968[12]	To Philadelphia Flyers Earl Heiskala	To Seattle Totems (WHL) loan of Bob Courcy loan of Ray LaRose future considerations[a]
June 11, 1968[5]	To Philadelphia Flyers Darryl Edestrand Gerry Melnyk	To St. Louis Blues Lou Angotti Ian Campbell
August 21, 1968[13]	To Philadelphia Flyers Loan of Bobby Rivard	To Pittsburgh Penguins cash
October 1968[14]	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Al Millar
December 1968[15]	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Quebec Aces (AHL) Keith Wright
December 2, 1968[16]	To Philadelphia Flyers Bob Sneddon	To Chicago Black Hawks Brian Bradley
March 2, 1969[17]	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Pat Hannigan
March 2, 1969[17]	To Philadelphia Flyers Mike Byers Gerry Meehan Bill Sutherland	To Toronto Maple Leafs Forbes Kennedy Brit Selby

Trade notes

• ^a The Flyers sent John Hanna and Art Stratton to Seattle on June 1968 to complete trade.^[18]

Signings

Free agency

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

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Contract details
September 1968[19]	Bobby Taylor	Calgary Spurs (AJHL)
September 18, 1968[20]	Jean Lapointe	Laval Saints (QMJHL)
September 18, 1968[20]	Bill McEwan

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date	Player	Contract details
May 27, 1968[4]	Dick Cherry	3 years
September 21, 1968	Brit Selby	2 years
October 5, 1968	Ralph MacSweyn
October 5, 1968	Bobby Rivard
October 8, 1968[21]	Forbes Kennedy
October 8, 1968[21]	Garry Peters
October 9, 1968	Gary Dornhoefer
October 9, 1968	Jim Johnson
October 9, 1968	Rosaire Paiement
October 12, 1968	Larry Hale	1 year

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Draft	Contract details
September 18, 1968[20]	Dunc Wilson	Oshawa Generals (OHA)	Special Internal Amateur Draft[22]

Intraleague and reverse drafts

The Flyers were involved in the following claims during the intraleague and reverse drafts.

Date	Player	Draft	Claimed by	Claimed from
June 12, 1968[23][24]	Fern Rivard	Intraleague	Minnesota North Stars	Philadelphia Flyers
June 12, 1968[23][24]	Ron Buchanan	Intraleague	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
June 12, 1968[23][24]	Jean Gauthier	Intraleague	Boston Bruins	Philadelphia Flyers
June 12, 1968[23][24]	Larry Hale	Intraleague	Philadelphia Flyers	Minnesota North Stars
June 12, 1968[23][24]	Bill Sutherland	Intraleague	Minnesota North Stars	Philadelphia Flyers
June 13, 1968[7]	Jim Morrison	Reverse	Baltimore Clippers (AHL)	Philadelphia Flyers
June 13, 1968[7]	Ed Hoekstra	Reverse	Denver Spurs (WHL)	Philadelphia Flyers
June 13, 1968[7]	Allan Stanley	Reverse	Philadelphia Flyers	Toronto Maple Leafs

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.

Date	Player	Claimed by	Claimed from
January 16, 1969[25]	Myron Stankiewicz	Philadelphia Flyers	St. Louis Blues

Departures

The following players — excluding those who were traded or claimed on waivers — left the team during the off-season. Players who were under contract during the season are marked with an asterisk (*).

Date	Player	New team (league)	Via	Notes
October 7, 1968[6]	Gerry Melnyk	—	Retirement	Acquired in June 11 trade

Draft picks

NHL Amateur Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on June 13, 1968.^[26]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1968 and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA
1	8	Lew Morrison	Right Wing	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)	564	39	52	91	107	—	—	—	—

NHL Special Internal Amateur Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1968 NHL Special Internal Amateur Draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on June 13, 1968.^[27] Sponsored players aged 20 before May 31, 1968, who played as amateurs during the 1967–68 season were eligible for selection.^[28]

Special Internal Amateur Draft selections and their NHL career regular season statistics^[22][29]

Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	NHL rights	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA
Dunc Wilson	Goaltender	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHA)	Boston Bruins	287	0	4	4	83	80	150	33	3.74

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Quebec Aces of the AHL,^[2][30] the Seattle Totems of the WHL,^[3] and the Jersey Devils of the EHL.^[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

Philadelphia Flyers seasons 1960s 1960–61 . 1961–62 . 1962–63 . 1963–64 . 1964–66 . 1965–66 . 1966–67 . 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 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 Records Award winners Personnel Owner Comcast Spectacor (Ed Snider, chairman) President Paul Holmgren General manager Ron Hextall Head coach Vacant Team captain Claude Giroux Current roster Arenas Spectrum Wells Fargo Center Rivalries Flyers–Rangers rivalry Devils–Flyers rivalry Flyers–Penguins rivalry 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

1968–69 NHL season East Boston Chicago Detroit Montreal New York Toronto West Los Angeles Minnesota Oakland Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis See also Draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup Finals