1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers season

1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers
Division	5th West
1971–72 record	26–38–14
Home record	19–13–7
Road record	7–25–7
Goals for	200 (14th)
Goals against	236 (7th)
Team information
General Manager	Keith Allen
Coach	Fred Shero
Captain	Ed Van Impe
Alternate captains	Jean-Guy Gendron
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	14,379[1]
Minor league affiliations	Richmond Robins (AHL)[2] San Diego Gulls (WHL)[3] Jersey Devils (EHL)[3] Salem Rebels (EHL)[3]
Team leaders
Goals	Bobby Clarke (35)
Assists	Bobby Clarke (46)
Points	Bobby Clarke (81)
Penalties in minutes	Gary Dornhoefer (183)
Plus/minus	Bobby Clarke (+22)
Wins	Doug Favell (18)
Goals against average	Doug Favell (2.81)
<1970–71 1972–73>

The 1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' fifth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.

Off-season

The Flyers fired head coach Vic Stasiuk on May 27, 1971,^[4] after heavy criticism by Flyers players.^[5] On June 2, the Flyers hired Fred Shero to replace him.^[5] In the previous two seasons Shero had guided two teams to league championships, the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League and the Omaha Knights of the Central Hockey League.^[5]

Regular season

Bobby Clarke continued to progress as he led the team in goals (35), assists (46), and points (81) in 1971–72 and he became the first Flyer to win an NHL award, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. However, in the season's final game, the Flyers needed a win or a tie against the second-year Buffalo Sabres to beat out the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final playoff spot. The score was tied late in the game, but with just four seconds on the clock, former Flyer Gerry Meehan took a shot from just inside the blue line that eluded Flyers goalie Doug Favell.^[6] With identical records the playoff berth was determined by 'goals for' and went to the Penguins.

Season standings

West Division^[7]

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Chicago Black Hawks	78	46	17	15	256	166	+90	107
2	Minnesota North Stars	78	37	29	12	212	191	+21	86
3	St. Louis Blues	78	28	39	11	208	247	-39 −39	67
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	78	26	38	14	220	258	-38 −38	66
5	Philadelphia Flyers	78	26	38	14	200	236	-36 −36	66
6	California Golden Seals	78	21	39	18	216	288	-72 −72	60
7	Los Angeles Kings	78	20	49	9	206	305	-99 −99	49

Schedule and results

Regular season

1971–72 regular season
October: 5–4–1, 11 Points (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 2–3–1) Game October Opponent Score Record Points 1 9 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 0–1–0 0 2 12 @ Vancouver Canucks 2–3 0–2–0 0 3 13 @ California Golden Seals 5–4 1–2–0 2 4 16 @ Los Angeles Kings 1–0 2–2–0 4 5 21 Los Angeles Kings 0–7 2–3–0 4 6 23 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 3–5 2–4–0 4 7 24 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 3–4–0 6 8 28 Vancouver Canucks 3–2 4–4–0 8 9 30 @ St. Louis Blues 4–4 4–4–1 9 10 31 Montreal Canadiens 5–3 5–4–1 11
November: 2–7–3, 7 Points (Home: 2–4–2; Road: 0–3–1) Game November Opponent Score Record Points 11 3 @ Chicago Black Hawks 0–3 5–5–1 11 12 5 @ Buffalo Sabres 2–5 5–6–1 11 13 7 Minnesota North Stars 0–3 5–7–1 11 14 11 Vancouver Canucks 4–3 6–7–1 13 15 13 Detroit Red Wings 3–6 6–8–1 13 16 14 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3 6–8–2 14 17 18 Los Angeles Kings 2–0 7–8–2 16 18 20 @ Montreal Canadiens 2–2 7–8–3 17 19 21 Minnesota North Stars 1–1 7–8–4 18 20 24 Boston Bruins 1–2 7–9–4 18 21 25 @ Boston Bruins 2–4 7–10–4 18 22 28 New York Rangers 2–4 7–11–4 18
December: 4–7–1, 9 Points (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 0–5–0) Game December Opponent Score Record Points 23 2 Detroit Red Wings 1–1 7–11–5 19 24 4 @ Minnesota North Stars 1–3 7–12–5 19 25 5 California Golden Seals 3–0 8–12–5 21 26 9 New York Rangers 0–5 8–13–5 21 27 11 @ Detroit Red Wings 3–6 8–14–5 21 28 12 Montreal Canadiens 4–1 9–14–5 23 29 15 @ New York Rangers 2–6 9–15–5 23 30 16 Buffalo Sabres 5–0 10–15–5 25 31 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–4 10–16–5 25 32 25 @ Boston Bruins 1–5 10–17–5 25 33 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–1 11–17–5 27 34 29 @ New York Rangers 1–5 11–18–5 27
January: 3–8–3, 9 Points (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 0–6–2) Game January Opponent Score Record Points 35 1 @ St. Louis Blues 4–4 11–18–6 28 36 2 @ Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 11–19–6 28 37 6 St. Louis Blues 2–3 11–20–6 28 38 8 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 2–2 11–20–7 29 39 9 California Golden Seals 10–3 12–20–7 31 40 11 @ Detroit Red Wings 0–5 12–21–7 31 41 15 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2–4 12–22–7 31 42 16 Los Angeles Kings 3–3 12–22–8 32 43 20 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 13–22–8 34 44 22 @ Los Angeles Kings 2–4 13–23–8 34 45 23 @ California Golden Seals 1–3 13–24–8 34 46 27 @ Boston Bruins 2–4 13–25–8 34 47 29 Boston Bruins 2–4 13–26–8 34 48 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–0 14–26–8 36
February: 5–6–3, 13 Points (Home: 2–1–1; Road: 3–5–2) Game February Opponent Score Record Points 49 3 Detroit Red Wings 5–4 15–26–8 38 50 5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1 16–26–8 40 51 6 St. Louis Blues 2–2 16–26–9 41 52 8 @ Vancouver Canucks 3–1 17–26–9 43 53 9 @ California Golden Seals 2–3 17–27–9 43 54 12 @ Minnesota North Stars 1–5 17–28–9 43 55 13 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–4 17–28–10 44 56 16 @ Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 17–28–11 45 57 17 Boston Bruins 1–4 17–29–11 45 58 19 @ Montreal Canadiens 1–3 17–30–11 45 59 20 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1 18–30–11 47 60 23 @ New York Rangers 3–4 18–31–11 47 61 26 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 18–32–11 47 62 27 @ Detroit Red Wings 3–1 19–32–11 49
March: 7–5–2, 16 Points (Home: 5–3–1; Road: 2–2–1) Game March Opponent Score Record Points 63 2 Minnesota North Stars 3–0 20–32–11 51 64 4 St. Louis Blues 6–2 21–32–11 53 65 5 Montreal Canadiens 0–4 21–33–11 53 66 8 @ Vancouver Canucks 6–5 22–33–11 55 67 9 @ Los Angeles Kings 5–3 23–33–11 57 68 11 @ St. Louis Blues 2–4 23–34–11 57 69 13 @ Montreal Canadiens 1–2 23–35–11 57 70 16 Buffalo Sabres 3–3 23–35–12 58 71 18 New York Rangers 3–5 23–36–12 58 72 23 Chicago Black Hawks 2–4 23–37–12 58 73 25 California Golden Seals 3–0 24–37–12 60 74 26 Vancouver Canucks 4–1 25–37–12 62 75 28 @ Minnesota North Stars 2–2 25–37–13 63 76 30 Buffalo Sabres 3–1 26–37–13 65
April: 0–1–1, 1 Points (Home: 0–0–1; Road: 0–1–0) Game April Opponent Score Record Points 77 1 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–4 26–37–14 66 78 2 @ Buffalo Sabres 2–3 26–38–14 66
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Tie (1 point)

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
No.	Player	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
16	Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke	22	C	78	35	46	81	22	87
12	Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer	28	RW	75	17	32	49	-15 −15	183
17	Nolet, SimonSimon Nolet	30	RW	67	23	20	43	6	22
22	Foley, RickRick Foley	26	D	58	11	25	36	-16 −16	168
9	Kelly, BobBob Kelly	21	LW	78	14	15	29	16	157
20	Johnson, JimJim Johnson	29	C	46	13	15	28	-21 −21	12
21	Bernier, SergeSerge Bernier	24	C	44	12	11	23	-20 −20	51
10 !10, 15	Clement, BillBill Clement	21	C	49	9	14	23	-14 −14	39
5	Hughes, BrentBrent Hughes	28	D	63	2	20	22	6	35
21	Flett, BillBill Flett	28	RW	31	11	10	21	5	26
4	Ashbee, BarryBarry Ashbee	32	D	73	6	14	20	2	75
11	Gendron, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Gendron	37	LW	56	6	13	19	-2 −2	36
25	Potvin, JeanJean Potvin	22	D	29	3	12	15	-6 −6	6
18	Lonsberry, RossRoss Lonsberry	24	LW	32	7	7	14	-9 −9	22
7	Parizeau, MichelMichel Parizeau	23	LW	37	2	12	14	-6 −6	10
18	Lesuk, BillBill Lesuk	25	LW	45	7	6	13	-14 −14	31
2	Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe	31	D	73	4	9	13	-8 −8	78
8	Morrison, LewLew Morrison	23	LW	58	5	5	10	-18 −18	26
14	Watson, JoeJoe Watson	28	D	65	3	7	10	-17 −17	38
24	Sarrazin, DickDick Sarrazin	26	RW	28	3	4	7	0	4
20	Joyal, EddieEddie Joyal	31	C	26	3	4	7	-13 −13	8
3 !3, 10	Brossart, WillieWillie Brossart	22	D	42	0	4	4	-7 −7	12
19	MacLeish, RickRick MacLeish	22	C	17	1	2	3	-9 −9	9
15	Mickey, LarryLarry Mickey	28	RW	14	1	2	3	-5 −5	8
6	Hillman, WayneWayne Hillman	33	D	47	0	3	3	-16 −16	21
23	Keenan, LarryLarry Keenan	31	LW	14	1	1	2	-4 −4	2
25	Plante, PierrePierre Plante	20	RW	24	1	0	1	-11 −11	15
1	Favell, DougDoug Favell	26	G	54	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	32
10	Wright, LarryLarry Wright	20	C	27	0	1	1	-6 −6	2
19 !19, 23	Hale, LarryLarry Hale	30	D	6	0	1	1	-5 −5	0
19 !19, 24	MacSweyn, RalphRalph MacSweyn	29	D	2	0	1	1	0	0
30	Gamble, BruceBruce Gamble	33	G	24	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	2
3	Brown, LarryLarry Brown	24	D	12	0	0	0	-3 −3	2
30	Taylor, BobbyBobby Taylor	27	G	6	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0
24 !24, 30, 34	McLeod, DonDon McLeod	25	G	4	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0
3	Mair, JimJim Mair	25	D	2	0	0	0	-2 −2	0
25	Schultz, DaveDave Schultz	22	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0
23	Drolet, ReneRene Drolet	27	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0
25	Saleski, DonDon Saleski	22	RW	1	0	0	0	-1 −1	0

Goaltenders

			Regular season
No.	Player	Age	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN
1	Favell, DougDoug Favell	26	54	18	25	9	5	140	.916	2.81	2993
30	Gamble, BruceBruce Gamble	33	24	7	8	2	2	58	.913	2.93	1186
30	Taylor, BobbyBobby Taylor	27	6	1	2	2	0	16	.918	3.00	320
24 !24, 30, 34	McLeod, DonDon McLeod	25	4	0	3	1	0	14	.863	4.64	181

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors

Award or honor	Recipient
All-Star Game representative	Bobby Clarke Simon Nolet
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy	Bobby Clarke

Records

Team single season records

Record	Total
Losses on road	25

Team regular season single game records

Record	Total	Date and opponent
Most powerplay goals scored	6	January 9, 1972 vs. California Golden Seals (tied October 13, 1988 at Minnesota North Stars)

Team regular season streaks records

Record	Games	Date(s)
Longest road winless streak	19 (15 losses, 4 ties)	October 23, 1971 through January 27, 1972

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 19, 1971, the day after the deciding game of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 11, 1972, the day of the deciding game of the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals.^[8]

Trades

Date	Details
June 13, 1971[9]	To Philadelphia Flyers Larry Mickey	To Los Angeles Kings Larry Hillman
September 8, 1971[10]	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Portland Buckaroos (WHL) Cliff Schmautz
October 15, 1971[11]	To Philadelphia Flyers Rick Foley	To Chicago Black Hawks Andre Lacroix
November 16, 1971[12]	To Philadelphia Flyers Larry Keenan	To Buffalo Sabres Larry Mickey
January 28, 1972[13]	To Philadelphia Flyers Bill Flett Eddie Joyal Ross Lonsberry Jean Potvin	To Los Angeles Kings Serge Bernier Jim Johnson Bill Lesuk

Signings

Free agency

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

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Contract details
July 1971[14]	Orest Kindrachuk	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
September 11, 1971	Bob Hurlburt	Quebec Aces (AHL)

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date	Player	Contract details
August 16, 1971[15]	Bruce Gamble
September 2, 1971[16]	Larry Brown
September 2, 1971[16]	Bob Kelly
September 2, 1971[16]	Rick MacLeish
September 5, 1971[17]	Jim Johnson
September 5, 1971[17]	Lew Morrison
September 5, 1971[17]	Joe Watson
September 7, 1971[18]	Gary Dornhoefer
September 7, 1971[18]	Wayne Hillman
September 7, 1971[18]	Danny Schock
September 7, 1971[18]	Frank Spring
September 7, 1971[18]	Ed Van Impe
September 8, 1971[10]	Serge Bernier
September 8, 1971[10]	Jean-Guy Gendron
September 8, 1971[10]	Bill Lesuk
September 8, 1971[10]	Larry Mickey
September 10, 1971	Andre Lacroix
October 7, 1971	Doug Favell
March 20, 1972[19]	Bobby Clarke	5 years, $500,000 extension

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Draft	Contract details
August 7, 1971[19]	Pierre Plante	Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)	1971 1st-round pick	2 years
N/A[19]	Glen Irwin	Estevan Bruins (WCHL)	1971 3rd-round pick	2 years
N/A[19]	Don McCulloch	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)	1971 5th-round pick	2 years
N/A[19]	Larry Wright	Regina Pats (WCHL)	1971 1st-round pick	2 years

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 8, 1971[20][21]	Larry Brown	Intraleague	Philadelphia Flyers	New York Rangers
June 8, 1971[22][21]	Frank Spring	Intraleague	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
June 8, 1971[23][21]	Garry Peters	Intraleague	Boston Bruins	Philadelphia Flyers
June 8, 1971[24]	Don McLeod	Reverse	Philadelphia Flyers	Detroit Red Wings

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.

Date	Player	Claimed by	Claimed from
December 8, 1971[25]	Michel Parizeau	Philadelphia Flyers	St. Louis Blues
January 28, 1972[26]	Larry Brown	Los Angeles Kings	Philadelphia Flyers

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
September 20, 1971	Keith Wright	—	Released
February 9, 1972[27]	Bruce Gamble*	—	Retirement	Suffered career-ending heart attack during game

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on June 10, 1971.^[28]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1971 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	8	Wright, LarryLarry Wright	Center	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)	106	4	8	12	19	& —	& —	& —	& —
1	9	Plante, PierrePierre Plante	Right Wing	Canada	Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)	599	125	172	297	599	& —	& —	& —	& —	[a]
3	36	Irwin, GlenGlen Irwin	Defense	Canada	Estevan Bruins (WCHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
4	50	Scharf, TedTed Scharf	Right Wing	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
5	64	McCulloch, DonDon McCulloch	Defense	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	78	Bilodeau, YvonYvon Bilodeau	Defense	Canada	Estevan Bruins (WCHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	92	Gerrard, BobbyBobby Gerrard	Right Wing	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
8	106	Mrazek, JeromeJerome Mrazek	Goaltender	Canada	Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA)	1	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	10.00

Draft notes^[29]

• ^a The Flyers acquired the 9th overall pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Bruce Gamble and Mike Walton for Bernie Parent and the Flyers' second-round pick, 22nd overall, on January 31, 1971.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Richmond Robins of the AHL,^[2][30] the San Diego Gulls of the WHL,^[3] and the Jersey Devils and Salem Rebels 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

1971–72 NHL season East Boston Buffalo Detroit Montreal New York Toronto Vancouver West California Chicago Los Angeles Minnesota Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis See also Draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup Final