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
President	Bill Putnam Joe Scott
General Manager	Bud Poile
Coach	Keith Allen
Captain	Ed Van Impe[lower-alpha 1]
Alternate captains	Dick Cherry Jean-Guy Gendron[lower-alpha 1] Allan Stanley Ed Van Impe[lower-alpha 1]
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	11,196[2]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Quebec Aces Seattle Totems Jersey Devils
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)

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.^[3]

Lou Angotti, the Flyers first captain, was involved in a three-team trade.^[4] 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.^[4] Melnyk suffered a heart attack in training camp and retired to become a scout for the team.^[5]

The Flyers claimed veteran defenseman Allan Stanley in the reverse draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[6]

Regular season

Defenseman Ed Van Impe was named Angotti's replacement as captain in November.^[1]

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^[7]

		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	69
3	Philadelphia Flyers	76	20	35	21	174	225	−51	61
4	Los Angeles Kings	76	24	42	10	185	260	−75	58
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	76	20	45	11	189	252	−63	51
6	Minnesota North Stars	76	18	43	15	189	270	−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.^[8]

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	4	4	0	0	0	0
11	Gendron, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Gendron	34	LW	74	20	35	55	−8	65	4	0	0	0	6
21	Sarrazin, DickDick Sarrazin	23	RW	54	16	30	46	−7	14	4	0	0	0	0
20	Johnson, JimJim Johnson	26	C	69	17	27	44	−5	20	3	0	0	0	2
9	Rochefort, LeonLeon Rochefort	29	RW	65	14	21	35	−7	10	3	0	0	0	0
12	Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer	25	RW	60	8	16	24	−20	80	4	0	1	1	20
10	Selby, BritBrit Selby	23	LW	63	10	13	23	−11	23	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
2	Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe	28	D	68	7	12	19	−13	112	1	0	0	0	17
17	Hale, LarryLarry Hale	27	D	67	3	16	19	−24	28	4	0	0	0	10
6	Stanley, AllanAllan Stanley	42	D	64	4	13	17	−4	28	3	0	1	1	4
8	Blackburn, DonDon Blackburn	30	LW	48	7	9	16	−13	36	4	0	0	0	2
5	Cherry, DickDick Cherry	31	D	71	9	6	15	−11	18	4	1	0	1	4
22	Kennedy, ForbesForbes Kennedy	33	C	59	8	7	15	−25	195	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
15	Peters, GarryGarry Peters	26	C	66	8	6	14	−20	49	4	1	1	2	16
14	Nolet, SimonSimon Nolet	27	RW	35	4	10	14	−10	8	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
4	Miszuk, JohnJohn Miszuk	28	D	66	1	13	14	−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	14	4	0	0	0	0
19	Heiskala, EarlEarl Heiskala	26	LW	21	3	3	6	−4	51	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
19	Paiement, RosaireRosaire Paiement	23	RW	27	2	4	6	−14	52	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
23	Stankiewicz, MyronMyron Stankiewicz	33	LW	19	0	5	5	−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	4	4	0	0	0	0
22	Byers, MikeMike Byers	22	RW	5	0	2	2	−1	0	4	0	1	1	0
14	Hannigan, PatPat Hannigan	32	LW	7	0	1	1	−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	6	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
16	LaForge, ClaudeClaude LaForge	32	LW	2	0	0	0	−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	Ref
Selected to NHL All-Star Game	Bernie Parent	[9]
	Ed Van Impe

Records

Team

Franchise team records set during the 1968–69 season

Record	Type	Total	Date(s)	Opponent	Refs
Games tied	Streak	4[lower-alpha 2]	1/2/1969 – 1/8/1969	—	[10]
Most goals against	Period	6	1/30/1969	Chicago Black Hawks	[11]
Most goals against	Game	12	1/30/1969	Chicago Black Hawks	[12]
Games tied on the road	Streak	4	3/1/1969 – 3/15/1969	—	[10]
Fewest wins on road	Season	6[lower-alpha 3]	—	—	[13]
Fewest wins, playoffs	Season	0[lower-alpha 4]	—	—	[14]

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.^[15]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
May 20, 1968	To Philadelphia Flyers Earl Heiskala	To Seattle Totems (WHL) loan of Bob Courcy loan of Ray LaRose future considerations[lower-alpha 5]	[17]
June 11, 1968	To Philadelphia Flyers Darryl Edestrand Gerry Melnyk	To St. Louis Blues Lou Angotti Ian Campbell	[4]
August 21, 1968	To Philadelphia Flyers loan of Bobby Rivard	To Pittsburgh Penguins cash	[18]
October 1968	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Al Millar	[19]
December 1968	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Quebec Aces (AHL) Keith Wright	[20]
December 2, 1968	To Philadelphia Flyers Bob Sneddon	To Chicago Black Hawks Brian Bradley	[21]
March 2, 1969	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Pat Hannigan	[22]
March 2, 1969	To Philadelphia Flyers Mike Byers Gerry Meehan Bill Sutherland	To Toronto Maple Leafs Forbes Kennedy Brit Selby	[22]

Signings

Free agency

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

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Contract details	Ref
September 1968	Bobby Taylor	Calgary Spurs (AJHL)		[23]
September 18, 1968	Jean Lapointe	Laval Saints (QMJHL)		[24]
September 18, 1968	Bill McEwan			[24]

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date	Player	Contract details	Ref
May 27, 1968	Dick Cherry	3 years	[3]
September 21, 1968	Brit Selby	2 years
October 5, 1968	Ralph MacSweyn
October 5, 1968	Bobby Rivard
October 8, 1968	Forbes Kennedy		[25]
October 8, 1968	Garry Peters		[25]
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	Ref
September 18, 1968	Dunc Wilson	Oshawa Generals (OHA)	Special Internal Amateur Draft		[24][26]

NHL Intra-League Draft

The 1968 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 12, 1968.^[27][28] Each NHL team placed 14 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.^[27] It cost $30,000 to make a claim.^[27]

The Flyers protected the following players:^[27] goaltenders Doug Favell and Bernie Parent, and skaters Dick Cherry, Gary Dornhoefer, Jean Gauthier, Earl Heiskala, Jim Johnson, Forbes Kennedy, Andre Lacroix, John Miszuk, Simon Nolet, Leon Rochefort, Brit Selby, Bill Sutherland, Ed Van Impe, and Joe Watson.

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1968 NHL Intra-League Draft^[27][29]

Round	Pick	Player	Selected by	Selected from	Notes
1	7	Ron Buchanan	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins	Flyers removed Jean Gauthier from protected list Bruins claimed Gauthier in lieu of cash
2	8	Fern Rivard	Minnesota North Stars	Philadelphia Flyers	Flyers placed Don Blackburn on protected list
3	10	Larry Hale	Philadelphia Flyers	Minnesota North Stars	Flyers removed Bill Sutherland from protected list North Stars claimed Sutherland in lieu of cash

NHL Reverse Draft

The 1968 NHL Reverse Draft was held on June 13, 1968.^[6][30] The Reverse Draft featured American Hockey League (AHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) teams selecting unprotected players from NHL teams.^[6] It cost $15,000 to make a claim.^[30]

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1968 NHL Reverse Draft^[6][30]

Round	Pick	Player	Selected by	Selected from	Notes
1	1	Jim Morrison	Baltimore Clippers (AHL)	Philadelphia Flyers	Played entire 1967–68 season with Quebec Aces
1	2	Ed Hoekstra	Denver Spurs (WHL)	Philadelphia Flyers
1	13	Allan Stanley	Quebec Aces (AHL)	Toronto Maple Leafs	Played entire 1968–69 season with Flyers

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.

Date	Player	Claimed by	Claimed from	Ref
January 16, 1969	Myron Stankiewicz	Philadelphia Flyers	St. Louis Blues	[31]

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	Notes	Ref
October 7, 1968	Gerry Melnyk	—	Retirement	Acquired in June 11 trade	[5]

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.^[32]

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.^[33] Sponsored players aged 20 before May 31, 1968, who played as amateurs during the 1967–68 season were eligible for selection.^[34]

Special Internal Amateur Draft selections and their NHL career regular season statistics^[26][35]

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,^[36][37] the Seattle Totems of the WHL,^[38] and the Jersey Devils of the EHL.^[38]

Notes

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