1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers season

1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers
Division 5th West
1969–70 record 17–35–24
Home record 11–14–13
Road record 6–21–11
Goals for 197 (9th)
Goals against 225 (7th)
Team information
President Bill Putnam
Joe Scott
General Manager Bud Poile (fired)[lower-alpha 1]
Keith Allen[lower-alpha 1]
Coach Vic Stasiuk
Captain Ed Van Impe
Alternate captains Dick Cherry
Arena Spectrum
Average attendance 13,372[2]
Minor league affiliate(s) Quebec Aces
Flint Generals
Jersey Devils
Team leaders
Goals Gary Dornhoefer (26)
Assists Andre Lacroix (36)
Points Andre Lacroix (58)
Penalties in minutes Earl Heiskala (171)
Plus/minus Simon Nolet (+12)
Wins Bernie Parent (13)
Goals against average Bernie Parent (2.79)

The 1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' third season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, setting a team record for fewest wins and an NHL record for most ties.

Off-season

On May 20, 1969, Keith Allen was named vice president and assistant general manager of the team and replaced as head coach by Vic Stasiuk.[3] Stasiuk spent the previous two seasons as the head coach of the Quebec Aces, the Flyers American Hockey League affiliate.[3]

The Flyers took a chance when they selected a 19-year-old diabetic from Flin Flon, Manitoba, named Bobby Clarke with their second draft pick, 17th overall, in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft.

Regular season

By the time training camp came around it was clear that Clarke was the best player on the team, and he quickly became a fan favorite. His 15 goals and 31 assists earned him a trip to the NHL All-Star Game.

On December 11, 1969, the Flyers introduced what would become one of the team's best-known traditions: playing a recording of Kate Smith singing God Bless America instead of the The Star-Spangled Banner before important games. The perception was that the team was more successful on these occasions, so the tradition grew. The move was initially done by Flyers promotion director Lou Scheinfeld as a way to defray national tensions at the time of the Vietnam War: Scheinfeld noticed that people would regularly leave their seats and walk around during the anthem, but showed more respect and often sang along to "God Bless America". To this day, the team plays the song before major playoff games, currently with Lauren Hart (daughter of Hall of Fame Flyers broadcast announcer Gene Hart) performing the first part of the song, a recording of Smith singing the second part, and Lauren Hart joining the recording for the finale. As of the close of the 2013–14 Flyers season, the Flyers have a record of 96–28–4 when God Bless America is sung prior to Flyers home games.[4]

General manager Bud Poile was fired on December 19.[1] Keith Allen was named his replacement on December 22.[1]

The team struggled in 1969–70 recording a franchise worst (as of completion of the 2013–14 season) in wins (17). Even with such a bad output, the Flyers had a seven-point lead on the Oakland Seals with six games to play. However, the Flyers lost their last six games and Oakland made up the deficit. They lost the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot to Oakland, missing the playoffs for the first time.

Season standings

West Division[5]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 St. Louis Blues 76 37 27 12 224 179 +45 86
2 Pittsburgh Penguins 76 26 38 12 182 238 −56 64
3 Minnesota North Stars 76 19 35 22 224 257 −33 60
4 Oakland Seals 76 22 40 14 169 243 −74 58
5 Philadelphia Flyers 76 17 35 24 197 225 −28 58
6 Los Angeles Kings 76 14 52 10 168 290 −122 38

Schedule and results

Regular season

1969–70 regular season

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

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season
No. Player Age Pos GP G A Pts +/- PIM
7 Lacroix, AndreAndre Lacroix 24 C 74 22 36 58 −6 14
12 Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer 26 RW 65 26 29 55 2 96
20 Johnson, JimJim Johnson 27 C 72 18 30 48 1 17
16 Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke 20 C 76 15 31 46 1 68
11 Gendron, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Gendron 35 LW 71 23 21 44 8 54
17 Nolet, SimonSimon Nolet 28 RW 56 22 22 44 12 36
10 Sutherland, BillBill Sutherland 35 LW 51 15 17 32 −2 30
3 Hillman, LarryLarry Hillman 32 D 76 5 26 31 −9 73
9 Fleming, RegReg Fleming 33 LW 65 9 18 27 −4 134
24 Ball, TerryTerry Ball 25 D 61 7 18 25 −7 20
8 Morrison, LewLew Morrison 21 RW 66 9 10 19 −3 19
15 Peters, GarryGarry Peters 27 C 59 6 10 16 −9 69
19 Heiskala, EarlEarl Heiskala 27 LW 65 8 7 15 −15 171
14 Watson, JoeJoe Watson 26 D 54 3 11 14 0 28
23 Hale, LarryLarry Hale 28 D 53 1 9 10 −4 28
2 Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe 29 D 65 0 10 10 −1 117
6 Hillman, WayneWayne Hillman 31 D 68 3 5 8 −9 69
5 Cherry, DickDick Cherry 32 D 68 3 4 7 −24 23
30 Parent, BernieBernie Parent 24 G 62 0 3 3 N/A 14
21 Sarrazin, DickDick Sarrazin 24 RW 18 1 1 2 −2 4
18 Paiement, RosaireRosaire Paiement 24 RW 9 1 1 2 −2 4
21 Bernier, SergeSerge Bernier 22 C 1 0 1 1 −1 0
4, 21 MacSweyn, RalphRalph MacSweyn 27 D 17 0 0 0 −7 4
1 Favell, DougDoug Favell 24 G 15 0 0 0 N/A 2
21 Edestrand, DarrylDarryl Edestrand 24 D 2 0 0 0 −1 6
1 Wilson, DuncDunc Wilson 21 G 1 0 0 0 N/A 0

Goaltenders

Regular season
No. Player Age GP W L T SO GA SV% GAA MIN
30 Parent, BernieBernie Parent 24 62 13 29 20 3 171 .920 2.79 3680
1 Favell, DougDoug Favell 24 15 4 5 4 1 43 .917 3.15 820
1 Wilson, DuncDunc Wilson 21 1 0 1 0 0 3 .885 3.00 60

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors
Award or honor Recipient Ref
Selected to NHL All-Star Game Bobby Clarke [6]
Bernie Parent

Records

Individual

Franchise player records set during the 1969–70 season
Record Type Total Player Ref
Most losses Season 29[lower-alpha 2] Bernie Parent [7]
Most ties Season 20 Bernie Parent [7]

Team

Franchise team records set during the 1969–70 season
Record Type Total Date(s) Ref
Games tied at home Streak 4 10/19/1969 – 10/30/1969 [8]
Fewest wins Season 17 — [9]
Fewest wins at home Season 6[lower-alpha 3] — [10]
Most ties Season 24dagger — [9]
Most ties on road Season 13double-dagger — [10]

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 5, 1969, the day after the deciding game of the 1969 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 10, 1970, the day of the deciding game of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals.[11]

Trades

Date Details Ref
May 14, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
cash		 To St. Louis Blues
Ron Buchanan		 [12]
May 14, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
Wayne Hillman		 To Minnesota North Stars
John Miszuk		 [13]
June 7, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
Reg Fleming		 To New York Rangers
Don Blackburn
Leon Rochefort		 [14]
June 10, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
$30,000 cash
future considerations		 To Minnesota North Stars
Bob Barlow		 [15]
June 12, 1969 To Philadelphia Flyers
Jean-Guy Gendron		 To Montreal Canadiens
7th-round pick in 1969		 [16]

Signings

Free agency

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

Date Player Previous team (league) Contract details Ref
September 29, 1969 Jim Mair Johnstown Jets (EHL) [17]

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date Player Contract details Ref
July 24, 1969 Andre Lacroix 2 years [18]
August 21, 1969 Serge Bernier [19]
August 21, 1969 Gerry Meehan [19]

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

Date Player Previous team (league) Draft Contract details Ref
October 1, 1969 Bobby Clarke Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL) 1969 2nd-round pick [20]

NHL Inter-League Draft

The 1969 NHL Inter-League Draft was held on June 10, 1969.[21] The draft featured NHL teams selecting players from American Hockey League (AHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) teams. It cost $15,000 to make a claim.[21]

Selections by the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1969 NHL Inter-League Draft[15][21]
Round Pick Player Selected by Selected from Notes
1 5 Bob Barlow Philadelphia Flyers Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Barlow was traded shortly after draft

NHL Intra-League Draft

The 1969 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 11, 1969.[22][23] Each NHL team placed 14 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.[22] It cost $30,000 to make a claim.[22]

The Flyers protected the following players:[22] goaltenders Doug Favell and Bernie Parent, and skaters Serge Bernier, Mike Byers, Reg Fleming, Jean-Guy Gendron, Wayne Hillman, Jim Johnson, Andre Lacroix, Ralph MacSweyn, Gerry Meehan, Rosaire Paiement, Dick Sarrazin, Bill Sutherland, Ed Van Impe, and Joe Watson.

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1969 NHL Intra-League Draft[22][24]
Round Pick Player Selected by Selected from Notes
1 5 Larry Hillman Philadelphia Flyers Montreal Canadiens Flyers removed Jean-Guy Gendron from protected list
Canadiens claimed Gendron in lieu of cash

NHL Reverse Draft

The 1969 NHL Reverse Draft was held on June 12, 1969.[25] The Reverse Draft featured American Hockey League (AHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) teams selecting unprotected players from NHL teams.[25] It cost $15,000 to make a claim.[25]

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1969 NHL Reverse Draft[25][26][27][28][29]
Round Pick Player Selected by Selected from Notes
1 5 Rene Drolet Quebec Aces (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Played entire 1968–69 season with Quebec
1 10 Jean Lapointe Hershey Bears (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Played entire 1968–69 season with Quebec
2 17 Bob Sneddon Springfield Kings (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Finished 1968–69 season with Quebec
2 18 Roger Pelletier Quebec Aces (AHL) Philadelphia Flyers Played entire 1968–69 season with Quebec

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 Myron Stankiewicz — Retirement [30]
N/A Larry Zeidel — Retirement [31]
September 24, 1969 Allan Stanley — Retirement [32]

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, on June 11, 1969.[33] During the draft, the Flyers traded their seventh-round pick, 75th overall, to the Montreal Canadiens in order to re-acquire Jean-Guy Gendron, who Montreal had selected from the Flyers earlier in the day during the Inter-League Draft.[34]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1969 and their NHL career regular season statistics
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team (league) GP G A Pts PIM W L T GAA
1 6 Currier, BobBob Currier Center  Canada Cornwall Royals (CJAHL) &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
2 17 Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke Center  Canada Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL) 1144 358 852 1210 1453 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
3 28 Brossart, WillieWillie Brossart Defense  Canada Estevan Bruins (WCHL) 129 1 14 15 88 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
4 40 Belhumeur, MichelMichel Belhumeur Goaltender  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QJHL) 65 0 4 4 12 9 36 7 4.61
5 52 Schultz, DaveDave Schultz Left Wing  Canada Sorel Eperviers (QJHL) 535 79 121 200 2294 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
6 64 Saleski, DonDon Saleski Right Wing  Canada Regina Pats (SJHL) 543 128 125 253 629 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
8 81 Chartre, ClaudeClaude Chartre Center  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QJHL) &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—
 &
—

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Quebec Aces of the AHL,[35][36] the Flint Generals of the IHL,[37] and the Jersey Devils of the EHL.[37]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Poile was fired on December 19. Allen was named his replacement on December 22.[1]
  2. ↑ Tied by Antero Niittymaki during the 2006–07 season.
  3. ↑ Tied total from the 1968–69 season.

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 3 "Allen Named General Manager Of Flyers as Successor to Poile". The New York Times. December 22, 1969. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  2. ↑ "All Time Team Attendance". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "PHILADELPHIA FLYERS NAME STASIUK COACH". Chicago Tribune. May 20, 1969. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ FlyersHistory.com webpage with complete Kate Smith record Retrieved May 12, 2014
  5. ↑ "1969–1970 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  6. ↑ "23rd NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "NHL.com - Stats". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  8. ↑ 2016–2017 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide, p. 259
  9. 1 2 "NHL.com - Stats". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  10. 1 2 2016–2017 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide, p. 244
  11. ↑ "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  12. ↑ Ron Buchanan at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  13. ↑ "FLYERS ACQUIRE HILLMAN". UPI. McKinney Courier-Gazette. May 15, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "no title". AP. Ottawa Journal. June 9, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. 1 2 "Cleveland Bids for NHL Berth". The Daily Telegram. June 11, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Habs Grab Doyle, Rangers Take Jarry In Junior Draft". CP. Ottawa Journal. June 13, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Jim Mair at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  18. ↑ "no title". UPI. Marysville Journal-Tribune. July 25, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. 1 2 "no title". UPI. Ottawa Journal. August 22, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Bob inks contract". CP. Brandon Sun. October 2, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. 1 2 3 Parsons, Mark (October 20, 2012). "1969 NHL Inter-League Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 Parsons, Mark (October 21, 2012). "1969 NHL Intra-League Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Black Hawks Pick Up Players". AP. Panama City News-Herald. June 12, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "1969 NHL Intraleague Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  25. 1 2 3 4 Parsons, Mark (October 21, 2012). "1969 NHL Reverse Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  26. ↑ Rene Drolet at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  27. ↑ "Eliteprospects.com – Jean Lapointe". eliteprospects. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  28. ↑ Bob Sneddon at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  29. ↑ Roger Pelletier at Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved February 13, 2016
  30. ↑ Myron Stankiewicz biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved March 11, 2015
  31. ↑ Larry Zeidel biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved March 11, 2015
  32. ↑ "Stanley Retires". UPI. Ottawa Journal. September 25, 1969. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ "1969 NHL Amateur Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  34. ↑ "1969 NHL Amateur Draft Pick Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  35. ↑ "AHL Franchise Statistics". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  36. ↑ "AHL Season Overview: 1969–70". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  37. 1 2 "Non-AHL Affiliates". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
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