1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' tenth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). They finished first in the Patrick Division with a record of 48 wins, 16 losses, and 16 ties for 112 points.

1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers
Campbell Conference champions
Patrick Division champions
Division	1st Patrick
Conference	1st Campbell
1976–77 record	48–16–16
Home record	33–6–1
Road record	15–10–15
Goals for	323 (2nd)
Goals against	213 (3rd)
Team information
President	Joe Scott
General Manager	Keith Allen
Coach	Fred Shero
Captain	Bobby Clarke
Alternate captains	None[lower-alpha 1]
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	17,077[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Springfield Indians Philadelphia Firebirds
Team leaders
Goals	Rick MacLeish (49)
Assists	Bobby Clarke (63)
Points	Rick MacLeish (97)
Penalty minutes	Paul Holmgren (201)
Plus/minus	Andre Dupont (+57)
Wins	Bernie Parent (35)
Goals against average	Wayne Stephenson (2.31)

Regular season

Dethroned, the heyday of the Broad Street Bullies came to an end, as prior to the 1976–77 season, tough-guy Dave Schultz was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Despite a slight drop-off in performance, the Flyers dominated the Patrick Division with what proved to be their 4th straight division title.

Season standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	48	16	16	323	213	112
New York Islanders	80	47	21	12	288	193	106
Atlanta Flames	80	34	34	12	264	265	80
New York Rangers	80	29	37	14	272	310	72

[2]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

After disposing of Toronto—after which series Toronto coach Red Kelly claimed "I don't think I'd call [Bobby] Clarke dirty—mean is a better word"—in six games, the Flyers found themselves in the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season. Pitted against Boston, the Flyers lost Games 1 and 2 at home in overtime and would not return home as they were swept in four straight games.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1976–77 regular season
October: 7–3–2, 16 Points (Home: 7–2–0; Road: 0–1–2) Game October Opponent Score Record Points 1 7 New York Islanders 0–3 0–1–0 0 2 9 @ Atlanta Flames 3–4 0–2–0 0 3 10 Los Angeles Kings 1–0 1–2–0 2 4 14 Montreal Canadiens 1–7 1–3–0 2 5 16 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 5–5 1–3–1 3 6 17 Detroit Red Wings 7–4 2–3–1 5 7 21 Chicago Black Hawks 5–1 3–3–1 7 8 23 Buffalo Sabres 3–2 4–3–1 9 9 24 Colorado Rockies 5–3 5–3–1 11 10 28 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–0 6–3–1 13 11 30 @ New York Islanders 3–3 6–3–2 14 12 31 Minnesota North Stars 9–1 7–3–2 16
November: 5–4–2, 12 Points (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 1–4–1) Game November Opponent Score Record Points 13 4 @ Detroit Red Wings 2–3 7–4–2 16 14 5 @ Cleveland Barons 4–6 7–5–2 16 15 7 @ Buffalo Sabres 3–5 7–6–2 16 16 10 @ Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 7–6–3 17 17 11 Vancouver Canucks 6–4 8–6–3 19 18 13 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 0–1 8–7–3 19 19 16 Detroit Red Wings 2–0 9–7–3 21 20 21 Atlanta Flames 6–5 10–7–3 23 21 24 New York Rangers 2–2 10–7–4 24 22 26 @ Colorado Rockies 4–2 11–7–4 26 23 28 New York Islanders 5–3 12–7–4 28
December: 10–0–4, 24 Points (Home: 6–0–0; Road: 4–0–4) Game December Opponent Score Record Points 24 1 @ Minnesota North Stars 2–2 12–7–5 29 25 3 @ Washington Capitals 4–4 12–7–6 30 26 5 Cleveland Barons 6–2 13–7–6 32 27 9 @ Boston Bruins 3–1 14–7–6 34 28 11 Boston Bruins 4–3 15–7–6 36 29 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–4 16–7–6 38 30 14 @ Minnesota North Stars 3–3 16–7–7 39 31 16 Chicago Black Hawks 4–1 17–7–7 41 32 18 @ St. Louis Blues 2–0 18–7–7 43 33 19 Colorado Rockies 4–3 19–7–7 45 34 22 @ New York Rangers 3–3 19–7–8 46 35 23 Washington Capitals 5–2 20–7–8 48 36 27 @ Vancouver Canucks 5–1 21–7–8 50 37 30 @ Los Angeles Kings 2–0 22–7–8 52
January: 7–3–4, 18 Points (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 3–2–4) Game January Opponent Score Record Points 38 1 @ Cleveland Barons 7–2 23–7–8 54 39 3 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–6 23–8–8 54 40 5 @ New York Rangers 4–4 23–8–9 55 41 6 St. Louis Blues 7–1 24–8–9 57 42 8 Los Angeles Kings 6–1 25–8–9 59 43 10 @ New York Islanders 3–8 25–9–9 59 44 15 Colorado Rockies 5–2 26–9–9 61 45 16 Minnesota North Stars 4–2 27–9–9 63 46 20 Montreal Canadiens 2–6 27–10–9 63 47 22 @ Atlanta Flames 4–4 27–10–10 64 48 23 @ Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 27–10–11 65 49 27 @ St. Louis Blues 2–0 28–10–11 67 50 29 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 5–2 29–10–11 69 51 30 @ Washington Capitals 5–5 29–10–12 70
February: 9–3–0, 18 Points (Home: 6–0–0; Road: 3–3–0) Game February Opponent Score Record Points 52 3 Chicago Black Hawks 6–0 30–10–12 72 53 5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 7–5 31–10–12 74 54 7 Atlanta Flames 7–4 32–10–12 76 55 10 Washington Capitals 9–2 33–10–12 78 56 12 @ New York Islanders 1–2 33–11–12 78 57 14 St. Louis Blues 6–4 34–11–12 80 58 17 New York Rangers 7–1 35–11–12 82 59 19 @ Montreal Canadiens 2–5 35–12–12 82 60 20 Buffalo Sabres 4–2 36–12–12 84 61 24 @ Buffalo Sabres 0–2 36–13–12 84 62 26 @ St. Louis Blues 5–1 37–13–12 86 63 27 @ Colorado Rockies 4–3 38–13–12 88
March: 9–3–3, 21 Points (Home: 5–3–0; Road: 4–0–3) Game March Opponent Score Record Points 64 1 @ Minnesota North Stars 5–2 39–13–12 90 65 3 Vancouver Canucks 5–2 40–13–12 92 66 5 @ Detroit Red Wings 4–1 41–13–12 94 67 7 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–4 41–14–12 94 68 10 Cleveland Barons 7–2 42–14–12 96 69 12 Boston Bruins 1–3 42–15–12 96 70 13 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–0 43–15–12 98 71 16 @ New York Rangers 4–4 43–15–13 99 72 17 Atlanta Flames 1–4 43–16–13 99 73 19 @ Los Angeles Kings 5–3 44–16–13 101 74 22 @ Vancouver Canucks 4–4 44–16–14 102 75 24 @ Boston Bruins 6–2 45–16–14 104 76 26 Vancouver Canucks 9–3 46–16–14 106 77 29 New York Islanders 3–1 47–16–14 108 78 30 @ Cleveland Barons 3–3 47–16–15 109
April: 1–0–1, 3 Points (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 0–0–1) Game April Opponent Score Record Points 79 2 New York Rangers 4–1 48–16–15 111 80 3 @ Atlanta Flames 3–3 48–16–16 112
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1977 Stanley Cup playoffs
Quarterfinals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs – Flyers win 4–2 Game Date Opponent Score Series 1 April 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–3 Maple Leafs lead 1–0 2 April 13 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–4 Maple Leafs lead 2–0 3 April 15 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 OT Maple Leafs lead 2–1 4 April 17 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 6–5 OT Series tied 2–2 5 April 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–0 Flyers lead 3–2 6 April 21 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 Flyers win 4–2
Semifinals vs. Boston Bruins – Bruins win 4–0 Game Date Opponent Score Series 1 April 24 Boston Bruins 3–4 OT Bruins lead 1–0 2 April 26 Boston Bruins 4–5 2OT Bruins lead 2–0 3 April 28 @ Boston Bruins 1–2 Bruins lead 3–0 4 May 1 @ Boston Bruins 0–3 Bruins win 4–0
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• 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
19	Rick MacLeish	27	C	80	49	48	97	46	42	10	4	9	13	1	2
16	Bobby Clarke	27	C	80	27	63	90	39	71	10	5	5	10	0	8
12	Gary Dornhoefer	33	RW	79	25	34	59	47	85	9	1	0	1	1	22
10	Mel Bridgman	21	C	70	19	38	57	35	120	7	1	0	1	0	8
18	Ross Lonsberry	29	LW	75	23	32	55	42	43	10	1	2	3	−2	29
7	Bill Barber	24	LW	73	20	35	55	32	62	10	1	4	5	−1	2
3	Tom Bladon	24	D	80	10	43	53	34	39	10	1	3	4	−4	4
26	Orest Kindrachuk	26	C	78	15	36	51	22	79	10	2	1	3	1	0
27	Reggie Leach	26	RW	77	32	14	46	6	23	10	4	5	9	2	0
9	Bob Kelly	26	LW	73	22	24	46	27	117	10	0	1	1	−2	18
11	Don Saleski	27	RW	74	22	16	38	24	33	10	0	0	0	−3	12
14	Joe Watson	33	D	77	4	26	30	29	39	10	0	0	0	−5	2
6	Andre Dupont	27	D	59	10	19	29	57	168	10	1	1	2	−4	35
17	Paul Holmgren	21	RW	59	14	12	26	10	201	10	1	1	2	−2	25
20	Jimmy Watson	24	D	71	3	23	26	34	35	10	1	2	3	6	2
22	Harvey Bennett	24	C	51	12	8	20	−9	60	4	0	0	0	0	2
2	Bob Dailey	23	D	32	5	14	19	16	38	10	4	9	13	11	15
5, 29	Larry Goodenough	24	D	32	4	13	17	15	21	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	Terry Murray	26	D	36	0	13	13	21	14	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Rick Lapointe	21	D	22	1	8	9	20	39	10	0	0	0	−5	7
37	Al Hill	21	LW	9	2	4	6	6	27	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Jack McIlhargey	24	D	40	2	1	3	6	164	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	Bill Collins	33	RW	9	1	1	2	−1	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Drew Callander	20	C	2	1	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Gary Inness	27	G	6	0	1	1	N/A	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Mark Suzor	20	D	4	0	1	1	2	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Bernie Parent	31	G	61	0	0	0	N/A	0	3	0	0	0	N/A	0
35	Wayne Stephenson	32	G	21	0	0	0	N/A	4	9	0	0	0	N/A	2
21	John Paddock	22	RW	5	0	0	0	0	9	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Terry Crisp	33	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	Norm Barnes	23	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
31	Bob Ritchie	21	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—

Goaltending

			Regular season											Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
1	Bernie Parent	31	61	61	35	13	12	1582	159	2.71	.899	5	3,519:36	3	2	0	3	43	8	3.95	.814	0	121:39
35	Wayne Stephenson	32	21	17	12	3	2	472	41	2.31	.916	3	1,063:55	9	8	4	3	238	23	2.61	.903	1	529:36
30	Gary Inness	27	6	2	1	0	2	89	9	2.57	.899	0	210:28	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Tom Bladon	[3]
		Bobby Clarke
		Gary Dornhoefer
		Rick MacLeish
		Bernie Parent
		Fred Shero (Coach)
		Jim Watson
		Joe Watson
Team	Barry Ashbee Trophy	Andre Dupont	[4]
	Class Guy Award	Gary Dornhoefer	[4]

Records

•    NHL record

Individual

Franchise player records set during the 1976–77 season

Record	Type	Total	Player	Date(s)	Opponent	Ref
Points in NHL debut	Game	5	Al Hill	2/14/1977	St. Louis Blues	[5]

Team

Franchise team records set during the 1976–77 season

Record	Type	Total	Date(s)	Opponent	Refs
Fewest home ties	Season	1[lower-alpha 2]	—	—	[6]
Most road ties	Season	15	—	—	[6]
Longest home game	Game	90:07	4/26/1977	Boston Bruins	[7]

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 17, 1976, the day after the deciding game of the 1976 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 14, 1977, the day of the deciding game of the 1977 Stanley Cup Finals.[8]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
September 29, 1976	To Philadelphia Flyers future considerations[lower-alpha 3]	To Los Angeles Kings Dave Schultz	[9]
November 24, 1976	To Philadelphia Flyers Harvey Bennett	To Washington Capitals cash	[10]
December 4, 1976	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Washington Capitals Bill Collins	[11]
January 20, 1977	To Philadelphia Flyers Bob Dailey	To Vancouver Canucks Larry Goodenough Jack McIlhargey	[12]
February 17, 1977	To Philadelphia Flyers Mike Korney Rick Lapointe	To Detroit Red Wings Steve Coates Dave Kelly Terry Murray Bob Ritchie	[13]

Signings

Free agency

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

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Term	Ref
October 20, 1976	Bill Collins	New York Rangers		[14]
October 22, 1976	Al Hill	Victoria Cougars (WCHL)		[15]

Internal

The following players were either re-signed by the Flyers or, in the case of the team's selections in the NHL Entry Draft, signed to contracts.

Date	Player	Term	Ref
June 16, 1976	Mark Suzor (DP)	multi-year	[16]
June 16, 1976	Drew Callander (DP)	multi-year	[16]
June 16, 1976	Craig Hanmer (DP)	multi-year	[16]
June 16, 1976	Dave Hynek (DP)	multi-year	[16]

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	Serge Lajeunesse	—	Retirement	[17]
N/A	Larry Wright	Düsseldorfer EG (Bundesliga)	Free agency	[18]
October 1976	Terry Crisp	—	Retirement[lower-alpha 4]	[19]
November 16, 1976	Wayne Stephenson*	—	Retirement[lower-alpha 5]	[21]

Draft picks

See also: List of Philadelphia Flyers draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the NHL's office in Montreal, Quebec, on June 1, 1976.[22]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)
1	17	Mark Suzor	Defense	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
2	35	Drew Callander	Center	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)
3	53	Craig Hanmer	Defense	United States	Mohawk Valley Comets (NAHL)
4	71	Dave Hynek	Defense	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
5	89	Robin Lang	Defense	Canada	Cornell University (ECAC)
6	107	Paul Klasinski	Left Wing	United States	St. Paul Vulcans (MJHL)
7	117	Ray Kurpis	Right Wing	United States	Austin Mavericks (MJHL)

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Springfield Indians of the AHL[23][24] and the Philadelphia Firebirds of the NAHL.[25]

Notes

1. The alternate captain position was abolished from the 1975–76 season through the 1984–85 season.
2. Tied in 1985–86.
3. The Flyers later received a 1977 4th-round pick and a 1978 2nd-round pick.
4. Crisp played two games during the 1976–77 season.
5. Stephenson un-retired and returned to the team on December 7, 1976.[20]

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

1. "All Time Team Attendance". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
2. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
3. "30th NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
4. "Flyers History – Team Awards". P.Anson. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
5. Meltzer, Bill (February 18, 2008). "Great Moments: Al Hill Makes Record-Breaking Debut". Philadelphia Flyers. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
6. 2016–2017 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide, p. 244
7. 2016–2017 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide, p. 348
8. "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
9. Dunn, Art (September 30, 1976). "Schultz traded". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
10. "Harvey Bennett – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
11. "Bill Collins – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
12. "no title". The Des Moines Register. January 21, 1977. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Richard Lapointe – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
14. "Flyers sign winger Bill Collins". UPI. Chicago Tribune. October 21, 1976. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
15. "Alan Hill – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
16. "TRANSACTIONS". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. June 17, 1976. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Serge Lajeunesse career profile at HockeyDraftCentral.com". HockeyDraftCentral. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
18. "Larry Wright career profile at HockeyDraftCentral.com". HockeyDraftCentral. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
19. "Terry Crisp – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
20. "Wayne Stephenson rejoins Flyers". AP. Ottawa Journal. December 8, 1976. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
21. "Flyer goalie retires". UPI. The Lowell Sun. November 17, 1976. Retrieved December 17, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
22. "1976 NHL Amateur Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
23. "AHL Franchise Statistics". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
24. "AHL Season Overview: 1976–77". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
25. "Non-AHL Affiliates". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.