1970–71 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1970–71 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' fourth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers lost in the quarterfinals to the Chicago Black Hawks in a four-game sweep.

1970–71 Philadelphia Flyers
Division	3rd West
1970–71 record	28–33–17
Home record	20–10–9
Road record	8–23–8
Goals for	207 (12th)
Goals against	225 (8th)
Team information
President	Joe Scott
General manager	Keith Allen
Coach	Vic Stasiuk
Captain	Ed Van Impe
Alternate captains	Jean-Guy Gendron Bill Sutherland
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	14,131[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Quebec Aces Flint Generals Jersey Devils
Team leaders
Goals	Bobby Clarke (27)
Assists	Bobby Clarke (36)
Points	Bobby Clarke (63)
Penalty minutes	Gary Dornhoefer (93)
Plus/minus	Wayne Hillman (+12)
Wins	Doug Favell (16)
Goals against average	Doug Favell (2.67)

Regular season

Bobby Clarke led the team in goals (27), assists (36), and points (63) in his second season.

Season standings

West Division[2]

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Chicago Black Hawks	78	49	20	9	277	184	+93	107
2	St. Louis Blues	78	34	25	19	223	208	+15	87
3	Philadelphia Flyers	78	28	33	17	207	225	−18	73
4	Minnesota North Stars	78	28	34	16	191	223	−32	72
5	Los Angeles Kings	78	25	40	13	239	303	−64	63
6	Pittsburgh Penguins	78	21	37	20	221	240	−19	62
7	California Golden Seals	78	20	53	5	199	320	−121	45

Playoffs

The Flyers were swept in four games by the Chicago Black Hawks in the first round. Even though the team had improved their record in his second season behind the bench, head coach Vic Stasiuk was replaced by Fred Shero in the off-season.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1970–71 regular season
October: 5–3–1, 11 Points (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 0–2–1)
November: 5–6–1, 11 Points (Home: 4–3–1; Road: 1–3–0)
December: 2–8–3, 7 Points (Home: 0–2–1; Road: 0–6–2)
January: 7–5–4, 18 Points (Home: 5–3–2; Road: 2–2–2)
February: 5–6–1, 11 Points (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 2–5–1)
March: 3–5–5, 11 Points (Home: 2–0–4; Road: 1–5–1)
April: 1–0–2, 4 Points (Home: 1–0–1; Road: 0–0–1)
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1971 Stanley Cup playoffs
Quarterfinals vs. Chicago Black Hawks – Black Hawks 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
16	Bobby Clarke	21	C	77	27	36	63	9	78	4	0	0	0	−3	2
21	Serge Bernier	23	RW	77	23	28	51	−7	77	4	1	1	2	−4	0
20	Jim Johnson	28	C	66	16	29	45	−10	16	4	0	2	2	−2	0
7	Andre Lacroix	25	C	78	20	22	42	−9	12	4	0	2	2	−1	0
12	Gary Dornhoefer	27	RW	57	20	20	40	3	93	2	0	0	0	−1	4
11	Jean-Guy Gendron	36	LW	76	20	16	36	−9	46	4	0	1	1	−3	0
18	Bill Lesuk	24	LW	78	17	19	36	−5	81	4	1	0	1	−3	8
9	Bob Kelly	20	LW	76	14	18	32	7	70	4	1	0	1	0	2
17	Simon Nolet	29	RW	74	9	19	28	−1	42	4	2	1	3	−4	0
4	Barry Ashbee	31	D	64	4	23	27	3	44	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Cliff Schmautz	31	RW	30	8	12	20	3	23	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	Larry Hillman	33	D	73	3	13	16	9	39	4	0	2	2	−2	2
15	Garry Peters	28	C	73	6	7	13	−14	69	4	1	1	2	−1	15
8	Lew Morrison	22	RW	78	5	7	12	−12	25	4	0	0	0	−2	2
6	Wayne Hillman	32	D	69	5	7	12	12	47	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	Larry Hale	29	D	70	1	11	12	−18	34	4	0	0	0	−4	2
5	Brent Hughes	27	D	30	1	10	11	−6	21	4	0	0	0	−3	6
2	Ed Van Impe	30	D	77	0	11	11	−13	80	4	0	1	1	−4	8
14	Joe Watson	27	D	57	3	7	10	9	50	1	0	0	0	0	0
19	Rick MacLeish	21	LW	26	2	4	6	−4	19	4	1	0	1	−2	0
19	Earl Heiskala	28	LW	41	2	1	3	−9	72	—	—	—	—	—	—
22	Danny Schock	22	LW	14	1	2	3	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Bernie Parent	25	G	30	0	2	2	N/A	5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Doug Favell	25	G	44	0	1	1	N/A	9	2	0	0	0	N/A	0
30	Bruce Gamble	32	G	11	0	0	0	N/A	0	2	0	0	0	N/A	0
25	Jim Mair	24	D	2	0	0	0	−1	0	3	1	2	3	−2	4
22	George Swarbrick	28	RW	2	0	0	0	−2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	Willie Brossart	21	D	1	0	0	0	−2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Bill Sutherland	36	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Ralph MacSweyn	28	D	—	—	—	—	—	—	4	0	0	0	−2	2

Goaltending

• = 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	GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
1	Doug Favell	25	44	41	16	15	9	1275	108	2.67	.915	2	2,427:55	2	2	0	2	60	8	4.02	.867	0	119:23
30	Bernie Parent	25	30	26	9	12	6	825	73	2.77	.912	2	1,580:59	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Bruce Gamble	32	11	11	3	6	2	373	37	3.37	.901	0	658:18	2	2	0	2	67	12	6.00	.821	0	119:54

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Bobby Clarke	[3]

Team

Franchise team records set during the 1970–71 season

Record	Type	Total	Refs
Fewest wins, playoffs	Season	0[lower-alpha 1]	[4]

Milestones

Franchise firsts[5]

Milestone	Player	Details	Date	Ref
Natural hat-trick	Gary Dornhoefer	1: Even-strength goal at 10:07 of the second period against Chris Worthy	March 6, 1971	[6]
		2: Even-strength goal at 0:26 of the third period against Worthy
		3: Even-strength goal at 1:11 of the third period against Worthy

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 11, 1970, the day after the deciding game of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 18, 1971, the day of the deciding game of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals.[7]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
May 20, 1970	To Philadelphia Flyers Brent Hughes	To Los Angeles Kings Mike Byers	[8]
May 29, 1970	To Philadelphia Flyers Barry Ashbee	To Hershey Bears (AHL) Larry McKillop player to be named later[lower-alpha 2]	[10]
June 12, 1970	To Philadelphia Flyers George Swarbrick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Terry Ball	[11]
August 1970	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Denver Spurs (WHL) Claude LaForge	[12]
August 10, 1970	To Philadelphia Flyers loan for season	To Phoenix Roadrunners (WHL) Guy Dufour
January 31, 1971	To Philadelphia Flyers Bruce Gamble Mike Walton 1st-round pick in 1971	To Toronto Maple Leafs Bernie Parent 2nd-round pick in 1971	[13]
January 31, 1971	To Philadelphia Flyers Rick MacLeish Danny Schock	To Boston Bruins Mike Walton	[13]

Free agency

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

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Term	Ref
June 1970	Hugh Harvey	Kingston Aces (OHA)		[14]

Internal

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

Date	Player	Term	Ref
August 13, 1970	Bill Lesuk		[15]
September 7, 1970	Earl Heiskala		[16]
September 7, 1970	Jim Johnson		[16]
September 7, 1970	Lew Morrison		[16]
September 9, 1970	Larry Hale		[17]
September 9, 1970	Joe Watson		[17]
October 5, 1970	Doug Favell		[18]
October 5, 1970	Larry Hillman		[18]
October 5, 1970	Wayne Hillman		[18]

Intra-League

The 1970 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 9, 1970.[19][20] It cost $30,000 to make a claim.[21]

Date	Player	Team	Ref
June 9, 1970	Bill Lesuk[lower-alpha 3]	from Boston Bruins	[21]
June 9, 1970	Dick Cherry[lower-alpha 4]	to Boston Bruins	[21]

Expansion

The 1970 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 10, 1970.[22][23] It featured two expansion teams, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks, selecting players from the 12 existing NHL teams.[22] Each NHL team placed 15 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the two expansion teams could not select.[22]

Philadelphia Flyers protection lists at the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft

Status	Players
Protected[22]	Barry Ashbee, Serge Bernier, Gary Dornhoefer, Doug Favell (G), Jean-Guy Gendron, Larry Hale, Earl Heiskala, Larry Hillman, Wayne Hillman, Brent Hughes (added after Fleming selection), Jim Johnson, Andre Lacroix, Bill Lesuk, Lew Morrison, Simon Nolet, Bernie Parent (G), Garry Peters (added after Paiement selection), Ed Van Impe, Joe Watson
Selections[24]	Vancouver Canucks selected Rosaire Paiement 10th overall
	Buffalo Sabres selected Reg Fleming 15th overall
	Buffalo Sabres selected Gerry Meehan 29th overall

Reverse

The 1970 NHL Reverse Draft was held on June 11, 1970.[25] The Reverse Draft featured American Hockey League (AHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) teams selecting unprotected players from NHL teams.

Date	Player	Team	Ref
June 11, 1970	Alain Caron	from Montreal Canadiens[lower-alpha 5]	[26]
June 11, 1970	Hugh Harvey	to Hershey Bears (AHL)	[27]

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.

Date	Player	Team	Ref
October 19, 1970	Bill Sutherland	to Buffalo Sabres	[28]
December 28, 1970	Cliff Schmautz	from Buffalo Sabres	[29]

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on June 11, 1970.[30] The Flyers were without a first-round draft pick due to having traded it three years previously to the Boston Bruins for Rosaire Paiement.[31] The Bruins used the pick, fourth overall, to select Rick MacLeish, who the Flyers would acquire seven months later in a trade with the Bruins.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)
2	18	Bill Clement	Center	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
3	32	Bob Kelly	Left Wing	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
4	46	Jacques Lapierre	Defense	Canada	Shawinigan Bruins (QMJHL)
5	60	Doug Kerslake	Right Wing	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
6	74	Dennis Giannini	Left Wing	Canada	London Knights (OHA)
7	87	Hank Nowak	Left Wing	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
8	99	Gary Cunningham	Defense	Canada	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
9	109	Jean Daigle	Left Wing	Canada	Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL)

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Quebec Aces of the AHL,[32][33] the Flint Generals of the IHL,[34] and the Jersey Devils of the EHL.[34]

Notes

1. Tied total from the 1968–69 season and subsequently tied during the 1982–83 and 1983–84 seasons.
2. The player to be named later was Darryl Edestrand.[9]
3. The Flyers removed Dick Cherry from their protected list after selecting Lesuk.
4. The Bruins claimed Cherry in lieu of cash.
5. Claimed by the San Diego Gulls.

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. "1970–1971 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
3. "24th NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
4. 2016–2017 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide, pp. 335–340
5. "Flyers History – All-Time Firsts". P.Anson. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
6. "Flyers History – Philadelphia Flyer Game Summary". P.Anson. Retrieved August 14, 2015. 6-Mar-71 California Golden Seals 4 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4
7. "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
8. "Sports in Brief". Chicago Tribune. May 21, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
9. "Barry Ashbee – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
10. "no title". The Evening Sun. May 30, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com. Cite uses generic title (help)
11. "Former Clipper Swarbrick Traded". AP. The News. June 13, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Claude Laforge – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
13. Plaisant, John (February 1, 1971). "Flyers deal Parent, hoping to help attack". Delaware County Daily Times. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Hugh Harvey – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
15. "FLYERS SIGN LESUK PHILADELPHIA". AP. The Post-Standard. August 13, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Flyers sign 3". UPI. Times Herald-Record. September 8, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
17. "Flyers Sign Veterans". UPI. The Raleigh Register. September 9, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "FLYERS SIGN BROTHERS". UPI. Ludington Daily News. October 6, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
19. Parsons, Mark (August 5, 2012). "1970 NHL Intra-League Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
20. "1970 NHL Intraleague Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
21. "Flyers Pick Bill Lesuk". AP. Pottstown Mercury. June 10, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
22. Parsons, Mark (August 3, 2012). "1970 NHL Expansion Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
23. "Sabres, Canucks Rich, Poor After NHL's Draft". AP. Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. June 11, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "1970 NHL Expansion Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
25. "Reverse draft". Brandon Sun. June 12, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
26. "Alain Caron – Notes". NHL.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
27. "Hugh Harvey – Notes". NHL.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
28. "Bill Sutherland – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
29. "Schmautz joins Flyers". UPI. Delaware County Daily Times. December 29, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
30. "1970 NHL Amateur Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
31. "1970 NHL Amateur Draft Pick Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
32. "AHL Franchise Statistics". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
33. "AHL Season Overview: 1970–71". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
34. "Non-AHL Affiliates". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.