1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers season

1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers
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
Goals against	213
Team information
General manager	Keith Allen
Coach	Fred Shero
Captain	Bobby Clarke
Arena	The Spectrum
Average attendance	17,077
Team leaders
Goals	Rick MacLeish (49)
Assists	Bobby Clarke (62)
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)

The 1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 10th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers finished 1st in the Patrick Division and lost in the Semi-finals to the Boston Bruins 4 games to 0.

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. 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.

Final 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

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

Game Log

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

1976–77 Game Log
October: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts 1 October 7 NY Islanders 3 – 0 Philadelphia Parent 17,077 0–1–0 0
November: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts November 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
December: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts December 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
January: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts January 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
February: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts February 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
March: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts March 1 0 – 0 0–0–0
April: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Record Pts April 1 0 – 0 0–0–0

Playoffs

Game Log

      Win       Loss

1977 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Quarterfinals vs. Toronto - Flyers win 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series 1 April 11 Toronto 3 – 2 Philadelphia Parent 17,077 Maple Leafs lead 1–0 2 April 13 Toronto 4 – 1 Philadelphia Parent 17,077 Maple Leafs lead 2–0 3 April 15 Philadelphia 4 – 3 Toronto OT Stephenson 16,485 Maple Leafs lead 2–1 4 April 17 Philadelphia 6 – 5 Toronto OT Stephenson 16,485 Series tied 2–2 5 April 19 Toronto 0 – 2 Philadelphia Stephenson 17,077 Flyers lead 3–2 6 April 21 Philadelphia 4 – 3 Toronto Stephenson 16,485 Flyers win 4–2 Semifinals vs. Boston - Bruins win 4–0 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series 1 April 24 Boston 4 – 3 Philadelphia OT Parent 17,077 Bruins lead 1–0 2 April 26 Boston 5 – 4 Philadelphia OT Stephenson 17,077 Bruins lead 2–0 3 April 28 Philadelphia 1 – 2 Boston Stephenson 14,597 Bruins lead 3–0 4 May 1 Philadelphia 0 – 3 Boston Stephenson n/a Bruins win 4–0

Player Stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

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

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Flyers. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

			Regular Season										Playoffs
Player	#		GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Bernie Parent	1		61	3525	35	13	12	159	5	.897	2.71		3	123	0	3	8	0	.814	3.90
Wayne Stephenson	35		21	1065	12	3	2	41	3	.916	2.31		9	532	4	3	23	1	.900	2.59
Gary Inness	30		6	210	1	0	2	9	0	.904	2.57		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Awards and Records

Awards

NHL
Award	Recipient
All-Star Game representative	Tom Bladon Bobby Clarke Gary Dornhoefer Rick MacLeish Bernie Parent Fred Shero (Coach) Jimmy Watson Joe Watson
Team
Award	Recipient
Barry Ashbee Trophy	Andre Dupont
Class Guy Award	Gary Dornhoefer

Records

NHL Player
Player	Record	Mark
Al Hill	Most points in first NHL game	5

Transactions

Trades

September 29, 1976	To Philadelphia Flyers 4th round pick in 1977 2nd round pick in 1978	To Los Angeles Kings Dave Schultz
November 24, 1976	To Philadelphia Flyers Harvey Bennett	To Washington Capitals cash
December 4, 1976	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Washington Capitals Bill Collins
January 20, 1977	To Philadelphia Flyers Bob Dailey	To Vancouver Canucks Larry Goodenough Jack McIlhargey
February 17, 1977	To Philadelphia Flyers Rick Lapointe Mike Korney	To Detroit Red Wings Steve Coates Dave Kelly Terry Murray Bob Ritchie

Additions and Subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via Bill Collins NY Rangers free agency (10/20) Al Hill Victoria (WCHL) free agency (10/22)

Subtractions Player New team Via Terry Crisp — retirement (10/1) Wayne Stephenson — retirement (11/16)

Draft Picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Quebec.

Rnd	#	Player	Position	Nationality	Drafted from
1	17	Mark Suzor	Defenseman	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
2	35	Drew Callander	Defenseman	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)
3	53	Craig Hamner	Defenseman	United States	Mohawk Valley Comets (NAHL)
4	71	Dave Hynek	Defenseman	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
5	89	Robin Lang	Defenseman	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 and the Philadelphia Firebirds of the NAHL.

See Also

• 1976–77 NHL season

References

• General: 1976–77 Flyers season on FlyersHistory.net
• Regular season game log: Philadelphia Flyers regular season game log on FlyersHistory.net
• Playoffs game log: Philadelphia Flyers playoffs game log on FlyersHistory.net

Philadelphia Flyers
Team	History • Players • Award Winners • Records • Seasons • Draft Picks • The Spectrum • Wachovia Center
Head Coaches	Allen • Stasiuk • Shero • McCammon • Quinn • McCammon • Keenan • Holmgren • Dineen • Simpson • Murray • Cashman • Neilson • Ramsay • Barber • Hitchcock • Stevens • Laviolette • Berube • Hakstol • Vigneault
Division titles	1967-68, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1979-80, 1982-83, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2003-04
Conference Championships	1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1979-80, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1996-97
Stanley Cups	1973-74, 1974-75
Affiliates	Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL)