1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers season

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. Stasiuk spent the previous two seasons as the head coach of the Quebec Aces, the Flyers American Hockey League affiliate.

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 became one of the team's best-known traditions: playing a recording of Kate Smith singing God Bless America instead of 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 regularly left their seats to 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 home games.

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

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

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|- | 1 || October 11 || 0–4 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars || Parent || 0–1–0 || 0 || |- | 2 || October 15 || 3–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins || Favell || 0–1–1 || 1 || |- | 3 || October 19 || 1–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens || Parent || 0–1–2 || 2 || |- | 4 || October 22 || 4–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs || Parent || 1–1–2 || 4 || |- | 5 || October 23 || 2–2 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings || Parent || 1–1–3 || 5 || |- | 6 || October 26 || 0–0 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues || Parent || 1–1–4 || 6 || |- | 7 || October 30 || 3–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers || Parent || 1–1–5 || 7 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Records

During the 1969–70 season, the Flyers set the NHL record for most ties in a season with 24. They also tied an NHL record for most home ties with 13. Their four consecutive ties at home from October 19 to October 30 set a team record. Their 17 wins on the season is the lowest total in franchise history while their six home wins on the season tied the mark set during the 1968–69 season. Goaltender Bernie Parent set franchise records for most losses (29, later tied by Antero Niittymaki during the 2006–07 season) and most ties (20).

Milestones

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.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1969 NHL amateur draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, on June 11, 1969. 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.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Quebec Aces of the AHL, the Flint Generals of the IHL, and the Jersey Devils of the EHL.

Notes

References

References

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