1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers season

Off-season

Head coach Fred Shero, who had one more year left on his contract, submitted a letter of resignation on May 22, 1978, stating that the Flyers needed a change whether they realized it or not. Flyers management had previously heard rumors about Shero wanting to leave Philadelphia and re-join the New York Rangers organization, and refused to accept his letter of resignation. Shero then signed a $250,000, five-year contract with the Rangers to be their new head coach and general manager, believing he no longer had a contractual agreement to the Flyers. A few weeks after signing Shero, the Rangers gave the Flyers their first-round pick (7th overall) in the 1978 draft and cash as compensation, allowing the Rangers to avoid tampering charges.

The Flyers acquired the 6th overall pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins for three veterans from their Stanley Cup championship teams – Tom Bladon, Orest Kindrachuk and Ross Lonsberry – on the eve of the draft. The trade gave the Flyers three first-round picks and they selected defenseman Behn Wilson and forwards Ken Linseman and Dan Lucas.

Two other longtime Flyers also left the team during the off-season. Gary Dornhoefer retired and Joe Watson was traded to the Colorado Rockies.

Regular season

After an eight-game winless streak in January that saw the team drop to last place in the division, McCammon and assistant coach Terry Crisp were fired. Replacing him was Shero's previous assistant coach Pat Quinn, who had replaced McCammon as head coach in Maine. While McCammon returned to Maine and coached the Mariners to a second consecutive Calder Cup title, the Flyers rallied under Quinn and finished in 2nd place.

On February 17, 1979, Bernie Parent suffered a career-ending eye injury in a game against the New York Rangers. An errant stick entered the right eye hole of his mask, causing permanent damage to his vision. After hospitalization, including the complete loss of sight for two weeks, Parent recovered and eventually regained sight, although not at the level required to resume his playing career.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

Matched-up against the Vancouver Canucks in the preliminary round, the Flyers won the series in three games. The Flyers' season came to an end against Shero's Rangers in a five-game quarterfinal loss.

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- | 1 || October 12 || 3–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers || Parent || 0–0–1 || 1 || |- | 2 || October 14 || 3–1 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings || Parent || 1–0–1 || 3 || |- | 3 || October 15 || 2–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens || Parent || 1–1–1 || 3 || |- | 4 || October 19 || 3–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins || Parent || 2–1–1 || 5 || |- | 5 || October 21 || 0–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs || Parent || 2–2–1 || 5 || |- | 6 || October 22 || 2–5 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames || Parent || 2–3–1 || 5 || |- | 7 || October 24 || 4–4 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders || Stephenson || 2–3–2 || 6 || |- | 8 || October 26 || 5–0 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs || Parent || 3–3–2 || 8 || |- | 9 || October 29 || 2–5 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks || Stephenson || 3–4–2 || 8 ||

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 10 || 2–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks || Stephenson || Canucks lead 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 12 || 6–4 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks || Moore || Series tied 1–1 || |- | 3 || April 14 || 7–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks || Moore || Flyers win 2–1 ||

| Legend:

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.*

Goaltending

• • = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.*

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Among the team records set during the 1978–79 season was Behn Wilson scoring 49 points, the most for a rookie defenseman in club history. On March 11, Frank Bathe received a club record 55 penalty minutes during a March 11 game against the Los Angeles Kings. During the fifth and final game of their quarterfinal playoff series loss to the New York Rangers, the Flyers six goals against during the third period is a team record. The five shorthanded goals they allowed during the series is also a single playoff series high.

The 1978–79 season was the final season of Bernie Parent's career, who hold several career records for the team. Parent holds the regular season marks for most ties (102), shutouts (50), and minutes played (28,215). He also holds the playoff marks for seasons played (7, tied with Ron Hextall), shutouts (6), and save percentage (.916).

Milestones

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 26, 1978, the day after the deciding game of the 1978 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 21, 1979, the day of the deciding game of the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1978 NHL amateur draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, on June 15, 1978.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Maine Mariners of the AHL, the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL, and the Jersey Aces of the NEHL.

Notes

References

References

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