1993–94 Philadelphia Flyers season

Off-season

On May 24, the Flyers announced that Terry Simpson was replacing Bill Dineen as head coach. Mike Eaves was hired to replace Ken Hitchcock, who left to become the head coach of the Kalamazoo Wings of the International Hockey League, as an assistant coach. Simpson named Kevin Dineen captain and made Eric Lindros an alternate captain to groom him for a leadership role.

Regular season

This season began on a brighter note, as the club raced out to an 11–3–0 record. A loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 6 signaled a sharp downturn, however. Lindros went down with his second knee injury in as many years and soon after, the Penguins routed the Flyers 11–5 in Pittsburgh.

Other lowlights on the slide included a 6–0 loss in Calgary, and an 8–0 defeat in the club's first-ever road game against the Dallas Stars in early January. Lindros netted an impressive hat-trick in an 8–3 win over the Blues later in the month, but an 0–6–1 slide placed the team out of playoff contention.

Despite Simpson's efforts to employ a defensive system akin to the yet-to-be unleashed neutral zone trap, the team continued to crack with Dominic Roussel and Tommy Soderstrom in net. Soderstrom struggled with heart ailments and bad luck all season, winning just six games. After climbing within three points of eighth-seeded Washington in late March, the Flyers finished the year 2–5–3 and rested in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, three points behind the expansion Florida Panthers.

Mark Recchi recorded 107 points (40 goals, 67 assists) and Lindros 97 (44 goals, 53 assists). Rod Brind'Amour improved with another 97 (35 goals, 62 assists) and Mikael Renberg set a Flyers rookie record with 82 points. Philadelphia had the best shooting percentage of all 26 teams, scoring 294 goals on 2,409 shots (12.2%). Offense was generated as the Flyers had four 30-goal scorers for the second-straight season and averaged 3.5 goals per game, but they still failed to clinch a playoff berth, again falling four points short of the final playoff spot.

After the season, Ed Snider had decided he had seen enough of Russ Farwell as general manager, and began courting Bobby Clarke to leave his GM post with the Florida Panthers to return to Philadelphia. Farwell's last move was firing Simpson after a lackluster season.

Season standings

Schedule and results

|- | 1 || October 5 || 4–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins || Roussel || 1–0–0 || 2 || |- | 2 || October 9 || 5–2 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers || Roussel || 2–0–0 || 4 || |- | 3 || October 10 || 4–5 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs || Soderstrom || 2–1–0 || 4 || |- | 4 || October 12 || 5–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres || Roussel || 3–1–0 || 6 || |- | 5 || October 15 || 3–0 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals || Roussel || 4–1–0 || 8 || |- | 6 || October 16 || 4–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers || Roussel || 5–1–0 || 10 || |- | 7 || October 22 || 4–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders || Roussel || 6–1–0 || 12 || |- | 8 || October 23 || 6–9 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets || Soderstrom || 6–2–0 || 12 || |- | 9 || October 26 || 4–2 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques || Roussel || 7–2–0 || 14 || |- | 10 || October 27 || 5–2 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators || Roussel || 8–2–0 || 16 || |- | 11 || October 30 || 3–5 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils || Roussel || 8–3–0 || 16 || |- | 12 || October 31 || 9–6 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks || Roussel || 9–3–0 || 18 ||

Neutral site game played at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Neutral site game played at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, Ohio.

| 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 1993–94 season was Kevin Dineen tying the team record for goals scored in a single game (4) on October 31. Eric Lindros tied the team single period records for most goals (3) and points (4) on January 19. A month later on February 15, Mikael Renberg matched the goals in single period record and on April 2, Lindros matched the points in a single period record. On the season, Renberg’s 82 points is a franchise rookie record and Gary Galley’s 60 assists is a franchise high for defensemen.

Milestones

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 1993, the day after the deciding game of the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 14, 1994, the day of the deciding game of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

NHL entry draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1993 NHL entry draft, which was held at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City on June 26–27, 1993. The Flyers traded their first-round picks in 1993, 10th overall, and 1994 along with Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, the rights to Peter Forsberg, and $15 million to the Quebec Nordiques for the rights to Eric Lindros on June 30, 1992. They also traded their third-round pick, 62nd overall, to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Kjell Samuelsson, Rick Tocchet, and Ken Wregget for the Los Angeles Kings' first-round pick, 15th overall, Brian Benning, and Mark Recchi on February 19, 1992.

NHL supplemental draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1993 NHL supplemental draft.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League and the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL.

Notes

References

References

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