# 2004–05 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 2004–05 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 38th season in the National Hockey League (NHL), however its games were canceled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The other 29 teams did not play either due to the labor dispute.

## Off-season

After being defeated in the seventh game of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers prepared for the looming labor uncertainty associated with the impending expiration of the existing NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. While team captain Keith Primeau was re-signed to a four-year contract worth $17 million prior to hitting the free agent market, leading scorer Mark Recchi was not – general manager Bob Clarke said he would not re-sign Recchi until a new collective bargaining agreement was in place – and instead signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 9. Contract offers were made to impending unrestricted free agents Vladimir Malakhov and Alexei Zhamnov, key acquisitions during the final quarter of the 2003–04 regular season, but the Flyers were unable to come to terms with either player.
Unsigned 2001 first-round draft pick R. J. Umberger, whose NHL rights had previously been held by the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers, signed with the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent on June 16. The Flyers signed free agent right wingers Mike Knuble of the Boston Bruins and Turner Stevenson of the New Jersey Devils to three-year contracts after the free agency period began. On July 13 undrafted free agent forward Tony Voce, who played four seasons at Boston College, became the first native of Philadelphia to sign with the Flyers.

## Schedule

The Flyers preseason and regular season schedules were announced on July 14, 2004.
2004–05 schedule :
Preseason
GameDateOpponent
1September 23@ Washington Capitals
2September 30Washington Capitals
3October 2@ New York Islanders
4October 5New York Islanders
5October 6New Jersey Devils
6October 9@ New Jersey Devils
Notes:
$^a$ Neutral site game which was scheduled to be played at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania :
Regular season
GameDateOpponent
1October 13@ Tampa Bay Lightning
2October 14@ Florida Panthers
3October 16@ Montreal Canadiens
4October 20@ New York Rangers
5October 21Carolina Hurricanes
6October 23@ Ottawa Senators
7October 25Chicago Blackhawks
8October 28Montreal Canadiens
9November 2New Jersey Devils
10November 5@ Buffalo Sabres
11November 6@ Washington Capitals
12November 8St. Louis Blues
13November 11Boston Bruins
14November 13@ Pittsburgh Penguins
15November 17New York Islanders
16November 19Carolina Hurricanes
17November 20@ Toronto Maple Leafs
18November 24@ Washington Capitals
19November 26Atlanta Thrashers
20November 27@ New York Islanders
21November 30Tampa Bay Lightning
22December 2New York Rangers
23December 4Buffalo Sabres
24December 7@ Nashville Predators
25December 8@ Dallas Stars
26December 10New York Islanders
27December 13@ Ottawa Senators
28December 15Boston Bruins
29December 16@ Boston Bruins
30December 18New York Rangers
31December 21Florida Panthers
32December 23@ Pittsburgh Penguins
33December 27@ Vancouver Canucks
34December 29@ Calgary Flames
35December 30@ Edmonton Oilers
36January 2@ Chicago Blackhawks
37January 5@ Minnesota Wild
38January 7@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
39January 8@ Los Angeles Kings
40January 12Phoenix Coyotes
41January 14@ Carolina Hurricanes
42January 15Buffalo Sabres
43January 18@ New Jersey Devils
44January 20Pittsburgh Penguins
45January 22@ New York Rangers
46January 24@ Washington Capitals
47January 25Tampa Bay Lightning
48January 29Atlanta Thrashers
49February 1@ New York Islanders
50February 3Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
51February 5New Jersey Devils
52February 8Los Angeles Kings
53February 10San Jose Sharks
54February 15@ Montreal Canadiens
55February 17New Jersey Devils
56February 19@ New York Rangers
57February 20Montreal Canadiens
58February 23@ Carolina Hurricanes
59February 24Pittsburgh Penguins
60February 26Colorado Avalanche
61February 28Ottawa Senators
62March 2@ Atlanta Thrashers
63March 3Washington Capitals
64March 5@ Boston Bruins
65March 7@ New Jersey Devils
66March 8@ Toronto Maple Leafs
67March 10Toronto Maple Leafs
68March 12Pittsburgh Penguins
69March 15@ Florida Panthers
70March 16@ Tampa Bay Lightning
71March 19@ New Jersey Devils
72March 21Columbus Blue Jackets
73March 23@ Buffalo Sabres
74March 24Ottawa Senators
75March 26Toronto Maple Leafs
76March 28New York Islanders
77March 31@ Atlanta Thrashers
78April 2@ Pittsburgh Penguins
79April 3Detroit Red Wings
80April 5Florida Panthers
81April 7New York Rangers
82April 9@ New York Islanders :

## NHL lockout

The lockout started on September 16, 2004 and those Flyers with two-way contracts were sent down to the Phantoms. Those Flyers with NHL-only contracts either sat out or played in another league.

### Player activity

The following is a list of Flyers with NHL-only contracts and whether they were active during the lockout. Vladimir Malakhov and Alexei Zhamnov are not included since their contracts expired prior to the lockout.
| Player | Team | League/event |
| Tony Amonte | | |
| Donald Brashear | Quebec Radio X | LNAH |
| Sean Burke | | |
| Eric Desjardins | | |
| Robert Esche | | |
| Todd Fedoruk | Philadelphia Phantoms | American Hockey League |
| Simon Gagne | Canada | World Championships |
| Michal Handzus | HKm Zvolen | Slovak Extraliga |
| Michal Handzus | Slovakia | World Championships |
| Kim Johnsson | HC Ambri-Piotta | Nationalliga A |
| Sami Kapanen | KalPa | Mestis |
| Mike Knuble | Linköpings HC | Elitserien |
| Mike Knuble | United States | World Championships |
| Claude Lapointe | | |
| John LeClair | | |
| Danny Markov | Vityaz Podolsk | Vysshaya Liga |
| Keith Primeau | | |
| Branko Radivojevic | Vsetín HC | Czech Extraliga |
| Branko Radivojevic | Luleå HF | Elitserien |
| Marcus Ragnarsson | Almtuna | Allsvenskan |
| Jeremy Roenick | | |
| Radovan Somik | MHC Martin | Slovak 1.Liga |
| Radovan Somik | Vsetín HC | Czech Extraliga |
| Radovan Somik | Malmö IF | Elitserien |
| Turner Stevenson | | |
| Mattias Timander | Modo Hockey | Elitserien |

## Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Trenton Titans of the ECHL. Both teams were their league's champions.

### Philadelphia Phantoms

With the Flyers season canceled, many players who would normally be in orange and black were in purple, orange, and black instead. Joni Pitkanen and Todd Fedoruk had spent the entirety of the previous season with the Flyers and over a dozen others on the Phantoms roster had previously spent time in the NHL. Led by mid-season acquisition Jon Sim's 35 goals and R. J. Umberger's 65 points, the Phantoms finished second in their division with a record of 48–25–3–4. Reinforced by the arrivals of top junior prospects Jeff Carter and Mike Richards to the team, the Phantoms defeated the Norfolk Admirals in six games, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in five games, and the Providence Bruins in six games to reach the finals. Holding the Chicago Wolves to four goals the entire series, the Phantoms swept the series and won the Calder Cup. Goaltender Antero Niittymaki was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.

### Trenton Titans

Trenton finished second in their division and after defeating the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in three games, the Reading Royals in four games, and the Alaska Aces in seven games, the Titans defeated the Florida Everblades in six games to win the Kelly Cup.

## Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 8, 2004, the day after the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, through February 16, 2005, the day the 2004–05 season was officially canceled.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details | Ref |
| June 27, 2004 (2004-06-27) | To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-round pick in 2005 | To Tampa Bay Lightning 5th-round pick in 20046th-round pick in 2004San Jose's 6th-round pick in 2004 | |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| June 16, 2004 (2004-06-16) | R. J. Umberger | New York Rangers | 2-year | Free agency |
| June 24, 2004 (2004-06-24) | Brent Robinson | Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 3, 2004 (2004-07-03) | Mike Knuble | Boston Bruins | 3-year | Free agency |
| July 3, 2004 (2004-07-03) | Turner Stevenson | New Jersey Devils | 3-year | Free agency |
| July 13, 2004 (2004-07-13) | Tony Voce | Boston College (HE) | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 14, 2004 (2004-07-14) | Eric Meloche | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3-year | Free agency |
| July 27, 2004 (2004-07-27) | Josh Gratton | Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| August 23, 2004 (2004-08-23) | Ryan Ready | St. Louis Blues | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Vladimir Malakhov | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Mike Peluso | | Contract expiration (VI) |
| July 6, 2004 (2004-07-06) | Kirby Law | Minnesota Wild | Free agency (VI) |
| July 9, 2004 (2004-07-09) | Mark Recchi | Pittsburgh Penguins | Free agency (III) |
| July 21, 2004 (2004-07-21) | Andre Savage | Colorado Avalanche | Free agency (VI) |
| August 16, 2004 (2004-08-16) | Peter Vandermeer | Detroit Red Wings | Free agency (VI) |
| September 8, 2004 (2004-09-08) | Ian MacNeil | Schwenninger Wild Wings (ESBG) | Free agency (VI) |
| September 17, 2004 (2004-09-17) | Steve Gainey | Epinal Dolphins (FRA) | Free agency (VI) |
| November 15, 2004 (2004-11-15) | Alexei Zhamnov | Vityaz Chekhov (RUS-2) | Free agency (III) |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 14, 2004 (2004-06-14) | Sean Burke | 1-year | Option exercised |
| June 14, 2004 (2004-06-14) | Robert Esche | 1-year | Option exercised |
| June 14, 2004 (2004-06-14) | Keith Primeau | 4-year | Re-signing |
| August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02) | Simon Gagne | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02) | Antero Niittymaki | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02) | Branko Radivojevic | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 6, 2004 (2004-08-06) | Michal Handzus | 3-year | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2004 (2004-08-08) | Kim Johnsson | 1-year | Arbitration award |
| August 12, 2004 (2004-08-12) | Mattias Timander | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 19, 2004 (2004-08-19) | Sami Kapanen | 2-year | Extension |
| September 8, 2004 (2004-09-08) | Nick Deschenes | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 8, 2004 (2004-09-08) | Mark Murphy | 2-year | Re-signing |
| September 8, 2004 (2004-09-08) | David Printz | 1-year | Entry-level |

## Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 2004 NHL entry draft, which was held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on June 26–27, 2004. The Flyers traded their first-round pick, 25th overall, their 2005 third-round pick, and Jeff Woywitka to the Edmonton Oilers for Mike Comrie on December 16, 2003. The Flyers also traded their originally allotted second, fifth, sixth, and seventh-round draft picks in three different trades.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) |
| 3 | 92 | Rob Bellamy | Right Wing | United States | New England Jr. Coyotes (EJHL) |
| 4 | 101 | R. J. Anderson | Defense | United States | Centennial High School (Minn.) |
| 4 | 124 | David Laliberte | Right Wing | Canada | Prince Edward Island Rocket (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 144 | Chris Zarb | Defense | United States | Tri-City Storm (USHL) |
| 5 | 149 | Gino Pisellini | Right Wing | United States | Plymouth Whalers (OHL) |
| 6 | 170 | Ladislav Scurko | Center | Slovakia | Spišská Nová Ves (Slovakia) |
| 6 | 171 | Frederik Cabana | Center | Canada | Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) |
| 8 | 232 | Martin Houle | Goaltender | Canada | Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) |
| 8 | 253 | Travis Gawryletz | Defense | Canada | Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL) |
| 9 | 286 | Triston Grant | Left Wing | Canada | Vancouver Giants (WHL) |
| 9 | 291 | John Carter | Center | United States | Brewster Bulldogs (EmJHL) |