# 1990–91 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1990–91 Philadelphia Flyers season was the team's 24th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.

## Off-season

After firing general manager Bobby Clarke on April 16, 1990, Russ Farwell was hired to replace him on June 6. Farwell had spent the previous two seasons as the general manager of the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds.

## Regular season

Rick Tocchet scored 40 goals and Pelle Eklund recorded 50 assists. However, goaltender Ron Hextall continued to be hampered by injuries during the 1990–91 season. He only played in 36 games and as a result the Flyers missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year, finishing fifth in the division and three points short of a playoff spot after a late-season collapse.
Despite scoring the fewest short-handed goals (2) and allowing the most short-handed goals (16), the Flyers finished 7th out of 21 teams in power play percentage with 20.12% (68 for 338).

### Season standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 41 | 33 | 6 | 342 | 305 | 88 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 297 | 265 | 85 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 37 | 36 | 7 | 258 | 258 | 81 |
| New Jersey Devils | 80 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 272 | 264 | 79 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 33 | 37 | 10 | 252 | 267 | 76 |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 25 | 45 | 10 | 223 | 290 | 60 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Wales Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | ADM | 80 | 44 | 24 | 12 | 299 | 264 | 100 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | ADM | 80 | 39 | 30 | 11 | 273 | 249 | 89 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | PTK | 80 | 41 | 33 | 6 | 342 | 305 | 88 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | PTK | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 297 | 265 | 85 |
| 5 | Washington Capitals | PTK | 80 | 37 | 36 | 7 | 258 | 258 | 81 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | ADM | 80 | 31 | 30 | 19 | 292 | 278 | 81 |
| 7 | New Jersey Devils | PTK | 80 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 272 | 264 | 79 |
| 8 | Philadelphia Flyers | PTK | 80 | 33 | 37 | 10 | 252 | 267 | 76 |
| 9 | Hartford Whalers | ADM | 80 | 31 | 38 | 11 | 238 | 276 | 73 |
| 10 | New York Islanders | PTK | 80 | 25 | 45 | 10 | 223 | 290 | 60 |
| 11 | Quebec Nordiques | ADM | 80 | 16 | 50 | 14 | 236 | 354 | 46 |
Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams
bold – Qualified for playoffs

## Schedule and results

1990–91 regular season :
October: 6–6–0, 12 points (home: 4–2–0; road: 2–4–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
1October 4@ Boston Bruins1–40–1–00Recap
2October 6@ New Jersey Devils1–30–2–00Recap
3October 7Detroit Red Wings7–21–2–02Recap
4October 11New Jersey Devils7–42–2–04Recap
5October 13Winnipeg Jets4–33–2–06Recap
6October 16@ Pittsburgh Penguins5–14–2–08Recap
7October 18Quebec Nordiques5–45–2–010Recap
8October 20@ Montreal Canadiens5–36–2–012Recap
9October 23Washington Capitals2–66–3–012Recap
10October 25@ New York Rangers3–56–4–012Recap
11October 27@ New York Islanders2–56–5–012Recap
12October 30Pittsburgh Penguins2–66–6–012Recap :
November: 11–4–2, 24 points (home: 6–3–1; road: 5–1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
13November 1Minnesota North Stars6–37–6–014Recap
14November 3Chicago Blackhawks1–37–7–014Recap
15November 4@ Toronto Maple Leafs7–18–7–016Recap
16November 6@ Winnipeg Jets4–29–7–018Recap
17November 8Calgary Flames2–89–8–018Recap
18November 10@ Quebec Nordiques5–210–8–020Recap
19November 11Vancouver Canucks2–011–8–022Recap
20November 13New York Rangers1–1 OT11–8–123Recap
21November 15Montreal Canadiens4–112–8–125Recap
22November 17@ New Jersey Devils2–312–9–125Recap
23November 18New Jersey Devils1–412–10–125Recap
24November 21@ Pittsburgh Penguins5–413–10–127Recap
25November 23Toronto Maple Leafs4–114–10–129Recap
26November 25New York Islanders4–115–10–131Recap
27November 27@ New York Islanders5–116–10–133Recap
28November 28@ New Jersey Devils5–5 OT16–10–234Recap
29November 30New York Rangers5–117–10–236Recap :
December: 4–8–3, 11 points (home: 0–3–3; road: 4–5–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
30December 2Edmonton Oilers3–617–11–236Recap
31December 6Buffalo Sabres3–417–12–236Recap
32December 8@ Minnesota North Stars0–717–13–236Recap
33December 9@ Chicago Blackhawks5–418–13–238Recap
34December 11@ Washington Capitals1–418–14–238Recap
35December 13New York Islanders2–2 OT18–14–339Recap
36December 15Detroit Red Wings1–318–15–339Recap
37December 16@ Winnipeg Jets4–219–15–341Recap
38December 18@ Detroit Red Wings1–319–16–341Recap
39December 20New Jersey Devils3–3 OT19–16–442Recap
40December 22@ Hartford Whalers0–119–17–442Recap
41December 23Montreal Canadiens4–4 OT19–17–543Recap
42December 27@ Los Angeles Kings7–520–17–545Recap
43December 29@ St. Louis Blues3–121–17–547Recap
44December 31@ Buffalo Sabres2–521–18–547Recap :
January: 6–4–1, 13 points (home: 5–1–0; road: 1–3–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
45January 4@ Washington Capitals3–3 OT21–18–648Recap
46January 5@ New York Islanders2–321–19–648Recap
47January 7@ New York Rangers2–321–20–648Recap
48January 12@ Boston Bruins3–122–20–650Recap
49January 13Edmonton Oilers3–522–21–650Recap
50January 15Pittsburgh Penguins5–423–21–652Recap
51January 17Quebec Nordiques5–124–21–654Recap
52January 22Calgary Flames4–325–21–656Recap
53January 24Washington Capitals6–126–21–658Recap
54January 26@ Hartford Whalers3–526–22–658Recap
55January 31Pittsburgh Penguins4–227–22–660Recap :
February: 4–5–2, 10 points (home: 2–3–1; road: 2–2–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
56February 2Hartford Whalers0–227–23–660Recap
57February 5Los Angeles Kings2–327–24–660Recap
58February 7Vancouver Canucks1–227–25–660Recap
59February 10@ Washington Capitals2–527–26–660Recap
60February 13@ Toronto Maple Leafs6–328–26–662Recap
61February 16@ New Jersey Devils2–328–27–662Recap
62February 18Chicago Blackhawks5–329–27–664Recap
63February 21New York Rangers4–4 OT29–27–765Recap
64February 23@ New York Islanders5–330–27–767Recap
65February 24New York Islanders4–331–27–769Recap
66February 26@ Minnesota North Stars2–2 OT31–27–870Recap :
March: 2–10–2, 6 points (home: 1–4–1; road: 1–6–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
67March 2St. Louis Blues4–4 OT31–27–971Recap
68March 4@ New York Rangers2–631–28–971Recap
69March 7@ Calgary Flames2–431–29–971Recap
70March 8@ Edmonton Oilers4–531–30–971Recap
71March 12@ Los Angeles Kings0–631–31–971Recap
72March 13@ Vancouver Canucks5–4 OT32–31–973Recap
73March 16@ Washington Capitals0–632–32–973Recap
74March 17Boston Bruins1–332–33–973Recap
75March 21St. Louis Blues1–432–34–973Recap
76March 23New York Rangers7–433–34–975Recap
77March 24@ Buffalo Sabres2–633–35–975Recap
78March 26Pittsburgh Penguins1–333–36–975Recap
79March 28Washington Capitals0–333–37–975Recap
80March 30@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–4 OT33–37–1076Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## 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.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 22 | Rick Tocchet | RW | 70 | 40 | 31 | 71 | 2 | 150 |
| 9 | Pelle Eklund | C | 73 | 19 | 50 | 69 | −2 | 14 |
| 32 | Murray Craven | LW | 77 | 19 | 47 | 66 | −2 | 53 |
| 14 | Ron Sutter | C | 80 | 17 | 28 | 45 | 2 | 92 |
| 3 | Gord Murphy | D | 80 | 11 | 31 | 42 | −7 | 58 |
| 18 | Mike Ricci | C | 68 | 21 | 20 | 41 | −8 | 64 |
| 19 | Scott Mellanby | RW | 74 | 20 | 21 | 41 | 8 | 155 |
| 25 | Keith Acton | C | 76 | 14 | 23 | 37 | −9 | 131 |
| 29 | Terry Carkner | D | 79 | 7 | 25 | 32 | −15 | 204 |
| 20 | Normand Lacombe | RW | 74 | 11 | 20 | 31 | −1 | 27 |
| 28 | Kjell Samuelsson | D | 78 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 4 | 82 |
| 11 | Jiri Latal | D | 50 | 5 | 21 | 26 | −19 | 14 |
| 12 | Tim Kerr | RW | 27 | 10 | 14 | 24 | −8 | 8 |
| 24 | Derrick Smith | LW | 72 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 0 | 37 |
| 10 | Dale Kushner | RW | 63 | 7 | 11 | 18 | −4 | 195 |
| 17 | Craig Berube | LW | 74 | 8 | 9 | 17 | −6 | 293 |
| 8 | Murray Baron | D | 67 | 8 | 8 | 16 | −3 | 74 |
| 26 | Martin Hostak | C | 50 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 22 |
| 2 | Mark Howe | D | 19 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| 21 | Tony Horacek | LW | 34 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 49 |
| 6 | Jeff Chychrun | D | 36 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 105 |
| 39 | David Fenyves | D | 40 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 28 |
| 45 | Chris Jensen | RW | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −5 | 2 |
| 23 | Pat Murray | LW | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −5 | 15 |
| 41 | Mark Pederson† | LW | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −8 | 5 |
| 5 | Kerry Huffman | D | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 50 | Scott Sandelin | D | 15 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −3 | 0 |
| 36 | Darren Rumble | D | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 58 | Bill Armstrong | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 46 | Kimbi Daniels | C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| 27 | Ron Hextall | G | 36 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 10 |
| 33 | Pete Peeters | G | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 14 |
| 15 | Craig Fisher | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Bruce Hoffort | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 35 | Ken Wregget | G | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 6 |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | GS | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 27 | Ron Hextall | 36 | 34 | 13 | 16 | 5 | 982 | 106 | 3.12 | .892 | 0 | 2,035 |
| 35 | Ken Wregget | 30 | 23 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 660 | 88 | 3.56 | .867 | 0 | 1,484 |
| 33 | Pete Peeters | 26 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 623 | 61 | 2.88 | .902 | 1 | 1,270 |
| 30 | Bruce Hoffort | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 3 | 4.59 | .850 | 0 | 39 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Rick Tocchet |
| League (in-season) | NHL Player of the Month | Pete Peeters (November) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Player of the Week | Ken Wregget (October 22) |
| Team | Barry Ashbee Trophy | Kjell Samuelsson |
| Team | Bobby Clarke Trophy | Pelle Eklund |
| Team | Class Guy Award | Gord Murphy |

### Records

Among the team records set during the 1990–91 season was the fewest shorthanded goals scored in a season (2) and the most shorthanded goals allowed in a season (16).

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Martin Hostak | October 4, 1990 |
| First game | Pat Murray | October 4, 1990 |
| First game | Mike Ricci | October 4, 1990 |
| First game | Darren Rumble | November 27, 1990 |
| First game | Bill Armstrong | February 18, 1991 |
| First game | Kimbi Daniels | March 28, 1991 |

## Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 25, 1990, the day after the deciding game of the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 25, 1991, the day of the deciding game of the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details | Ref |
| June 16, 1990 (1990-06-16) | To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-round pick in 1990 | To Toronto Maple Leafs Kevin Maguire8th-round pick in 1991 | |
| March 5, 1991 (1991-03-05) | To Philadelphia Flyers Mark Pederson | To Montreal Canadiens 2nd-round pick in 1991 | |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Via |
| August 1, 1990 (1990-08-01) | Rod Dallman | New York Islanders | Free agency |
| August 1, 1990 (1990-08-01) | Dale Kushner | New York Islanders | Free agency |
| September 5, 1990 (1990-09-05) | Lance Pitlick | University of Minnesota (WCHA) | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 3, 1990 (1990-07-03) | Ilkka Sinisalo | Minnesota North Stars | Free agency |
| July 16, 1990 (1990-07-16) | John Stevens | Hartford Whalers | Free agency |
| August 29, 1990 (1990-08-29) | Doug Sulliman | | Retirement |
| September 4, 1990 (1990-09-04) | Ken Linseman | Edmonton Oilers | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term |
| August 1, 1990 (1990-08-01) | Brian Dobbin | |
| August 1, 1990 (1990-08-01) | Mark Freer | |
| August 1, 1990 (1990-08-01) | Tony Horacek | |
| August 28, 1990 (1990-08-28) | Martin Hostak | 2-year |
| September 4, 1990 (1990-09-04) | Mike Ricci | |
| September 5, 1990 (1990-09-05) | Pat Murray | |
| September 14, 1990 (1990-09-14) | Ron Hextall | 5-year |
| September 14, 1990 (1990-09-14) | Rick Tocchet | 4-year |
| November 29, 1990 (1990-11-29) | Ken Wregget | 1-year |
| May 2, 1991 (1991-05-02) | Pelle Eklund | 3-year |
| May 14, 1991 (1991-05-14) | Jiri Latal | multi-year |

## Draft picks
### NHL entry draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1990 NHL entry draft, which was held at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 16, 1990. The Flyers traded their fourth-round pick, 67th overall, to the Edmonton Oilers for Normand Lacombe on January 5, 1990.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) |
| 1 | 4 | Mike Ricci | Center | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| 2 | 25 | Chris Simon | Left wing | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHL) |
| 2 | 40 | Mikael Renberg | Right wing | Sweden | Luleå HF (Elitserien) |
| 2 | 42 | Terran Sandwith | Defense | Canada | Tri-City Americans (USHL) |
| 3 | 44 | Kimbi Daniels | Center | Canada | Swift Current Broncos (WHL) |
| 3 | 46 | Bill Armstrong | Defense | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 3 | 47 | Chris Therien | Defense | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHL) |
| 3 | 52 | Al Kinisky | Defense | United States | Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) |
| 5 | 88 | Dan Kordic | Defense | Canada | Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) |
| 6 | 109 | Vyacheslav Butsayev | Center | Soviet Union | CSKA Moscow (Soviet Union) |
| 8 | 151 | Patric Englund | Left wing | Sweden | AIK (Elitserien) |
| 9 | 172 | Toni Porkka | Defense | Finland | Lukko Rauma (SM-liiga) |
| 10 | 193 | Greg Hanson | Defense | United States | Bloomington Kennedy High School (USHS-MN) |
| 11 | 214 | Tommy Soderstrom | Goaltender | Sweden | Djurgårdens IF (Elitserien) |
| 12 | 235 | Billy Lund | Center | United States | Roseau High School (USHS-MN) |

### NHL supplemental draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1990 NHL supplemental draft on June 15, 1990.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) |
| 1 | 4 | Steve Beadle | Defense | United States | Michigan State University (CCHA) |
| 2 | 9 | Ray Letourneau | Goaltender | United States | Yale University (ECAC) |

## Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL.