# 1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' fifth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.

## Off-season

The Flyers fired head coach Vic Stasiuk on May 27, 1971, after heavy criticism by Flyers players. On June 2, the Flyers hired Fred Shero to replace him. In the previous two seasons Shero had guided two teams to league championships, the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League and the Omaha Knights of the Central Hockey League.

## Regular season

Bobby Clarke continued to progress as he led the team in goals (35), assists (46), and points (81) in 1971–72 and he became the first Flyer to win an NHL award, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. However, in the season's final game, the Flyers needed a win or a tie against the second-year Buffalo Sabres to beat out the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final playoff spot. The score was tied late in the game, but with just four seconds on the clock, former Flyer Gerry Meehan took a shot from just inside the blue line that eluded Flyers goalie Doug Favell. With identical records, the playoff berth went to the Penguins because Philly lost the season series 2–3–1.

### Season standings

West Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 78 | 46 | 17 | 15 | 256 | 166 | +90 | 107 |
| 2 | Minnesota North Stars | 78 | 37 | 29 | 12 | 212 | 191 | +21 | 86 |
| 3 | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 28 | 39 | 11 | 208 | 247 | −39 | 67 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 26 | 38 | 14 | 220 | 258 | −38 | 66 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 26 | 38 | 14 | 200 | 236 | −36 | 66 |
| 6 | California Golden Seals | 78 | 21 | 39 | 18 | 216 | 288 | −72 | 60 |
| 7 | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 20 | 49 | 9 | 206 | 305 | −99 | 49 |

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

1971–72 regular season :
October: 5–4–1, 11 points (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–3–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
1October 9@ Pittsburgh Penguins2–30–1–00Recap
2October 12@ Vancouver Canucks2–30–2–00Recap
3October 13@ California Golden Seals5–41–2–02Recap
4October 16@ Los Angeles Kings1–02–2–04Recap
5October 21Los Angeles Kings0–72–3–04Recap
6October 23@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–52–4–04Recap
7October 24Chicago Black Hawks2–13–4–06Recap
8October 28Vancouver Canucks3–24–4–08Recap
9October 30@ St. Louis Blues4–44–4–19Recap
10October 31Montreal Canadiens5–35–4–111Recap :
November: 2–7–3, 7 points (home: 2–4–2; road: 0–3–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
11November 3@ Chicago Black Hawks0–35–5–111Recap
12November 5@ Buffalo Sabres2–55–6–111Recap
13November 7Minnesota North Stars0–35–7–111Recap
14November 11Vancouver Canucks4–36–7–113Recap
15November 13Detroit Red Wings3–66–8–113Recap
16November 14Toronto Maple Leafs3–36–8–214Recap
17November 18Los Angeles Kings2–07–8–216Recap
18November 20@ Montreal Canadiens2–27–8–317Recap
19November 21Minnesota North Stars1–17–8–418Recap
20November 24Boston Bruins1–27–9–418Recap
21November 25@ Boston Bruins2–47–10–418Recap
22November 28New York Rangers2–47–11–418Recap :
December: 4–7–1, 9 points (home: 4–2–1; road: 0–5–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
23December 2Detroit Red Wings1–17–11–519Recap
24December 4@ Minnesota North Stars1–37–12–519Recap
25December 5California Golden Seals3–08–12–521Recap
26December 9New York Rangers0–58–13–521Recap
27December 11@ Detroit Red Wings3–68–14–521Recap
28December 12Montreal Canadiens4–19–14–523Recap
29December 15@ New York Rangers2–69–15–523Recap
30December 16Buffalo Sabres5–010–15–525Recap
31December 19Toronto Maple Leafs0–410–16–525Recap
32December 25@ Boston Bruins1–510–17–525Recap
33December 26Pittsburgh Penguins6–111–17–527Recap
34December 29@ New York Rangers1–511–18–527Recap :
January: 3–8–3, 9 points (home: 3–2–1; road: 0–6–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
35January 1@ St. Louis Blues4–411–18–628Recap
36January 2@ Chicago Black Hawks2–611–19–628Recap
37January 6St. Louis Blues2–311–20–628Recap
38January 8@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–211–20–729Recap
39January 9California Golden Seals10–312–20–731Recap
40January 11@ Detroit Red Wings0–512–21–731Recap
41January 15@ Pittsburgh Penguins2–412–22–731Recap
42January 16Los Angeles Kings3–312–22–832Recap
43January 20Chicago Black Hawks3–213–22–834Recap
44January 22@ Los Angeles Kings2–413–23–834Recap
45January 23@ California Golden Seals1–313–24–834Recap
46January 27@ Boston Bruins2–413–25–834Recap
47January 29Boston Bruins2–413–26–834Recap
48January 30Pittsburgh Penguins4–014–26–836Recap :
February: 5–6–3, 13 points (home: 2–1–1; road: 3–5–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
49February 3Detroit Red Wings5–415–26–838Recap
50February 5@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–116–26–840Recap
51February 6St. Louis Blues2–216–26–941Recap
52February 8@ Vancouver Canucks3–117–26–943Recap
53February 9@ California Golden Seals2–317–27–943Recap
54February 12@ Minnesota North Stars1–517–28–943Recap
55February 13@ Buffalo Sabres4–417–28–1044Recap
56February 16@ Chicago Black Hawks3–317–28–1145Recap
57February 17Boston Bruins1–417–29–1145Recap
58February 19@ Montreal Canadiens1–317–30–1145Recap
59February 20Toronto Maple Leafs3–118–30–1147Recap
60February 23@ New York Rangers3–418–31–1147Recap
61February 26@ Pittsburgh Penguins2–518–32–1147Recap
62February 27@ Detroit Red Wings3–119–32–1149Recap :
March: 7–5–2, 16 points (home: 5–3–1; road: 2–2–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
63March 2Minnesota North Stars3–020–32–1151Recap
64March 4St. Louis Blues6–221–32–1153Recap
65March 5Montreal Canadiens0–421–33–1153Recap
66March 8@ Vancouver Canucks6–522–33–1155Recap
67March 9@ Los Angeles Kings5–323–33–1157Recap
68March 11@ St. Louis Blues2–423–34–1157Recap
69March 13@ Montreal Canadiens1–223–35–1157Recap
70March 16Buffalo Sabres3–323–35–1258Recap
71March 18New York Rangers3–523–36–1258Recap
72March 23Chicago Black Hawks2–423–37–1258Recap
73March 25California Golden Seals3–024–37–1260Recap
74March 26Vancouver Canucks4–125–37–1262Recap
75March 28@ Minnesota North Stars2–225–37–1363Recap
76March 30Buffalo Sabres3–126–37–1365Recap :
April: 0–1–1, 1 points (home: 0–0–1; road: 0–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordPointsRecap
77April 1Pittsburgh Penguins4–426–37–1466Recap
78April 2@ Buffalo Sabres2–326–38–1466Recap :
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 |
| 16 | Bobby Clarke | C | 78 | 35 | 46 | 81 | 22 | 87 |
| 12 | Gary Dornhoefer | RW | 75 | 17 | 32 | 49 | −15 | 183 |
| 17 | Simon Nolet | RW | 67 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 6 | 22 |
| 22 | Rick Foley† | D | 58 | 11 | 25 | 36 | −16 | 168 |
| 9 | Bob Kelly | LW | 78 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 16 | 157 |
| 20 | Jim Johnson‡ | C | 46 | 13 | 15 | 28 | −21 | 12 |
| 21 | Serge Bernier‡ | C | 44 | 12 | 11 | 23 | −20 | 51 |
| 10 | Bill Clement | C | 49 | 9 | 14 | 23 | −14 | 39 |
| 5 | Brent Hughes | D | 63 | 2 | 20 | 22 | 6 | 35 |
| 21 | Bill Flett† | RW | 31 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 5 | 26 |
| 4 | Barry Ashbee | D | 73 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 2 | 75 |
| 11 | Jean-Guy Gendron | LW | 56 | 6 | 13 | 19 | −2 | 36 |
| 25 | Jean Potvin† | D | 29 | 3 | 12 | 15 | −6 | 6 |
| 18 | Ross Lonsberry† | LW | 32 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −9 | 22 |
| 7 | Michel Parizeau† | LW | 37 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −6 | 10 |
| 18 | Bill Lesuk‡ | LW | 45 | 7 | 6 | 13 | −14 | 31 |
| 2 | Ed Van Impe | D | 73 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −8 | 78 |
| 8 | Lew Morrison | LW | 58 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −18 | 26 |
| 14 | Joe Watson | D | 65 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −17 | 38 |
| 20 | Eddie Joyal† | C | 26 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −13 | 8 |
| 24 | Dick Sarrazin | RW | 28 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Willie Brossart | D | 42 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −7 | 12 |
| 19 | Rick MacLeish | C | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −9 | 9 |
| 15 | Larry Mickey‡ | RW | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 8 |
| 6 | Wayne Hillman | D | 47 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −16 | 21 |
| 23 | Larry Keenan† | LW | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −4 | 2 |
| 25 | Pierre Plante | RW | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −11 | 15 |
| 1 | Doug Favell | G | 54 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 32 |
| 19 | Larry Hale | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −5 | 0 |
| 19 | Ralph MacSweyn | D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Larry Wright | C | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −6 | 2 |
| 3 | Larry Brown‡ | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
| 23 | Rene Drolet | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Bruce Gamble‡ | G | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |
| 3 | Jim Mair | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| 24 | Don McLeod | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 25 | Don Saleski | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 25 | Dave Schultz | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Bobby Taylor | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |

### 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 |
| 1 | Doug Favell | 54 | 52 | 18 | 25 | 9 | 1655 | 140 | 2.81 | .915 | 5 | 2,985 |
| 30 | Bruce Gamble‡ | 24 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 659 | 58 | 2.94 | .912 | 2 | 1,184 |
| 30 | Bobby Taylor | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 193 | 16 | 3.00 | .917 | 0 | 320 |
| 24 | Don McLeod | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 109 | 14 | 4.65 | .872 | 0 | 181 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy | Bobby Clarke |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Bobby Clarke |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Simon Nolet |

### Records

Among the team records set during the 1971–72 season was a 19-game winless streak on the road (15 losses and 4 ties) from October 23 to January 27. On October 31, Simon Nolet became the first Flyer to score three goals in a single period and four points in a single period, both franchise regular season records that have been matched but not exceeded several times, the earliest instance occurring on March 9, 1972, by Bill Flett for the goals record and Flett and Bobby Clarke for the points record. On January 9, the Flyers scored six power play goals during a game against the California Golden Seals, a mark which was later matched during the 1988–89 season.

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Pierre Plante | October 9, 1971 |
| First game | Larry Wright | October 9, 1971 |
| First game | Bill Clement | December 11, 1971 |
| First game | Don Saleski | January 11, 1972 |
| First game | Dave Schultz | January 20, 1972 |
| First game | Bobby Taylor | February 16, 1972 |
| First game | Rene Drolet | April 2, 1972 |

### Franchise firsts

| Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
| 30-goal season | Bobby Clarke | March 13, 1972 | |

## Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 19, 1971, the day after the deciding game of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 11, 1972, the day of the deciding game of the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 13, 1971 (1971-06-13) | To Philadelphia Flyers Larry Mickey | To Los Angeles Kings Larry Hillman |
| September 8, 1971 (1971-09-08) | To Philadelphia Flyers cash | To Portland Buckaroos (WHL) Cliff Schmautz |
| October 15, 1971 (1971-10-15) | To Philadelphia Flyers Rick Foley | To Chicago Black Hawks Andre Lacroix |
| November 16, 1971 (1971-11-16) | To Philadelphia Flyers Larry Keenan | To Buffalo Sabres Larry Mickey |
| January 28, 1972 (1972-01-28) | To Philadelphia Flyers Bill FlettEddie JoyalRoss LonsberryJean Potvin | To Los Angeles Kings Serge BernierLarry BrownJim JohnsonBill Lesuk |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Via |
| June 8, 1971 (1971-06-08) | Larry Brown | New York Rangers | Intra-league draft |
| June 8, 1971 (1971-06-08) | Frank Spring | Boston Bruins | Intra-league draft |
| June 9, 1971 (1971-06-09) | Don McLeod | Detroit Red Wings | Reverse draft |
| July 1971 (1971-07) | Orest Kindrachuk | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) | Free agency |
| September 11, 1971 (1971-09-11) | Bob Hurlburt | Quebec Aces (AHL) | Free agency |
| December 8, 1971 (1971-12-08) | Michel Parizeau | St. Louis Blues | Waivers |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| June 8, 1971 (1971-06-08) | Garry Peters | Boston Bruins | Intra-league draft |
| September 20, 1971 (1971-09-20) | Keith Wright | | Release |
| February 9, 1972 (1972-02-09) | Bruce Gamble | | Retirement |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term |
| August 7, 1971 (1971-08-07) | Pierre Plante | 2-year |
| August 16, 1971 (1971-08-16) | Bruce Gamble | |
| September 2, 1971 (1971-09-02) | Larry Brown | |
| September 2, 1971 (1971-09-02) | Bob Kelly | |
| September 2, 1971 (1971-09-02) | Rick MacLeish | |
| September 5, 1971 (1971-09-05) | Jim Johnson | |
| September 5, 1971 (1971-09-05) | Lew Morrison | |
| September 5, 1971 (1971-09-05) | Joe Watson | |
| September 7, 1971 (1971-09-07) | Gary Dornhoefer | |
| September 7, 1971 (1971-09-07) | Wayne Hillman | |
| September 7, 1971 (1971-09-07) | Danny Schock | |
| September 7, 1971 (1971-09-07) | Frank Spring | |
| September 7, 1971 (1971-09-07) | Ed Van Impe | |
| September 8, 1971 (1971-09-08) | Serge Bernier | |
| September 8, 1971 (1971-09-08) | Jean-Guy Gendron | |
| September 8, 1971 (1971-09-08) | Bill Lesuk | |
| September 8, 1971 (1971-09-08) | Larry Mickey | |
| September 10, 1971 (1971-09-10) | Andre Lacroix | |
| October 7, 1971 (1971-10-07) | Doug Favell | |
| March 20, 1972 (1972-03-20) | Bobby Clarke | 5-year extension |
| N/A | Glen Irwin | 2-year |
| N/A | Don McCulloch | 2-year |
| N/A | Larry Wright | 2-year |

## Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1971 NHL amateur draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, on June 10, 1971.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) |
| 1 | 8 | Larry Wright | Center | Canada | Regina Pats (WCHL) |
| 1 | 9 | Pierre Plante | Right wing | Canada | Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 36 | Glen Irwin | Defense | Canada | Estevan Bruins (WCHL) |
| 4 | 50 | Ted Scharf | Right wing | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHA) |
| 5 | 64 | Don McCulloch | Defense | Canada | Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA) |
| 6 | 78 | Yvon Bilodeau | Defense | Canada | Estevan Bruins (WCHL) |
| 7 | 92 | Bobby Gerrard | Right wing | Canada | Regina Pats (WCHL) |
| 8 | 106 | Jerome Mrazek | Goaltender | Canada | University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA) |

## Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Richmond Robins of the AHL, the San Diego Gulls of the WHL, and the Jersey Devils and Salem Rebels of the EHL.