1985–86 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1985–86 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 19th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers lost in the first round of the playoffs in five game to the New York Rangers.

Regular season

The club began the year 12–2–0 (with both losses coming at home to New Jersey and Quebec), which included 10 consecutive wins until goaltender Pelle Lindbergh was fatally injured in a car accident in the early hours of November 10.

Due to the tragedy, back-up Bob Froese became the de facto starter, and the club called up Darren Jensen for relief work. Froese suffered a groin injury in practice prior to the team's next game against the Edmonton Oilers, so Jensen got the start against the defending Stanley Cup champions at the Spectrum on November 14.

Following an emotional memorial service, the Flyers posted a spirited 5–3 win, featuring four goals in the third period to earn their 11th victory in a row. They went on to beat Hartford two days later to set a new franchise record for consecutive wins, then rallied from three-goals down to top the New York Islanders 5–4 in overtime the next day. The Islanders ended the streak two nights later in Uniondale, almost wasting a four-goal lead in an 8–6 decision.

Philly became the first club in the NHL to reach 30 wins, after a 4–0 shutout of the Washington Capitals on January 9, but began to falter in February and early March, losing four straight games and seeing the Capitals climb within striking distance. The Caps and Flyers each spent time in first place for the remainder of the schedule, but the orange and black took the division crown on the last day of the season (April 6) with a come-from-behind 5–3 home win.

In a 7–3 loss to the Devils on March 8, Tim Kerr set an NHL record with his 29th power-play goal of the season, passing Hall-of-Famer Phil Esposito's mark. He finished the year with 34, the league record to this day.

Propp had the best chance of his career to crack the 100-point mark, but that was derailed on March 6, when Buffalo Sabres forward Lindy Ruff caught him in the eye with a high stick. The incident cost Propp several games, and he finished with a team-high 97 points while also causing him to wear a visor for the remainder of his career.

Bob Clarke made a couple minor deals during the season, trading Ed Hospodar and the enigmatic Todd Bergen to the Minnesota North Stars for Dave Richter and Bo Berglund on November 29. Neither player lasted beyond the season with the Flyers, while Hospodar returned in 1986–87. Also, Joe Paterson and Len Hachborn were sent in separate deals to the Los Angeles Kings, and Chico Resch was acquired from the Devils for a draft pick in early March.

Froese finished second in voting for the Vezina Trophy. Mark Howe finished second in voting for the Norris Trophy and third in voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP.^[4] Howe was named to the first NHL All-Star Team and took home the NHL Plus-Minus Award — the defense pairing of Howe and Brad McCrimmon finished with a +85 and a +83 respectively — while Froese was named to the second NHL All-Star Team and was the co-winner with Jensen of the William M. Jennings Trophy.

Season standings

^[5]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.

Playoffs

Despite their regular season success, an emotionally exhausted Flyers team lost in the first round of the playoffs to the New York Rangers in five games.

Schedule and results

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

• 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.

				Regular season						Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
26	Propp, BrianBrian Propp	26	LW	72	40	57	97	24	47	5	0	2	2	−2	4
12	Kerr, TimTim Kerr	26	RW	76	58	26	84	−5	79	5	3	3	6	−2	8
2	Howe, MarkMark Howe	30	D	77	24	58	82	85	36	5	0	4	4	0	0
23	Sinisalo, IlkkaIlkka Sinisalo	27	LW	74	39	37	76	17	31	5	2	2	4	1	2
20	Poulin, DaveDave Poulin	27	C	79	27	42	69	20	49	5	2	0	2	−4	2
9	Eklund, PellePelle Eklund	22	C	70	15	51	66	−4	12	5	0	2	2	2	0
14	Sutter, RonRon Sutter	22	C	75	18	42	60	26	159	5	0	2	2	2	10
10	McCrimmon, BradBrad McCrimmon	26	D	80	13	43	56	83	85	5	2	0	2	1	2
32	Craven, MurrayMurray Craven	21	LW	78	21	33	54	24	34	5	0	3	3	0	4
25	Zezel, PeterPeter Zezel	20	C	79	17	37	54	27	76	5	3	1	4	−2	4
3	Crossman, DougDoug Crossman	25	D	80	6	37	43	−5	55	5	0	1	1	0	4
15	Sutter, RichRich Sutter	22	RW	78	14	25	39	28	199	5	2	0	2	2	19
22	Tocchet, RickRick Tocchet	21	RW	69	14	21	35	12	284	5	1	2	3	1	26
18	Carson, LindsayLindsay Carson	25	LW	50	9	12	21	10	84	1	0	0	0	0	5
21	Brown, DaveDave Brown	23	RW	76	10	7	17	7	277	5	0	0	0	−3	16
8	Marsh, BradBrad Marsh	27	D	79	0	13	13	0	123	5	0	0	0	1	2
24	Smith, DerrickDerrick Smith	21	LW	69	6	6	12	14	57	4	0	0	0	−3	10
17	Hospodar, EdEd Hospodar	26	D	17	3	1	4	0	55	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
27	Eriksson, ThomasThomas Eriksson	26	D	43	0	4	4	−12	16	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
42	Nachbaur, DonDon Nachbaur	27	C	5	1	1	2	3	7	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
34	Richter, DaveDave Richter	25	D	50	0	2	2	−2	138	5	0	0	0	0	21
29	Stanley, DarylDaryl Stanley	23	D	33	0	2	2	−5	69	1	0	0	0	0	2
37	Berglund, BoBo Berglund	30	RW	7	0	2	2	0	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
35	Froese, BobBob Froese	27	G	51	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	8	5	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	0
30	Jensen, DarrenDarren Jensen	25	G	29	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
44	Stothers, MikeMike Stothers	23	D	6	0	1	1	1	6	3	0	0	0	0	4
31	Lindbergh, PellePelle Lindbergh	26	G	8	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
33	Resch, GlennGlenn Resch	37	G	5	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	1	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0
6	Paterson, JoeJoe Paterson	25	LW	5	0	0	0	1	12	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
5	McCarthy, KevinKevin McCarthy	28	D	4	0	0	0	0	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
39	Fitzpatrick, RossRoss Fitzpatrick	25	C	2	0	0	0	−1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
5	Smith, SteveSteve Smith	22	D	2	0	0	0	−1	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
19	Mellanby, ScottScott Mellanby	19	RW	2	0	0	0	−1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
36	Mokosak, CarlCarl Mokosak	23	LW	1	0	0	0	0	5	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

• = 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.

			Regular season									Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN	GP	W	L	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN
35	Froese, BobBob Froese	27	51	31	10	3	5	116	.909	2.55	2728	5	2	3	0	15	.880	3.07	293
30	Jensen, DarrenDarren Jensen	25	29	15	9	1	2	88	.884	3.68	1436	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
31	Lindbergh, PellePelle Lindbergh	26	8	6	2	0	1	23	.884	2.88	480	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
33	Resch, GlennGlenn Resch	37	5	1	2	0	0	10	.881	3.21	187	1	0	0	0	1	.000	8.57	7

Awards and records

Awards

Records

•   *  NHL record
•  **  Tied for NHL record

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 31, 1985, the day after the deciding game of the 1985 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 24, 1986, the day of the deciding game of the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals.^[16]

Trades

Trade notes

• ^a The Flyers claimed Low off waivers and agreed to a deal which allowed Edmonton to retain Low's rights but would guarantee them Low if Edmonton did not need him as a backup goaltender after Grant Fuhr recovered from an injury.^[18] On December 3, the Flyers passed on reacquiring Low and Edmonton returned him to their American Hockey League affiliate in Nova Scotia.^[18]

Signings

Free agency

The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency.

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

NHL Waiver Draft

The 1985 NHL Waiver Draft was held on October 7, 1985.^[34] Each NHL team placed 16 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.^[34] First-year professional players were exempt.^[34] The Flyers were not involved in any selections during the draft.^[34]

The Flyers protected the following players:^[35] goaltenders Bob Froese and Pelle Lindbergh, defensemen Doug Crossman, Thomas Eriksson, Ed Hospodar, Mark Howe, Brad Marsh, Brad McCrimmon, and Daryl Stanley, and forwards Dave Brown, Lindsay Carson, Murray Craven, Len Hachborn, Tim Kerr, Joe Paterson, Dave Poulin, Brian Propp, and Ilkka Sinisalo.

The Flyers left the following players unprotected:^[35] defensemen Kevin McCarthy and Mike Stothers, and forwards Ray Allison, Bill Barber, Jim Dobson, Ross Fitzpatrick, Al Hill, Steve Martinson, Carl Mokosak, and Don Nachbaur.

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.

Departures

The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement. Players who were under contract and left the team during the season are marked with an asterisk (*).

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario on June 15, 1985.^[41]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1985 and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA	Notes
1	21	Seabrooke, GlenGlen Seabrooke	Center	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)	19	1	6	7	4	& —	& —	& —	& —
2	42	Rendall, BruceBruce Rendall	Left Wing	Canada	Chatham Maroons (OPJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
3	48	Gilmour, DarrylDarryl Gilmour	Goaltender	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	[a]
3	63	Whelan, ShaneShane Whelan	Center	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
4	84	Marshall, PaulPaul Marshall	Defense	United States	Northwood School (N.Y.)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
5	105	Holmes, DarilDaril Holmes	Right Wing	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	126	Alexander, KenKen Alexander	Defense	United States	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	147	Horacek, TonyTony Horacek	Left Wing	Canada	Kelowna Wings (WHL)	154	10	19	29	316	& —	& —	& —	& —
8	168	Cusack, MikeMike Cusack	Forward	United States	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	189	Murphy, GordGord Murphy	Defense	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)	862	85	238	323	668	& —	& —	& —	& —
11	231	Williams, RodRod Williams	Right Wing	Canada	Kelowna Wings (WHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
12	252	Maurice, PaulPaul Maurice	Defense	Canada	Windsor Compuware Spitfires (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

Draft notes^[42]

• ^a The Flyers traded Paul Holmgren to the Minnesota North Stars for the rights to Paul Guay and the North Stars' third-round pick, 48th overall, on February 23, 1984.
• The Flyers traded their tenth-round pick, 210th overall, to the Boston Bruins for Ian Armstrong on May 24, 1984.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL^[2][43] and the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL.^[3]

References

General

• hockeyDB.com: Roster and player statistics · Results and Schedule
• hockey-reference.com: Roster and Statistics · Schedule and Results
• Flyers History: Season Overview · Game Scores & Results · Playoff Results

Specific