1994–95 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1994–95 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers 28th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers made the playoffs for the first time since 1989, also winning their division for the first time since 1987, and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing in six games to the New Jersey Devils.

1994–95 Philadelphia Flyers
Atlantic Division champions
Division1st Atlantic
Conference2nd Eastern
1994–95 record28–16–4
Home record16–7–1
Road record12–9–3
Goals for150
Goals against132
Team information
PresidentBob Clarke
General managerBob Clarke
CoachTerry Murray
CaptainEric Lindros
Alternate captainsRod Brind'Amour
Craig MacTavish
ArenaCoreStates Spectrum
Average attendance17,160[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Hershey Bears
Johnstown Chiefs
Team leaders
GoalsEric Lindros (29)
AssistsEric Lindros (41)
PointsEric Lindros (70)
Penalty minutesShawn Antoski (61)
Plus/minusEric Lindros (+27)
WinsRon Hextall (17)
Goals against averageDominic Roussel (2.34)

Off-season

Bob Clarke was named president and general manager of the Flyers on June 15, 1994, replacing Russ Farwell.[2] The Florida Panthers received the Flyers' 1994 second-round pick and cash, believed to be around $500,000,[2] as compensation since Clarke had to be released from his contract.[3] On June 24, Clarke hired Terry Murray to replace Terry Simpson as head coach.[4] A former Flyers player, Murray had mostly recently coached the Cincinnati Cyclones of the International Hockey League after being fired midway through the 1993–94 season as the Washington Capitals head coach.[4] Prior to the start of training camp, the team announced Eric Lindros was replacing Kevin Dineen as team captain.[5]

The Flyers made three major player transactions during the off-season prior to the beginning of the 1994–95 NHL lockout. On June 29, the Flyers swapped defensemen with the Montreal Canadiens, sending Yves Racine to Montreal for Kevin Haller.[6] On July 6, unrestricted free agent centerman Craig MacTavish, formerly of the Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers, was signed to a two-year, $1.6 million contract.[7] On September 22, the Flyers re-acquired goaltender Ron Hextall, whom they had traded in 1992 to the Quebec Nordiques in the Lindros trade, from the New York Islanders for goaltender Tommy Soderstrom.[8]

Regular season

After a 3–6–1 start to the season, including a shutout loss to Ottawa on February 6, Clarke dealt high-scoring winger Mark Recchi to the Montreal Canadiens for Eric Desjardins, Gilbert Dionne and John LeClair. In the following game, at home against Florida, the team lost 3–0, but Lindros and LeClair was placed on a line with sophomore forward Mikael Renberg to form the "Legion of Doom" line, a mix of scoring talent and physical intimidation. The line registered its first point on Saturday, February 11, 1995, in a game against the New Jersey Devils at the Meadowlands. The line made an immediate impact, as it helped the Flyers defeat the Devils 3–1.

Less than two weeks later, on Thursday, February 23, Lindros recorded a hat trick in what would be his final game in Quebec City against the Nordiques, but the Flyers wasted a three-goal lead into a 6–6 tie. Two nights later in Montreal, LeClair blitzed his former club in his return with a hat-trick in a 7–0 rout which saw the Flyers score five times in the third period. LeClair's previous hat trick had come just 11 days earlier in a 5–2 Flyers' win at Tampa Bay. Lindros recorded two more hat tricks during the regular season, and both came in consecutive games; his second one on March 18 in a 4–3 Flyers' overtime win in Florida, and the third on March 20 in an 8–4 Flyers' win over the Montreal Canadiens. Josef Beranek had the other Flyers' regular-season hat trick in a 5–4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on February 2.

During the season, the Flyers had two long winning streaks: one was eight games from March 5–20, the other was nine games from April 2–22. The final contest in that streak, on April 22 at New Jersey, saw LeClair net the overtime winner which clinched the Atlantic Division. Even though it was scored 54 seconds into the overtime period, it would prove to be the fastest overtime goal scored in the lockout-shortened regular season.[9]

The end of the season saw Lindros go down with an eye injury in the penultimate game against the New York Rangers, as a shot he took ricocheted off Rangers defenseman Jeff Beukeboom and struck him in the face.

The playoff drought was finally over as the Flyers won their first division title in eight years and clinched the No.2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Lindros, who scored 70 points, came in second to Jaromir Jagr by a tiebreaker in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, the NHL scoring championship, but was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP.

Season standings

Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
12Philadelphia Flyers482816415013260
25New Jersey Devils482218813612152
36Washington Capitals482218813612052
48New York Rangers482223313913447
59Florida Panthers482022611512746
612Tampa Bay Lightning481728312014437
713New York Islanders481528512615835

[10]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

Lindros missed the first three games of the Flyers' Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Buffalo Sabres. Karl Dykhuis netted the overtime winner in Game 1 and the club took a 2–0 series lead on the road. Following a narrow Game 3 defeat at The Aud, Lindros returned and the reunited Legion led the club to a 4–2 win. In Game 5, Philly rolled to leads of 4–0 and 5–2 before closing with a 6–4 victory.

More overtime magic came in the semifinal series with the defending Stanley Cup champion Rangers, who upset the Nordiques in the first round. Game 1 at the Spectrum saw New York race out to a 3–1 lead, only to see the Flyers storm back to go up 4–3. A late goal from Pat Verbeek sent the game into an extra session, where Desjardins won it with a right-circle shot.

The next night, Brian Leetch recorded a hat-trick but Kevin Haller struck with under 30 seconds played in OT off a feed from Renberg to give the Flyers a 4–3 win and 2–0 series edge. The Flyers capitalized on multiple mistakes and turnovers in Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden, recording 5-2 and 4-1 victories to sweep the series.

The Flyers advanced to the conference finals against the Devils. Jersey controlled long stretches of the first two games, winning 4–1 in Game 1 and overcoming an early deficit with a four-goal blitz to take Game 2, 5–2. The Devils were on the verge of going up three games to none at the Meadowlands, but a Rod Brind'Amour floater in the third period and Lindros' wrister in overtime brought the Flyers back. Philly controlled Game 4 and coasted to a 4–2 win, but the Devils continued to use the neutral zone trap to control the Legion in Game 5. Although Dineen scored early in the third to tie the game, Claude Lemieux's 50-foot blast got by Hextall and gave New Jersey the shocking 3–2 win and left the Devils one win away from the Cup finals.

In Game 6, Jim Montgomery got the Flyers on the board early in the first period, but the Devils stormed back with four consecutive scores to ice the game and the series 4–2.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1994–95 regular season

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1995 Stanley Cup playoffs

Legend:   Win   Loss

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.
Regular season Playoffs
No. Player Age Pos GP G A Pts +/- PIM GP G A Pts +/- PIM
88Eric Lindros21C462941702760124111578
19Mikael Renberg22RW47263157202015671356
10John LeClair25LW37252449212015571274
17Rod Brind'Amour24C48122739−43315691558
37Eric Desjardins25D34518231012154481310
3Garry Galley31D3322022020
2Dmitri Yushkevich23D405914−44715156−212
11Kevin Dineen31RW408513−139156410218
6Chris Therien23D483101383815000−210
18Brent Fedyk27RW308412−214922428
14Craig MacTavish36C45391222315145−320
42Josef Beranek25C14551032
25Shjon Podein26LW443710−23315134210
5Kevin Haller24D3628101648154481010
24Karl Dykhuis22D3326873715448214
12Patrik Juhlin24RW42437−13613101−12
45Gilbert Dionne24LW20066−123000−14
8Mark Recchi26RW10235−612
9Rob DiMaio26LW363148531524634
21Dave Brown32RW28123−153300000
44Anatoli Semenov32C26123−261524630
23Petr Svoboda28D110330101513458
22Jim Montgomery25C8112−26710122
22Mark Lamb30C802212
20Rob Zettler26D32011−334100012
27Ron Hextall30G31000N/A1315011N/A4
8Shawn Antoski24LW2500006113011110
15Yanick Dupre22LW22000−78
30Dominic Roussel24G19000N/A61000N/A0
34Ryan McGill25D12000013
28Jason Bowen21D4000−20
23Stewart Malgunas24D4000−14
37Shawn Anderson26D100000

Goaltending

Regular season Playoffs
No. Player Age GP GS W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI GP GS W L SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
27Ron Hextall3031311794801882.90.89011,823:321515105437422.81.9040896:41
30Dominic Roussel2419171170486422.34.91411,075:031000800.001.000022:58

Awards and records

Awards

Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
League (annual) Hart Memorial Trophy Eric Lindros [11]
Lester B. Pearson Award Eric Lindros [12]
NHL All-Rookie Team Chris Therien (Defense) [13]
NHL First All-Star Team John LeClair (Left Wing) [14]
Eric Lindros (Center)
League (in-season) NHL Player of the Week John LeClair (February 27) [15]
Eric Lindros (March 20) [16]
Team Barry Ashbee Trophy Eric Desjardins [17]
Bobby Clarke Trophy Eric Lindros [17]
Class Guy Award Mikael Renberg [17]
Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy John LeClair [17]
Miscellaneous Viking Award Mikael Renberg [18]

Team

Franchise team records set during the 1994–95 season
Record Type Total Date(s) Refs
Games won on road, playoffs Streak 5[lower-alpha 1] 5/12/1995 – 6/10/1995 [19]

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 15, 1994, the day after the deciding game of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 24, 1995, the day of the deciding game of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals.[20]

Trades

Date Details Ref
June 15, 1994[lower-alpha 2] To Philadelphia Flyers
Bobby Clarke
To Florida Panthers
2nd-round pick in 1994
cash
[3]
June 29, 1994 To Philadelphia Flyers
Kevin Haller
To Montreal Canadiens
Yves Racine
[6]
September 6, 1994 To Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia's 4th-round pick in 1995
To Tampa Bay Lightning
rights to Alexander Selivanov
[5]
September 22, 1994 To Philadelphia Flyers
Ron Hextall
6th-round pick in 1995
To New York Islanders
Tommy Soderstrom
[8]
February 2, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
Mike Greenlay
To Tampa Bay Lightning
Scott LaGrand
[21]
February 9, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
Eric Desjardins
Gilbert Dionne
John LeClair
To Montreal Canadiens
Mark Recchi
3rd-round pick in 1995
[22]
February 10, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
cash
To Montreal Canadiens
Mark Lamb
[23]
February 15, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
Shawn Antoski
To Vancouver Canucks
Josef Beranek
[24]
February 16, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
Karl Dykhuis
To Chicago Blackhawks
Bob Wilkie
5th-round pick in 1997
[25]
March 8, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
Anatoli Semenov
To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Milos Holan
[26]
March 13, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
Brad Zavisha
6th-round pick in 1995
To Edmonton Oilers
Ryan McGill
[27]
April 7, 1995 To Philadelphia Flyers
Petr Svoboda
To Buffalo Sabres
Garry Galley
[28]

Free agency

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

Date Player Previous team (league) Term Ref
July 6, 1994 Craig MacTavish New York Rangers 2-year [7]
July 19, 1994 Phil Crowe Los Angeles Kings [29]
July 27, 1994 Shjon Podein Edmonton Oilers [30]
August 16, 1994 Shawn Anderson Washington Capitals [31]
March 5, 1995 Les Kuntar Hershey Bears (AHL) 1-year[lower-alpha 3] [32]

Internal

The following players were either re-signed by the Flyers or, in the case of the team's selections in the NHL Entry Draft, signed to contracts.

Date Player Term Ref
August 16, 1994 Brent Fedyk [31]
August 23, 1994 Dan Kordic [33]
September 2, 1994 Ryan Sittler (DP) 3-year [34][35]
January 30, 1995 Garry Galley 3-year [36]

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions. They were not involved in any selections during the 1994–95 NHL Waiver Draft, which was held on January 18, 1995.[37] The Flyers left the following players unprotected: goaltenders Norm Foster and Scott LaGrand, defensemen Jeff Finley, Willie Huber, and Bob Wilkie, and forwards Al Conroy and Tracy Egeland.[38]

Date Player Team Ref
February 10, 1995 Jim Montgomery from Montreal Canadiens [23]

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 (*).

Date Player New team (league) Via Ref
June 17, 1994 Todd Hlushko Calgary Flames Free agency [39]
June 20, 1994 Corey Foster Ottawa Senators Free agency [40]
June 22, 1994 Lance Pitlick Ottawa Senators Free agency [41]
August 11, 1994 Frederic Chabot Florida Panthers Free agency [42]
August 1994 Rob Ramage Retirement [43]
N/A Al Conroy Detroit Vipers (IHL) Free agency [44]
N/A Dave Tippett Houston Aeros (IHL) Free agency [45]
N/A Claude Vilgrain SC Herisau (NLB) Free agency [46]

Draft picks

NHL Entry Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 28, 1994.[47] The Flyers traded their first-round picks in 1993 and 1994, 10th overall, 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.[48] Their second-round pick, 36th overall, was given to the Florida Panthers as compensation for the Flyers hiring Bob Clarke as their general manager.[48] They also traded their fifth-round pick, 114th overall, and Greg Johnson to the Detroit Red Wings for Jim Cummins and the Red Wings' 1993 fourth-round pick on June 20, 1993.[48]

Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team (league) Notes
3 62 Artem Anisimov Defense  Russia Itil Kazan (Russia)
4 88 Adam Magarrell Defense  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
4 101 Sebastien Vallee Left wing  Canada Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) [lower-alpha 4]
6 140 Alexander Selivanov Right wing  Russia Spartak Moscow (RUS)
7 166 Colin Forbes Left wing  Canada Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)
8 192 Derek Diener Defense  Canada Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
8 202 Ray Giroux Defense  Canada Powassan Hawks (NOJHL) [lower-alpha 5]
9 218 Johan Hedberg Goaltender  Sweden Leksands IF (Elitserien)
10 244 Andre Payette Left wing  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
11 270 Jan Lipiansky Forward  Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)

NHL Supplemental Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1994 NHL Supplemental Draft on June 28, 1994.[49]

Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team (league)
1 10 Kirk Nielsen Right wing  United States Harvard University (ECAC)

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League[50] and the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL.[51] Mitch Lamoureux led the Bears with 85 points as Hershey finished 2nd in their division and lost in six games to the Cornwall Aces in the first round.[52] Johnstown finished 4th in their division and lost in the first round to the South Carolina Stingrays.

Notes

  1. Tied during the 1996–97 and 1999–2000 seasons.
  2. Florida received the draft pick and cash as compensation for the Flyers hiring Clarke as president and general manager. Clarke, who had been serving as the vice president and general manager of the Panthers, had two years remaining on his contract.[3]
  3. Signed for the remainder of the regular season.[32]
  4. The Flyers traded Terry Carkner to the Detroit Red Wings for Yves Racine and the Red Wings' fourth-round pick, 101st overall, on October 5, 1993.[48]
  5. The Flyers traded Pelle Eklund to the Dallas Stars for the Stars' eighth-round pick, 202nd overall, on March 21, 1994.[48]

References

General
Specific
  1. "All Time Team Attendance". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  2. Miles, Gary (June 16, 1994). "Clarke Waves Off Trading As A Goal". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D2.
  3. "SPORTS PEOPLE: HOCKEY; Compensation for Clarke". The New York Times. June 16, 1994. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  4. Miles, Gary (June 24, 1994). "Murray Named Coach Of Flyers". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D1.
  5. Bowen, Les (September 7, 1994). "It's Official: Lindros Gets His Stripes". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 70.
  6. Bowen, Les (June 30, 1994). "Flyers Exchange Racine For Haller". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 90.
  7. Miles, Gary (July 7, 1994). "A Veteran Center Finds His Niche With Flyers". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D1.
  8. Ford, Bob (September 23, 1994). "Flyers Regain Hextall In Soderstrom Deal". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D1.
  9. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1995_games.html
  10. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  11. "Hart Memorial Trophy". National Hockey League. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  12. "Ted Lindsay Award (formerly Lester B. Pearson Award)". National Hockey League. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  13. 2014–15 NHL Official Guide & Record Book, p. 233
  14. 2014–15 NHL Official Guide & Record Book, p. 230–32
  15. Bowen, Les (February 28, 1995). "LeClair LeClicks". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 76.
  16. Miles, Gary (March 21, 1995). "Spectrum Rocks As Lindros And Flyers Roll". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D1.
  17. "Flyers History – Team Awards". P.Anson. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  18. "NHL Best Swedish Player "Viking Award"". Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  19. 2016–2017 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide, p. 346
  20. "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  21. Bowen, Les (February 3, 1995). "Beranek Like Old Self". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 108.
  22. Miles, Gary (February 10, 1995). "Flyers Get 3 Canadiens In Trade For Recchi". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D1.
  23. Bowen, Les (February 11, 1995). "Flyers, Habs Connect Again". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 41.
  24. Bowen, Les (February 16, 1995). "Flyers Swap Beranek For Muscle". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 82.
  25. Miles, Gary (February 17, 1995). "Clarke Seeking The Right Trade For Unhappy Dimaio". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D2.
  26. Bowen, Les (March 9, 1995). "Flyers Deal Holan To Ducks For Semenov". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 84.
  27. Miles, Gary (March 14, 1995). "For Juhlin, The NHL Is A Learning Experience". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D2.
  28. Bowen, Les (April 8, 1995). "Galley Dealt To Sabres For Svoboda". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 47.
  29. "Philip Crowe – Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  30. "Transactions". Hartford Courant. July 28, 1994. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  31. "Transactions". Hartford Courant. August 17, 1994. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  32. Miles, Gary (March 6, 1995). "Flyers Win One To Shout About". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C1.
  33. Miles, Gary (August 24, 1994). "And Now A Hockey Lockout?". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C1.
  34. Miles, Gary (September 3, 1994). "Renberg: High Hopes For Himself And Team". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C3.
  35. Graham, Tim (June 22, 2007). "Sittler comes clean". The Buffalo News. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  36. Miles, Gary (January 31, 1995). "For Flyers' Renberg, An Assist Does More Than Snap A Streak". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D5.
  37. Parsons, Mark (December 1, 2013). "1994-95 NHL Waiver Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  38. "NHL WAIVER DRAFT". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 18, 1995. p. 33. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  39. "Todd Hlushko – Notes". National Hockey League. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  40. "Corey Foster – Notes". National Hockey League. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  41. "Pitlick re-signs with Senators". Associated Press. August 25, 1997. Retrieved November 29, 2014. Pitlick, 29, joined Ottawa as free agent on June 22, 1994.
  42. "Frederic Chabot – Notes". National Hockey League. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  43. "1979 NHL Entry Draft -- Rob Ramage". Hockey Draft Central. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  44. Al Conroy biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved April 5, 2015
  45. Dave Tippett biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved November 29, 2014
  46. Claude Vilgrain biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved April 5, 2015
  47. "1994 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  48. "1994 NHL Entry Draft Pick Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  49. "1994 NHL Supplemental Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  50. "AHL Franchise Statistics". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  51. "Non-AHL Affiliates". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  52. "AHL Season Overview: 1994–95". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
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