1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 14th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). After finishing second in the Patrick Division, the Flyers lost in the quarterfinals to the Calgary Flames in seven games.

Regular season

Bobby Clarke wore the number 16 throughout his entire NHL career except for two games during the 1980–81 season.^[4] Prior to a road game on February 27, 1981,^[5] Clarke's jersey was stolen.^[4] Clarke wore the only other jersey available, number 36,^[4] in the next two games.^[5][6] A month later, Clarke hit a personal milestone in memorable fashion. On March 19 during a game against the Boston Bruins, a Reggie Leach slapshot struck Clarke.^[7] After leaving the ice, he re-appeared moments later stitched up and with his jersey covered in blood.^[7] 31 seconds into the third period Clarke beat Bruins goalie Marco Baron for his 19th goal of the season^[8] and his 1000th career point.^[7]

Season standings

^[9]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

After a tough, five-game preliminary round series win against the Quebec Nordiques, the Flyers moved on to face the Calgary Flames in the quarterfinals. After falling behind 3 games to 1, they managed to force a Game 7 by winning the next two games. The Flyers lost Game 7, 4–1, at the Spectrum.

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
7	Barber, BillBill Barber	28	LW	80	43	42	85	6	69	12	11	5	16	0
19	MacLeish, RickRick MacLeish	31	LW	78	38	36	74	22	25	12	5	5	10	0
27	Leach, ReggieReggie Leach	30	RW	79	34	36	70	21	59	9	0	0	0	2
14 !14, 26	Propp, BrianBrian Propp	21	LW	79	26	40	66	27	110	12	6	6	12	32
16 !16, 36	Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke	31	C	80	19	46	65	17	140	12	3	3	6	6
3	Wilson, BehnBehn Wilson	22	D	77	16	47	63	39	237	12	2	10	12	36
17	Holmgren, PaulPaul Holmgren	25	RW	77	22	37	59	12	306	12	5	9	14	49
10	Bridgman, MelMel Bridgman	25	C	77	14	37	51	28	195	12	2	4	6	39
14 !14, 26	Linseman, KenKen Linseman	22	C	51	17	30	47	9	150	12	4	16	20	67
12	Kerr, TimTim Kerr	21	C/RW	68	22	23	45	3	84	10	1	3	4	2
22	Gorence, TomTom Gorence	23	RW	79	24	18	42	17	46	12	3	2	5	29
2	Dailey, BobBob Dailey	27	D	53	7	27	34	8	141	7	0	1	1	18
15	Hill, AlAl Hill	25	LW	57	10	15	25	11	45	12	2	4	6	18
24	Murray, TerryTerry Murray	30	D	71	1	17	18	46	53	12	2	1	3	10
21	Morrison, GaryGary Morrison	25	RW	33	1	13	14	10	68	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
8	Eriksson, ThomasThomas Eriksson	21	D	24	1	10	11	4	14	7	0	2	2	6
6	Wesley, BlakeBlake Wesley	21	D	50	3	7	10	13	107	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
11 !11, 43	Flockhart, RonRon Flockhart	20	C	14	3	7	10	6	11	3	1	0	1	2
9 !9, 29, 35	Cochrane, GlenGlen Cochrane	23	D	31	1	8	9	3	219	6	1	1	2	18
18	Preston, YvesYves Preston	24	LW	19	4	2	6	1	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
28	Busniuk, MikeMike Busniuk	29	D	72	1	5	6	27	204	6	0	1	1	11
20	Watson, JimmyJimmy Watson	28	D	18	2	2	4	14	6	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
9 !9, 34, 35, 36	Bailey, ReidReid Bailey	24	D	17	1	3	4	8	55	12	0	2	2	23
25 !25, 36	Adams, GregGreg Adams	20	LW	6	3	0	3	0	8	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
5	Bathe, FrankFrank Bathe	26	D	44	0	3	3	−3	175	12	0	3	3	16
25	Barnes, NormNorm Barnes	27	D	22	0	3	3	−3	18	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
33	Peeters, PetePete Peeters	23	G	40	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	8	3	0	0	0	19
30	St. Croix, RickRick St. Croix	26	G	27	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	0	9	0	0	0	2
30 !30, 31	Myre, PhilPhil Myre	32	G	16	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
29	McIlhargey, JackJack McIlhargey	28	D	3	0	0	0	2	22	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—
23	Evans, PaulPaul Evans	26	C	1	0	0	0	0	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-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
33	Peeters, PetePete Peeters	23	40	22	15	5	2	115	.897	2.96	2333	3	2	1	0	12	.815	4.00	180
30	St. Croix, RickRick St. Croix	26	27	13	7	6	2	65	.913	2.49	1567	9	4	5	1	27	.892	2.99	541
30 !30, 31	Myre, PhilPhil Myre	32	16	6	5	4	0	61	.864	4.07	900	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

Awards and records

Awards

Bob Dailey participated in the All Star Game and won the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers top defenseman during the 1980–81 season.

Records

•   *  NHL record
•  **  Tied for NHL record

Milestones

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 25, 1980, the day after the deciding game of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 21, 1981, the day of the deciding game of the 1981 Stanley Cup Finals.^[15]

Trades

Phil Myre was traded to Colorado on February 26, 1981.

Signings

Free agency

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

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

NHL Waiver Draft

The 1980 NHL Waiver Draft was held on October 8, 1980.^[27] Each NHL team placed 18 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.^[27] First-year professional players were exempt.^[27] The Flyers were not involved in any selections during the draft.^[27]

The Flyers protected the following players:^[28] goaltenders Phil Myre and Pete Peeters, defensemen Norm Barnes, Frank Bathe, Mike Busniuk, Glen Cochrane, Bob Dailey, Jack McIlhargey, Jimmy Watson, and Behn Wilson, and forwards Bill Barber, Mel Bridgman, Bobby Clarke, Tom Gorence, Al Hill, Paul Holmgren, Reggie Leach, Ken Linseman, Rick MacLeish, and Gary Morrison.

The Flyers left the following players unprotected:^[28] goaltender Robbie Moore, defenseman Terry Murray, and forwards Ron Areshenkoff, Gordie Clark, Paul Evans, Danny Lucas, and Yves Preston.

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 1980 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec on June 11, 1980.^[32]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1980 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	Stothers, MikeMike Stothers	Defense	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)	30	0.1 !0	2	2	65	& —	& —	& —	& —
2	42	Fraser, JayJay Fraser	Left Wing	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
3	63	Mercier, PaulPaul Mercier	Defense	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
4	84	Zytynsky, TarasTaras Zytynsky	Defense	Canada	Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
5	105	Held, DanDan Held	Forward	Canada	Seattle Breakers (WHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	126	Tutt, BrianBrian Tutt	Defense	Canada	Calgary Wranglers (WHL)	7	1	0.1 !0	1	2	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	147	Fitzpatrick, RossRoss Fitzpatrick	Forward	Canada	Western Michigan Broncos (CCHA)	20	5	2	7	0.1 !0	& —	& —	& —	& —
8	168	Botell, MarkMark Botell	Defense	Canada	Brantford Alexanders (OHA)	32	4	10	14	31	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	189	Dineen, PeterPeter Dineen	Defense	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
10	195	O'Brien, BobBob O'Brien	Right Wing	Canada	Dixie Beehives (OPJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	[a]
10	210	Brickley, AndyAndy Brickley	Left Wing	United States	New Hampshire Wildcats (HE)	385	82	140	222	81	& —	& —	& —	& —

Draft notes^[33]

• ^a The Flyers traded Barry Dean to the Edmonton Oilers for Ron Areshenkoff and the Oilers' tenth-round pick, 195th overall, on June 11, 1980.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Maine Mariners of the AHL^[2][34] and the Toledo Goaldiggers 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