1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 12th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers
Division	2nd Patrick
Conference	2nd Campbell
1978–79 record	40–25–15
Home record	26–10–4
Road record	14–15–11
Goals for	281 (8th)
Goals against	248 (3rd)
Team information
General manager	Keith Allen
Coach	Bob McCammon (Oct.–Jan.) Pat Quinn (Jan.–Apr.)
Captain	Bobby Clarke
Alternate captains	None[a]
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	17,077[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Maine Mariners Milwaukee Admirals Jersey Aces
Team leaders
Goals	Bill Barber (34) Reggie Leach (34)
Assists	Bobby Clarke (57)
Points	Bill Barber (87)
Penalty minutes	Behn Wilson (197)
Plus/minus	Blake Dunlop (+27)
Wins	Wayne Stephenson (20)
Goals against average	Robbie Moore (1.77)
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Off-season

Head coach Fred Shero, who had one more year left on his contract, submitted a letter of resignation on May 22, 1978,^[2] stating that the Flyers needed a change whether they realized it or not. Flyers management had previously heard rumors about Shero wanting to leave Philadelphia and re-join the New York Rangers organization, and refused to accept his letter of resignation.^[3] Shero then signed a $250,000, five-year contract with the Rangers to be their new head coach and general manager, believing he no longer had a contractual agreement to the Flyers.^[4] A few weeks after signing Shero, the Rangers gave the Flyers their first-round pick (7th overall) in the 1978 draft and cash as compensation, allowing the Rangers to avoid tampering charges.^[3] Bob McCammon, who had just coached the Flyers' first year American Hockey League Maine Mariners farm club to a Calder Cup title, was named Shero's replacement on July 6.^[5]

The Flyers acquired the 6th overall pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins for three veterans from their Stanley Cup championship teams – Tom Bladon, Orest Kindrachuk and Ross Lonsberry – on the eve of the draft. The trade gave the Flyers three first-round picks and they selected defenseman Behn Wilson and forwards Ken Linseman and Dan Lucas.

Two other longtime Flyers also left the team during the off-season. Gary Dornhoefer retired and Joe Watson was traded to the Colorado Rockies.

Regular season

After an eight-game winless streak in January that saw the team drop to last place in the division, McCammon and assistant coach Terry Crisp were fired.^[6] Replacing him was Shero's previous assistant coach Pat Quinn, who had replaced McCammon as head coach in Maine.^[6] While McCammon returned to Maine and coached the Mariners to a second consecutive Calder Cup title, the Flyers rallied under Quinn and finished in 2nd place.

On February 17, 1979, Bernie Parent suffered a career-ending eye injury in a game against the New York Rangers.^[7] An errant stick entered the right eye hole of his mask, causing permanent damage to his vision.^[7] After hospitalization, including the complete loss of sight for two weeks, Parent recovered and eventually regained sight, although not at the level required to resume his playing career.^[7]

Season standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
New York Islanders	80	51	15	14	358	214	116
Philadelphia Flyers	80	40	25	15	281	248	95
New York Rangers	80	40	29	11	316	292	91
Atlanta Flames	80	41	31	8	327	280	90

Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference Vs. Wales Conference Vs. Patrick Division 1978–79 NHL records Team ATL NYI NYR PHI Total Atlanta — 2–6 4–3–1 4–4 10–13–1 N.Y. Islanders 6–2 — 5–3 5–1–2 16–6–2 N.Y. Rangers 3–4–1 3–5 — 2–3–3 8–12–4 Philadelphia 4–4 1–5–2 3–2–3 — 8–11–5 Vs. Smythe Division 1978–79 NHL records Team CHI COL STL VAN Total Atlanta 2–1–2 4–0 4–1 2–2 12–4–2 N.Y. Islanders 3–2 4–0–1 3–0–2 4–0 14–2–3 N.Y. Rangers 4–0 4–1 3–2 4–0 15–3–0 Philadelphia 1–3 3–0–1 4–1 2–1–1 10–5–2 Vs. Adams Division 1978–79 NHL records Team BOS BUF MIN TOR Total Atlanta 1–3 2–2–1 1–2–1 4–1 8–8–2 N.Y. Islanders 2–1–2 1–2–1 3–1 3–1 9–5–3 N.Y. Rangers 2–3 2–1–1 1–2–1 2–2–1 7–8–3 Philadelphia 3–1–1 3–0–2 2–2 2–2–1 10–5–4 Vs. Norris Division 1978–79 NHL records[8] Team DET LAK MTL PIT WSH Total Atlanta 3–0–1 2–2 1–3 3–0–1 2–1–1 11–6–3 N.Y. Islanders 3–0–1 2–0–2 3–1 1–0–3 3–1 12–2–6 N.Y. Rangers 1–1–2 3–1 3–1 2–2 1–1–2 10–6–4 Philadelphia 2–0–2 4–0 0–3–1 3–1 3–0–1 12–4–4

Playoffs

Matched-up against the Vancouver Canucks in the preliminary round, the Flyers won the series in three games. The Flyers' season came to an end against Shero's Rangers in a five-game quarterfinal loss.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1978–79 regular season[9]
October: 3–4–2, 8 points (home: 2–3–0; road: 1–1–2) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 1 October 12 3–3 @ New York Rangers Parent 0–0–1 1 T 2 October 14 3–1 @ Detroit Red Wings Parent 1–0–1 3 W 3 October 15 2–3 Montreal Canadiens Parent 1–1–1 3 L 4 October 19 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Parent 2–1–1 5 W 5 October 21 0–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs Parent 2–2–1 5 L 6 October 22 2–5 Atlanta Flames Parent 2–3–1 5 L 7 October 24 4–4 @ New York Islanders Stephenson 2–3–2 6 T 8 October 26 5–0 Toronto Maple Leafs Parent 3–3–2 8 W 9 October 29 2–5 Vancouver Canucks Stephenson 3–4–2 8 L
November: 9–4–2, 20 points (home: 4–1–1; road: 5–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 10 November 1 0–3 @ Atlanta Flames Parent 3–5–2 8 L 11 November 2 3–3 Buffalo Sabres Stephenson 3–5–3 9 T 12 November 4 7–3 @ Boston Bruins Stephenson 4–5–3 11 W 13 November 5 6–4 Colorado Rockies Parent 5–5–3 13 W 14 November 8 5–3 @ Los Angeles Kings Parent 6–5–3 15 W 15 November 10 2–2 @ Colorado Rockies Parent 6–5–4 16 T 16 November 12 4–0 @ Vancouver Canucks Parent 7–5–4 18 W 17 November 16 3–4 Chicago Black Hawks Parent 7–6–4 18 L 18 November 18 2–8 @ New York Islanders Parent 7–7–4 18 L 19 November 19 4–3 Detroit Red Wings Parent 8–7–4 20 W 20 November 22 3–2 @ Buffalo Sabres Parent 9–7–4 22 W 21 November 24 4–3 Minnesota North Stars Stephenson 10–7–4 24 W 22 November 25 3–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Parent 11–7–4 26 W 23 November 28 0–3 @ Montreal Canadiens Parent 11–8–4 26 L 24 November 30 3–0 St. Louis Blues Stephenson 12–8–4 28 W
December: 7–5–2, 16 points (home: 6–1–0; road: 1–4–2) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 25 December 2 3–5 @ Boston Bruins Parent 12–9–4 28 L 26 December 3 7–2 Toronto Maple Leafs Stephenson 13–9–4 30 W 27 December 7 2–5 New York Rangers Stephenson 13–10–4 30 L 28 December 9 9–2 Boston Bruins Parent 14–10–4 32 W 29 December 10 4–0 @ New York Rangers Parent 15–10–4 34 W 30 December 14 2–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Parent 16–10–4 36 W 31 December 16 2–7 @ Atlanta Flames Parent 16–11–4 36 L 32 December 17 4–1 St. Louis Blues Peeters 17–11–4 38 W 33 December 19 4–4 @ Washington Capitals Peeters 17–11–5 39 T 34 December 21 5–2 Washington Capitals Parent 18–11–5 41 W 35 December 23 2–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks Peeters 18–12–5 41 L 36 December 26 2–2 @ Detroit Red Wings Parent 18–12–6 42 T 37 December 28 6–5 New York Rangers Parent 19–12–6 44 W 38 December 30 3–6 @ St. Louis Blues Peeters 19–13–6 44 L
January: 3–4–5, 11 points (home: 2–1–3; road: 1–3–2) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 39 January 4 3–2 New York Islanders Parent 20–13–6 46 W 40 January 6 1–5 @ New York Islanders Parent 20–14–6 46 L 41 January 7 3–0 Los Angeles Kings Parent 21–14–6 48 W 42 January 9 5–2 @ Washington Capitals Stephenson 22–14–6 50 W 43 January 11 3–3 Detroit Red Wings Parent 22–14–7 51 T 44 January 14 1–1 New York Islanders Stephenson 22–14–8 52 T 45 January 16 0–5 @ Atlanta Flames Parent 22–15–8 52 L 46 January 18 4–4 Buffalo Sabres Stephenson 22–15–9 53 T 47 January 20 5–5 @ Montreal Canadiens Stephenson 22–15–10 54 T 48 January 21 5–5 @ New York Rangers Parent 22–15–11 55 T 49 January 27 1–3 @ Minnesota North Stars Stephenson 22–16–11 55 L 50 January 29 3–7 Montreal Canadiens Parent 22–17–11 55 L
February: 5–2–2, 12 points (home: 3–2–0; road: 2–0–2) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 51 February 1 1–4 New York Islanders Stephenson 22–18–11 55 L 52 February 4 7–4 Atlanta Flames Stephenson 23–18–11 57 W 53 February 14 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs Parent 23–18–12 58 T 54 February 15 5–3 Boston Bruins Stephenson 24–18–12 60 W 55 February 17 2–4 New York Rangers Stephenson 24–19–12 60 L 56 February 18 3–2 Minnesota North Stars Stephenson 25–19–12 62 W 57 February 20 3–3 @ Vancouver Canucks Stephenson 25–19–13 63 T 58 February 23 5–3 @ Colorado Rockies Stephenson 26–19–13 65 W 59 February 24 4–3 @ Los Angeles Kings Stephenson 27–19–13 67 W
March: 11–4–2, 24 points (home: 7–1–0; road: 4–3–2) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 60 March 1 4–4 @ Boston Bruins St. Croix 27–19–14 68 T 61 March 3 3–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs St. Croix 27–20–14 68 L 62 March 4 6–1 @ Buffalo Sabres Stephenson 28–20–14 70 W 63 March 6 5–0 Colorado Rockies Moore 29–20–14 72 W 64 March 8 1–5 Chicago Black Hawks Stephenson 29–21–14 72 L 65 March 10 2–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Stephenson 29–22–14 72 L 66 March 11 6–3 Los Angeles Kings Stephenson 30–22–14 74 W 67 March 14 4–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks Stephenson 31–22–14 76 W 68 March 15 5–4 Atlanta Flames Stephenson 32–22–14 78 W 69 March 17 5–3 Buffalo Sabres Stephenson 33–22–14 80 W 70 March 18 5–3 St. Louis Blues Moore 34–22–14 82 W 71 March 21 3–7 @ Minnesota North Stars Stephenson 34–23–14 82 L 72 March 23 4–1 @ Atlanta Flames Stephenson 35–23–14 84 W 73 March 25 7–4 Washington Capitals Stephenson 36–23–14 86 W 74 March 27 4–4 @ New York Rangers Moore 36–23–15 87 T 75 March 29 5–0 Vancouver Canucks Moore 37–23–15 89 W 76 March 31 4–2 @ St. Louis Blues Stephenson 38–23–15 91 W
April: 2–2–0, 4 points (home: 2–1–0; road: 0–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 77 April 1 7–3 New York Rangers Stephenson 39–23–15 93 W 78 April 5 1–3 New York Islanders Stephenson 39–24–15 93 L 79 April 7 2–9 @ New York Islanders Stephenson 39–25–15 93 L 80 April 8 4–2 Atlanta Flames Stephenson 40–25–15 95 W
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1979 Stanley Cup playoffs[9]
Preliminary Round vs. Vancouver Canucks – Flyers win 2–1 Game Date Score Opponent Decision Series Recap 1 April 10 2–3 Vancouver Canucks Stephenson Canucks lead 1–0 L 2 April 12 6–4 @ Vancouver Canucks Moore Series tied 1–1 W 3 April 14 7–2 Vancouver Canucks Moore Flyers win 2–1 W
Quarterfinals vs. New York Rangers – Rangers win 4–1 Game Date Score Opponent Decision Series Recap 1 April 16 3–2 OT New York Rangers Moore Flyers lead 1–0 W 2 April 18 1–7 New York Rangers Moore Series tied 1–1 L 3 April 20 1–5 @ New York Rangers Stephenson Rangers lead 2–1 L 4 April 22 0–6 @ New York Rangers Moore Rangers lead 3–1 L 5 April 24 3–8 New York Rangers Stephenson Rangers win 4–1 L
Legend: W Win L 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.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
7	Bill Barber	LW	79	34	46	80	19	22	8	3	4	7	−1	10
16	Bobby Clarke	C	80	16	57	73	12	68	8	2	4	6	−8	8
10	Mel Bridgman	C	76	24	35	59	14	184	8	1	2	3	−7	17
19	Rick MacLeish	LW	71	26	32	58	4	47	7	0	1	1	−5	0
27	Reggie Leach	RW	76	34	20	54	−3	20	8	5	1	6	−9	0
3	Behn Wilson	D	80	13	36	49	13	197	5	1	0	1	−6	8
32	Blake Dunlop	C	66	20	28	48	27	16	8	1	1	2	−5	4
2	Bob Dailey	D	70	9	30	39	21	63	8	1	2	3	0	14
9	Bob Kelly	LW	77	7	31	38	15	132	8	1	1	2	−5	10
17	Paul Holmgren	RW	57	19	10	29	2	168	8	1	5	6	6	22
26	Ken Linseman	C	30	5	20	25	16	23	8	2	6	8	1	22
20	Jimmy Watson	D	77	9	13	22	11	52	8	0	2	2	−5	2
5	Rick Lapointe	D	77	3	18	21	15	53	7	0	1	1	−4	14
22	Tom Gorence	RW	42	13	6	19	16	10	7	3	1	4	−5	0
29	Barry Dean	LW	30	4	13	17	−1	20	—	—	—	—	—	—
11	Don Saleski‡	RW	35	11	5	16	3	14	—	—	—	—	—	—
28[b]	Dennis Ververgaert†	RW	37	9	7	16	−4	6	3	0	2	2	−1	2
37	Al Hill	LW	31	5	11	16	5	28	7	1	0	1	−2	2
8	Dave Hoyda	LW	67	3	13	16	2	138	3	0	0	0	0	0
6	Andre Dupont	D	77	3	9	12	21	135	8	0	0	0	−6	17
23	Paul Evans	C	44	6	5	11	−3	12	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Yves Preston	LW	9	3	1	4	−2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
31[c]	Frank Bathe	D	21	1	3	4	9	76	6	1	0	1	4	12
28	Drew Callander‡	C	15	2	1	3	−1	5	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	Kevin McCarthy‡	D	22	1	2	3	2	21	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Bernie Parent	G	36	0	2	2		8	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Danny Lucas	LW	6	1	0	1	−2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
39	Robbie Moore†	G	5	0	1	1		0	5	0	1	1		2
35	Wayne Stephenson	G	40	0	1	1		2	4	0	0	0		5
44	Glen Cochrane	D	1	0	0	0	−2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
24	Terry Murray	D	5	0	0	0	0	5	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Pete Peeters	G	5	0	0	0		6	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Rick St. Croix	G	2	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	Norm Barnes	D	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	0	0	0	−2	0

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
35	Wayne Stephenson	40	36	20	10	5	946	122	3.36	.871	2	2,182	4	3	0	3	90	16	4.63	.822	0	208
1	Bernie Parent	36	36	16	12	7	834	89	2.71	.893	4	1,971	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
39	Robbie Moore†	5	3	3	0	1	96	7	1.77	.927	2	237	5	5	3	2	123	18	4.06	.854	0	266
33	Pete Peeters	5	4	1	2	1	109	16	3.47	.853	0	277	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Rick St. Croix	2	1	0	1	1	53	6	3.08	.887	0	117	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL second All-Star team	Bill Barber (Left wing)	[10]
League (in-season)	Challenge Cup selection	Bill Barber	[11]
		Bobby Clarke
Team	Barry Ashbee Trophy	Bob Dailey	[12]
	Class Guy Award	Bernie Parent	[12]

Records

See also: List of Philadelphia Flyers records

Among the team records set during the 1978–79 season was Behn Wilson scoring 49 points, the most for a rookie defenseman in club history.^[13] Wilson, along with Blake Dunlop and Al Hill, combined to score three goals in 35 seconds during the second period of a March 1 game against the Boston Bruins, tied for the fastest three goals in team history.^[14] On March 11, Frank Bathe received a club record 55 penalty minutes during a March 11 game against the Los Angeles Kings.^[15] During the fifth and final game of their quarterfinal playoff series loss to the New York Rangers, the Flyers six goals against during the third period is a team record.^[16] The five shorthanded goals they allowed during the series is also a single playoff series high.^[17]

The 1978–79 season was the final season of Bernie Parent's career, who hold several career records for the team. Parent holds the regular season marks for most ties (102), shutouts (50), and minutes played (28,215).^[18][19][20] He also holds the playoff marks for seasons played (7, tied with Ron Hextall), shutouts (6), and save percentage (.916).^[21][22][23]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Paul Evans	October 12, 1978	[24]
	Ken Linseman
	Danny Lucas
	Behn Wilson
	Glen Cochrane	November 24, 1978
	Yves Preston	December 14, 1978
	Pete Peeters	December 17, 1978
	Tom Gorence	January 4, 1979
	Robbie Moore	March 6, 1979

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 26, 1978, the day after the deciding game of the 1978 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 21, 1979, the day of the deciding game of the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals.^[25]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 2, 1978 (1978-06-02)[d]	To Philadelphia Flyers 1st-round pick in 1978 cash	To New York Rangers Fred Shero	[26]
June 14, 1978 (1978-06-14)	To Philadelphia Flyers 1st-round pick in 1978 Future considerations[e]	To Pittsburgh Penguins Tom Bladon Orest Kindrachuk Ross Lonsberry	[27]
June 15, 1978 (1978-06-15)	To Philadelphia Flyers 2nd-round pick in 1979	To Colorado Rockies 2nd-round pick in 1978	[28]
	To Philadelphia Flyers 10th-round pick in 1978 11th-round pick in 1978	To Buffalo Sabres cash	[29]
	To Philadelphia Flyers 12th-round pick in 1978	To Chicago Black Hawks cash	[29]
August 31, 1978 (1978-08-31)	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To Colorado Rockies Joe Watson	[30]
December 29, 1978 (1978-12-29)	To Philadelphia Flyers Dennis Ververgaert	To Vancouver Canucks Drew Callander Kevin McCarthy	[31]
March 3, 1979 (1979-03-03)	To Philadelphia Flyers Future considerations	To Colorado Rockies Don Saleski	[32]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Via	Ref
September 1978 (1978-09)	M. F. Schurman	Spokane Flyers (WIHL)	Free agency	[33]
October 9, 1978 (1978-10-09)	Yves Preston	Milwaukee Admirals (IHL)	Free agency	[34]
November 7, 1978 (1978-11-07)	Robbie Moore	University of Western Ontario (OUAA)	Free agency	[35]
November 20, 1978 (1978-11-20)	Reid Bailey	Port Huron Flags (IHL)	Free agency	[36]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via	Ref
July 19, 1978 (1978-07-19)	Brian Burke		Retirement	[37]
August 2, 1978 (1978-08-02)	Mike Korney	St. Louis Blues	Free agency	[38]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Ref
July 13, 1978 (1978-07-13)	Ken Linseman	3-year[f]	[39]
	Danny Lucas	3-year[f]	[39]
	Behn Wilson	3-year[f]	[39]

Draft picks

See also: List of Philadelphia Flyers draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1978 NHL amateur draft, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, on June 15, 1978.^[40]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	Notes
1	6	Behn Wilson	Defense	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)	[g]
	7	Ken Linseman	Forward	Canada	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)	[h]
	14	Dan Lucas	Wing	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
2	33	Mike Simurda	Right wing	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3	37	Gord Salt	Right wing	Canada	Michigan Tech University (WCHA)	[i]
	50	Glen Cochrane	Defense	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WCHL)
4	67	Russ Wilderman	Center	Canada	Seattle Breakers (WCHL)
5	83	Brad Tamblyn	Defense	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
6	100	Mark Taylor	Forward	Canada	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
7	117	Mike Ewanouski	Right wing	United States	Boston College (HE)
8	126	Jerry Price	Goaltender	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WCHL)	[g]
	134	Darre Switzer	Left wing	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
9	151	Greg Francis	Defense	Canada	St. Lawrence University (ECAC)
10	167	Rick Berard	Defense	Canada	Saint Mary's University (CIAU)	[j]
	168	Don Lucia	Defense	United States	University of Notre Dame (CCHA)
11	182	Mike Berge	Forward	United States	University of North Dakota (WCHA)	[j]
	183	Ken Moore	Goaltender	United States	Clarkson University (ECAC)
12	195	Jim Olson	Right wing	United States	St. Paul Vulcans (USHL)	[k]
	198	Anton Šťastný	Forward	Czechoslovakia	Slovan ChZJD Bratislava (CFIHL)	[l]

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Maine Mariners of the AHL,^[43][44] the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL,^[45] and the Jersey Aces of the NEHL.^[45]

Notes

1. The alternate captain position was abolished from the 1975–76 season through the 1984–85 season.
2. Ververgaert wore number 43 in his first game after being acquired.
3. Bathe wore number 38 in his first game.
4. The Flyers received the draft pick and cash as compensation for the Rangers hiring Shero as general manager and head coach.^[26]
5. The Flyers later received the Penguins' 1978 8th-round pick.
6. Contract included an option year.
7. The Flyers acquired the 6th overall pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins along with future considerations (Penguins' eighth-round pick, 126th overall) for Tom Bladon, Ross Lonsberry and Orest Kindrachuk on June 14, 1978.^[41]
8. The Flyers received the 7th overall pick from the New York Rangers in exchange for the right to hire head coach Fred Shero on June 2, 1978.^[41]
9. The Flyers traded Harvey Bennett to the Minnesota North Stars for Blake Dunlop and the North Stars' third-round pick, 37th overall, on October 28, 1977.^[41]
10. The Flyers traded cash to the Buffalo Sabres for the Sabres' tenth and eleventh-round picks on June 15, 1978.^[41]
11. The Flyers traded cash to the Chicago Black Hawks for the Black Hawks' twelfth-round pick, 195th overall, on June 15, 1978.^[41]
12. Draft pick was ruled invalid after it was determined Stastny was too young to be drafted.^[42]