1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers season

1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers
Division	6th Patrick
Conference	10th Wales
1989–90 record	30–39–11
Home record	17–19–4
Road record	13–20–7
Goals for	290 (10th)
Goals against	297 (15th)
Team information
General Manager	Bob Clarke
Coach	Paul Holmgren
Captain	Dave Poulin (to Dec 15) Ron Sutter (from Dec 15)
Alternate captains	Mark Howe Rick Tocchet
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	17,407
Minor league affiliations	Hershey Bears (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Rick Tocchet (37)
Assists	Rick Tocchet (59)
Points	Rick Tocchet (96)
Penalties in minutes	Craig Berube (291)
Plus/minus	Mark Howe (+22)
Wins	Ken Wregget (22)
Goals against average	Ken Wregget (3.42)
<1988–89	1990–91>

The 1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers 23rd season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1971–72 season and only the third time in franchise history.

Regular season

The 1989–90 season was one of the most turbulent in franchise history.

Goaltender Ron Hextall had to sit out the first 12-games of the schedule, sentenced after cementing his folk-hero status in the city by crowning Chris Chelios in the waning minutes of Game 6 of the Wales Conference Finals in May. Unfortunately, the layoff plus contract disputes cost him practice time in training camp, and he was felled by groin injuries three separate times during the season.

An ugly 1–6–1 start was reversed despite injuries to Hextall, Brian Propp, Tim Kerr, Mark Howe and others with the team atop the weakened Patrick Division after a win in Montreal just before Christmas.

Little used Tony Horacek posted a hat trick in a 6–3 win in Los Angeles over the Kings on December 30, but the team suffered through a dismal 10-game winless stretch thereafter (0–7–3) from December 31 through January 23. Previous inconsistent play plus the slide cost Dave Poulin his captaincy on December 15, then forced his trade to Boston for former Flyer Ken Linseman. The move did not work, and despite breaking the skid with an 8–6 win against the Jets, Holmgren accused his club of quitting during a 7–2 loss at Washington on January 28 - a defeat which put them three points behind the Capitals in last place.

Newly acquired back-up Pete Peeters had his only season highlight with a 3–0 shutout over Toronto on February 15, but he finished the season 1–13–5. On February 28 in Vancouver, the team was lucky to pull out a 7–7 tie after blowing a 5–2 first-period lead. In the interim, Wells was dealt to the Sabres for unknown winger and future NHL referee Kevin Maguire.

Following an inspired win in Calgary on March 1, Propp was traded to the Bruins, and a four-goal game by Mark Messier in a 5–3 loss to Edmonton two days later triggered a four-game losing streak. The nadir of the late-season collapse came on March 17 in Quebec, as the Flyers allowed three third-period goals to drop a 6–3 decision to the Nordiques (who went on to win all of 12 games that year). Inexplicably, with the Islanders and Penguins also taking late-season dives, the Flyers were still alive for the final playoff spot in the division.

A 5–3 home win over Pittsburgh on March 22 got the team within one point of fourth, but they limped to the end of the schedule with an 0–3–2 record. A 6–2 road loss to the Islanders on March 31 eliminated them from the postseason.

It marked the first time in franchise history that the team finished in last place in any division since its 1967 inception.

Among the bright spots, Tocchet led the team with 37 goals and 96 points. Seven players scored 20-or-more goals. Kerr was limited to 40 games but managed 24 goals and 48 points.

General manager Bob Clarke, having been with the Flyers organization since he was drafted in 1969, was fired on April 16.

Season standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
New York Rangers	80	36	31	13	279	267	85
New Jersey Devils	80	37	34	9	295	288	83
Washington Capitals	80	36	38	6	284	275	78
New York Islanders	80	31	38	11	281	288	73
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	32	40	8	318	359	72
Philadelphia Flyers	80	30	39	11	290	297	71

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.

Wales Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Boston Bruins	ADM	80	46	25	9	289	232	101
2	Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	45	27	8	286	248	98
3	Montreal Canadiens	ADM	80	41	28	11	288	234	93
4	Hartford Whalers	ADM	80	38	33	9	275	268	85
5	New York Rangers	PTK	80	36	31	13	279	267	85
6	New Jersey Devils	PTK	80	37	34	9	295	288	83
7	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	36	38	6	284	275	78
8	New York Islanders	PTK	80	31	38	11	281	288	73
9	Pittsburgh Penguins	PTK	80	32	40	8	318	359	72
10	Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	30	39	11	290	297	71
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	12	61	7	240	407	31

Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

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
No.	Player	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
22	Rick Tocchet	25	RW	75	37	59	96	4	196
32	Murray Craven	25	LW	76	25	50	75	2	42
10	Mike Bullard	28	C	70	27	37	64	0	67
9	Pelle Eklund	26	LW	70	23	39	62	7	16
12	Tim Kerr	30	RW	40	24	24	48	−3	34
14	Ron Sutter	26	C	75	22	26	48	2	104
23	Ilkka Sinisalo	31	RW	59	23	23	46	6	26
3	Gord Murphy	22	D	75	14	27	41	−7	95
26	Brian Propp	30	LW	40	13	15	28	3	31
2	Mark Howe	34	D	40	7	21	28	22	24
25	Keith Acton	31	C	69	13	14	27	−2	80
19	Scott Mellanby	23	RW	57	6	17	23	−4	77
28	Kjell Samuelsson	31	D	66	5	17	22	20	91
29	Terry Carkner	23	D	63	4	18	22	−8	169
11	Jiri Latal	22	D	32	6	13	19	4	6
7	Jay Wells	30	D	59	3	16	19	4	129
17	Craig Berube	24	LW	74	4	14	18	−7	291
20	Dave Poulin	31	C	28	9	8	17	5	12
18	Ken Linseman	31	C	29	5	9	14	−7	30
5	Kerry Huffman	22	D	43	1	12	13	−3	34
21	Tony Horacek	22	LW	48	5	5	10	6	117
24	Derrick Smith	25	LW	55	3	6	9	−15	32
6	Jeff Chychrun	23	D	79	2	7	9	−12	250
15	Doug Sulliman	30	RW	28	3	4	7	4	0
8	Murray Baron	22	D	16	2	2	4	−1	12
46	Don Biggs	24	C	11	2	0	2	−4	8
18	Brian Dobbin	23	RW	9	1	1	2	1	11
35	Ken Wregget	25	G	51	0	2	2	N/A	12
36	Normand Lacombe	25	RW	18	0	2	2	0	7
20	Kevin Maguire	27	RW	5	1	0	1	−1	6
33	Pete Peeters	32	G	24	0	1	1	N/A	2
42	Don Nachbaur	31	C	2	0	1	1	1	0
26	David Fenyves	29	D	12	0	0	0	−6	4
34	Jeff Harding	20	RW	9	0	0	0	−1	18
27	Ron Hextall	25	G	8	0	0	0	N/A	14
30	Bruce Hoffort	23	G	7	0	0	0	N/A	2
7	Craig Fisher	19	C	2	0	0	0	0	0
37	Mark Freer	21	C	2	0	0	0	0	0
47	Shaun Sabol	23	D	2	0	0	0	0	0
20	Len Barrie	20	C	1	0	0	0	−2	0
45	Chris Jensen	26	RW	1	0	0	0	−1	2

Goaltenders

			Regular season
No.	Player	Age	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN
35	Ken Wregget	25	51	22	24	3	0	169	.892	3.42	2961
33	Pete Peeters	32	24	1	13	5	1	72	.883	3.74	1140
27	Ron Hextall	25	8	4	2	1	0	29	.868	4.15	419
30	Bruce Hoffort	23	7	3	0	2	0	19	.874	3.65	329

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors

Award or honor	Recipient	Notes	Ref
NHL All-Star Game representative	Brian Propp	Voted starting Left Wing
	Rick Tocchet

Team awards

Award	Recipient
Barry Ashbee Trophy	Gord Murphy
Bobby Clarke Trophy	Rick Tocchet
Class Guy Award	Craig Berube

Records

Individual regular season single game records

Record	Player	Total	Date and opponent
Goals scored	Rick Tocchet	4	January 25, 1990 vs. Winnipeg Jets (tied 15 times)

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 26, 1989, the day after the deciding game of the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 24, 1990, the day of the deciding game of the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 21, 1989	To Philadelphia Flyers future considerations	To Winnipeg Jets Shawn Cronin
August 28, 1989	To Philadelphia Flyers rights to Jiri Latal	To Toronto Maple Leafs 7th-round pick in 1991
September 8, 1989	To Philadelphia Flyers 5th-round pick in 1991 Philadelphia's 7th-round pick in 1991	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mark Laforest
September 28, 1989	To Philadelphia Flyers future considerations	To Winnipeg Jets Keith Acton Pete Peeters
October 3, 1989	To Philadelphia Flyers Keith Acton Pete Peeters	To Winnipeg Jets Toronto's 5th-round pick in 1991 future considerations
January 5, 1990	To Philadelphia Flyers Normand Lacombe	To Edmonton Oilers 4th-round pick in 1990 or 1991
January 16, 1990	To Philadelphia Flyers Ken Linseman	To Boston Bruins Dave Poulin
March 2, 1990	To Philadelphia Flyers 2nd-round pick in 1990	To Boston Bruins Brian Propp
March 5, 1990	To Philadelphia Flyers Kevin Maguire 2nd-round pick in 1990	To Buffalo Sabres Jay Wells 4th-round pick in 1991

Trade notes

• ^a The Oilers had the choice of year. The Oilers chose the 1990 draft pick.

Signings

Free agency

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

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Contract details	Notes	Ref
June 12, 1989	Shawn Cronin	Washington Capitals
June 16, 1989	Pete Peeters	Washington Capitals	2 years	Option for third year
June 30, 1989	Bruce Hoffort	Lake Superior State Lakers (WCHA)	3 years, $700,000
July 12, 1989	Tim Tookey	Pittsburgh Penguins
February 27, 1990	Len Barrie	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date	Player	Contract details	Ref
June 17, 1989	Pelle Eklund	3 years
September 11, 1989	Ken Wregget	1 year, $225,000
December 1, 1989	Mark Howe	3 years, $1.9 million
December 1, 1989	Derrick Smith	multi-year

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

Date	Player	Previous team (league)	Draft	Contract details	Ref
August 28, 1989	Jiri Latal	Dukla Trencin (Czech)	1985 6th-round pick (Toronto)
December 27, 1989	Steve Scheifele	Boston College Eagles (Hockey East)	1986 6th-round pick	multi-year
March 5, 1990	Craig Fisher	Miami Redskins (CCHA)	1988 3rd-round pick

NHL Waiver Draft

The 1989 NHL Waiver Draft was held on October 2, 1989. Each NHL team placed 18 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select. First-year professional players were exempt.

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1989 NHL Waiver Draft

Round	Player	Selected by	Selected from	Notes
1	Moe Mantha	Winnipeg Jets	Philadelphia Flyers	Flyers received $5,000
2	Nick Kypreos	Washington Capitals	Philadelphia Flyers	Flyers received $20,000

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
July 12, 1989	Al Hill	—	Retirement
August 7, 1989	Al Secord	Chicago Blackhawks	Free agency
N/A	Glen Seabrooke	—	Retirement

Draft picks

NHL Entry Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota on June 17, 1989.

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1989 and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA	Notes
2	33	Greg Johnson	Center	Canada	Thunder Bay Flyers (USHL)	785	145	224	369	345	& —	& —	& —	& —
2	34	Patrik Juhlin	Left Wing	Sweden	Vasteras IK (Elitserien)	56	7	6	13	23	& —	& —	& —	& —
4	72	Reid Simpson	Left Wing	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)	301	18	18	36	838	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	117	Niklas Eriksson	Right Wing	Sweden	Leksands IF (Elitserien)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	138	John Callahan	Center	United States	Belmont Hill School (Mass.)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
8	159	Sverre Sears	Defense	United States	Belmont Hill School (Mass.)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	180	Glen Wisser	Forward	United States	Philadelphia Junior Flyers (Jr. B)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
10	201	Al Kummu	Defense	Canada	Humboldt Broncos (SJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
11	222	Matt Brait	Defense	United States	St. Michael's Buzzers (MetJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
12	243	James Pollio	Left Wing	United States	Vermont Academy (Vermont)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

Draft notes

• The Flyers' first-round pick, 12th overall, was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with the Calgary Flames' first-round pick, 21st overall, for Ken Wregget on March 6, 1989.
• ^a The Flyers traded Bob Froese to the New York Rangers for Kjell Samuelsson and Rangers' second-round pick, 34th overall, on December 18, 1986.
• The Flyers traded their third-round pick, 54th overall, and Greg Smyth to the Quebec Nordiques for Terry Carkner on July 25, 1988.
• ^b The Flyers traded Gordie Roberts to the St. Louis Blues for the Blues' fifth-round pick, later upgraded to the Blues' fourth-round pick, 72nd overall, on March 8, 1988
• The Flyers traded their fourth-round pick, 75th overall, to the Minnesota North Stars for Gordie Roberts on February 9, 1988.
• The Flyers traded the Toronto Maple Leafs' fifth-round pick, 87th overall, to the Minnesota North Stars for Moe Mantha on December 8, 1988.
• The Flyers traded their fifth-round pick, 96th overall, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Al Secord on February 7, 1989.

NHL Supplemental Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1989 NHL Supplemental Draft.

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1989 Supplemental Draft and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA
2	17	Jamie Baker	Defense	United States	Windsor Lancers (CIAU)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL.

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

Specific