Philadelphia Flyers: Ranking the 10 Greatest Teams of All-Time

For a franchise whose existence began in 1967, the Flyers have accumulated a plethora of timeless moments, legendary players and history in its tenure in the NHL. 

The organization may only have two Stanley Cup championships, won in 1974 and 1975, but the Flyers have made waves in the NHL year in and year out since the Broad Street Bullies burst onto the scene. 

It is difficult to pick the 10 greatest Flyers teams, as that requires measuring regular season domination against surprising postseason success, record-breaking winning streaks against epic postseason comebacks. Every Flyers fan perceives each season’s successes and failures a little differently, and because the Stanley Cup is the only thing that matters to a fanbase as passionate as Philadelphia’s, it can be difficult to measure the triumphs of seasons that ended in fashions not-so-triumphant. 

Nonetheless, it is important to recognize the great Flyers teams that have brought the franchise to public prominence and given the city league-wide recognition, whether names were engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup or not. 

Here are the 10 greatest teams in the history of Philadelphia hockey.

10. 2009-10

Record: 41-35-0-6 third in Atlantic Division)

Lost in Game 6 of Stanley Cup Finals

The term “roller-coaster ride” is overused in the world of sports, but that is exactly what the 2009-10 season was for the Flyers.

The team went through a plethora of goaltenders and found themselves 14th in the Eastern Conference in the middle of the season, but managed to get back in the running for a playoff spot. The Flyers took on the Rangers in the last game of the season in a “you-can’t-script-this” matchup where the winner would take a playoff spot and the loser would take to the fairways for the summer.

The Flyers won in a dramatic shootout, entering the playoffs as a seventh seed. After an upset of the New Jersey Devils, the Flyers fell into an 0-3 hole against the Bruins, only to come back to win the series 4-3, the fourth team in North American sports to accomplish the feat. 

The Flyers were seemingly on a high as they faced Chicago, going to a sixth game against the more powerful Blackhawks lineup.  But for all the highs of the playoff run, the season came crashing down as goaltender Michael Leighton allowed a soft goal to Patrick Kane in overtime, and Chicago took Lord Stanley’s hardware.

The result was not glorious, the team was anything but consistent during the season and the magic was not quite enough for the Flyers. But this season was arguably the most memorable in Flyers history, and therefore, despite all the highs and lows, qualifies as one of the greatest teams to play on Philadelphia ice.

9. 2003-04

Record: 40-21-15-6

Lost in Game 7 of Eastern Conference Finals

Unlike prior years featuring the likes of the Legion of Doom, the 2003-04 Flyers were far from being an offensive juggernaut. Mark Recchi led the team in goals (26), assists (49) and points (75), with grinder Michal Handzus finishing a surprising second on the team with 38 assists and 58 points.

As a whole, the team scored only 229 goals during the season, the second-lowest total for the team since 1972 (not including the lockout-shortened season in 1994-95). However, what the team lacked in offense, it made up for in stingy defensive play, as the Flyers likewise allowed fewer goals against (186) than they had in almost any season since the team’s last Stanley Cup.

However, the team would be known less for its defensive prowess and more for its grit and toughness. This toughness was on full display the night of March 5, 2004, when the Ottawa Senators came to town. Tensions had run high between the two teams in prior meetings, but that night, the Flyers and Senators racked up 419 penalty minutes, most of them in the final two minutes of the game. 

If that game was the highlight of the regular season, then Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was the highlight of the entire year. Facing elimination and down 4-3 in the game, much-maligned Flyers captain Keith Primeau found a loose puck in the crease and pounded it by Nikolai Khabibulin to tie the game. In overtime, Simon Gagne would light the lamp to send the series to a Game 7.

Unfortunately, the top-seeded Lightning would prevail on their home ice, bringing to an end one of the most dramatic seasons in Flyers history, one that tested the franchise’s reputation for grit time and time again.

8. 1996-97

Record: 45-24-14-0 (second in Atlantic Division)

Lost in Game 4 of Stanley Cup Finals

For many fans, the 1996-97 team represents the most recent glory days of the Philadelphia Flyers.

With a lineup featuring Eric Lindros, Ron Hextall, John LeClair, Mikael Renberg and Eric Desjardins, these Flyers personified the ‘90s rebirth of the franchise. They were big, they were tough and they could muscle their way to victory.

LeClair put up 97 points over the course of the season, and Lindros had 79, despite playing in only 52 regular season games. The Flyers, behind the Legion of Doom line, spent the season jockeying with the New Jersey Devils for control of the Atlantic Division, finishing only a point behind their Turnpike neighbors. Both teams finished with 45 wins, but the Devils won the division title by a single tie.

Perhaps motivated by this near-miss in the regular season, the playoff Flyers looked virtually unbeatable for three rounds. They won series against Pittsburgh, Buffalo and the New York Rangers in five games each, never trailing in the series. 

The team seemed destined to recapture the glory of the Broad Street Bully days, lacking only a championship ring to prove themselves to be a team on par with Flyers legends like Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent and Reggie Leach. However, the Flyers ran into the Detroit Red Wings, who were just beginning their rise to the top of the hockey world. 

The Red Wings embarrassed the Flyers, sweeping the series and causing coach Terry Murray to shuffle his goaltenders and describe the series as a “choking situation.” Despite a highly successful regular season and playoff run, Murray would be fired for his poor handling of the Finals.

It only took one series to change a return to glory into a question of what could have been.

7. 1986-87

Record: 46-26-8-0 (first in Patrick Division)

Lost in Game 7 of Stanley Cup Finals

Since the team last hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1975, no group of Flyers has come closer to regaining hockey’s Holy Grail than Mike Keenan’s 1986-87 squad.

Led by veterans Mark Howe, Dave Poulin and Tim Kerr and featuring a new cast of characters in Pelle Eklund, Peter Zezel and Rick Tocchet, this iteration of the Flyers notched 100 points in the standings and scored 310 goals, a total that has been eclipsed by the team only one time since that season. 

Kerr would tally three hat tricks over the course of the season on his way to tying his career high of 58 goals, and would add a fourth in the playoffs.

However, 1986-87 became a pivotal point in Flyers history because of the emergence of one man whose name is uttered, even to this day, anytime a Flyers goalie fails to win a big game: Ron Hextall.

Hextall, a 22-year-old with a fierce attitude, played in 66 games for the Flyers that season, bursting onto the scene with what would turn out to be career highs in games played, wins, saves and save percentage. His stellar rookie performance would make Hextall a staple of Flyers hockey for much of the next decade.

The playoff march was not easy for the team, as they need six games to defeat the New York Rangers, seven to take down the Islanders and six more to advance to the Stanley Cup Final over the defending champion Montreal Canadiens.

There, the Flyers found a familiar opponent in the Edmonton Oilers, who had beaten Philadelphia on the big stage two years prior. After falling behind 3-1 in the series, the Flyers forced a Game 7 in Alberta, where, despite a 40-save performance by Hextall, the Flyers fell 3-1 in the game to lose the series.

6. 1999-2000

Record: 45-22-12-3 (first in Atlantic Division)

Lost in Game 7 of Eastern Conference Finals

1999-2000 is the year of “what could have been” for the Flyers. 

Namely, that season was the beginning of the end of Eric Lindros’ tenure with the Flyers.  Lindros suffered four concussions over the course of the season, playing in only 55 games in the regular season and two in the playoffs. 

Despite being without their captain (though defenseman Eric Desjardins would assume the role during the season), the Flyers were one of the most dominant teams in the NHL.  Their season seemed threatened when head coach Roger Neilson was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, early in 2000. 

Neilson would have to vacate his spot behind the Philadelphia bench to undergo treatment. Craig Ramsay took over as head coach and helped the team battle for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The team would succeed, taking the top seed in the East and easily handling the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins in the first two rounds. 

Backed by a strong rookie goaltender named Brian Boucher and a talented rookie forward named Simon Gagne, the Flyers took a 3-1 series lead on the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Devils won Games 5 and 6, though Lindros returned in the sixth game and scored the Flyers’ only goal. 

Big E looked poised to carry the team in Game 7, but Devils defenseman Scott Stevens infamously skated across the ice as Lindros charged forward with his head down, striking the former captain in the head in what would be Lindros’ final moments in a Flyers uniform. 

The Flyers lost the game 2-1 and the series 4-3, a disappointing ending to a regular season of overcoming adversity and dominating the Eastern Conference.

5. 1984-85

Record: 53-20-7-0 (first in Patrick Division)

Lost in Game 5 of Stanley Cup Finals

1984-85 was the season of “new” for the Flyers: a new captain, Dave Poulin, a new starting goalie, Pelle Lindbergh, a new GM, Bobby Clarke, and most importantly, a new head coach, Mike Keenan.

By all rights, a team going through so much change cannot be expected to be immediately successful. But Keenan, whose seemingly fascist rule over the team earned him the moniker “Iron Mike,” demanded only the best from his team, and for all the abuse, Keenan sure as hell got what he was looking for.

The 1984-85 squad set a franchise record for wins with 53 and had accumulated 113 points by season’s end, the most in the NHL and second-most in the history of the organization.  With Mark Howe eating up minutes on defense, Lindbergh establishing himself as an elite goalie in net and forwards like Tim Kerr and Brian Propp flirting with the possibility of 100-point seasons, the Flyers were a dominant force in the NHL, improving upon a disappointing season and first-round sweep the year prior.

The Broad Street Bullies title may have been diminishing, but Iron Mike was all the bully Philadelphia needed to have another successful hockey team. 

The surprising Flyers won the Wales Conference, losing only three games in three rounds, and found themselves facing the Edmonton Oilers for the Stanley Cup. The Oilers were the defending champions, and behind a stellar offense that included Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, Edmonton put an end to Philadelphia’s season of destiny.

4. 1975-76

Record: 51-18-11-0 (first in Patrick Division)

Lost in Game 4 of Stanley Cup Finals

At the start of the 1975-76 season, the Flyers found themselves aiming for a three-peat, having won the Stanley Cup the previous two seasons. The franchise was now earning respect across the NHL, and the team would finish first in the division for the third consecutive year, amassing 50 or more wins on each occasion.

The Broad Street Bullies looked to be headed to another championship, and an exhibition game that January only solidified the team’s reputation as a hybrid of muscle and talent. 

During the Super Series ’76, the Soviet national team, known as the Central Red Army, played a series of games against North American hockey teams. The Red Army entered the last of four games with a 2-0-1 record, having defeated the Rangers and Bruins and tying the Canadiens. 

The Bullies took their muscle to the Soviets, playing a tough, dirty style of hockey that the Russians were not prepared for. A hit to the head of Valeri Kharlamov by Philadelphia’s Ed Van Impe caused the Soviets to leave the ice until they were warned that they would not be paid if they refused to return to the ice. The Red Army finished the game, but fell to the dominant Flyers, 4-1. 

Unfortunately, the near-three-season high in Philadelphia came to an end in the Stanley Cup Finals, as the Montreal Canadiens swept the Flyers to win their first of four straight championships.

Had the Flyers handled Montreal, this team could easily have been considered the greatest in Flyers history.

3. 1979-80

Record: 48-12-20-0 (first in Patrick Division)

Lost in Game 6 of Stanley Cup Finals

The 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers did not win the Stanley Cup.

That is, for all intents and purposes, the only reason that the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers are not the greatest team in franchise history.

Behind 70-plus point performances from Brian Propp, Reggie Leach, Ken Linseman and Bill Barber, the Flyers would have one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history, amassing a franchise-record 116 points and losing only two games in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

The Flyers would meet the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals, running into a franchise on their way to a dynasty. The Isles defeated the Flyers in six games, the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups for the newcomers from Long Island. 

Unlike most other great seasons, the 1979-80 Flyers achieved the highlight of the season long before the playoffs. During the regular season, the Flyers went undefeated in a ridiculous 35 consecutive games, a record in North American sports. 

From Oct. 16, 1979 to Jan. 6, 1980, no team in the NHL defeated the Flyers. The Orange and Black went 25-0-10 during that streak, and in that time period, earned a point against every team in the NHL except the Washington Capitals. 

Had the Flyers continued that unbeatable play against the Islanders in the Stanley Cup, they would undoubtedly be the greatest team in Flyers history…and perhaps the history of the entire NHL.

2. 1974-75

Record: 51-18-11-0 (first in Patrick Division)

Won Stanley Cup

As the defending Stanley Cup champions, the 1974-75 Flyers had no intention of slowing down. 

Led by Bobby Clarke’s 116 points and Bernie Parent’s 2.03 goals against average, the Flyers seemed virtually unbeatable, collecting 113 points and beating the division rival New York Rangers by a full 25 points at the end of the season.

Dave Schultz racked up more penalty minutes than any player in NHL history, totaling 472 minutes in just 76 games played. His propensity for serving better than six minutes per game in the box made Schultz as much a part of the Flyers identity as Clarke and Parent. 

Thanks to this team-wide mix of skill and attitude, the notion of the “Broad Street Bullies” was assured to stick permanently. They used intimidation to throw opponents of their game, the sort of strategy that a blue-collar city like Philadelphia had no trouble embracing.

The Flyers would defeat the Maple Leafs handily, as Parent notched two shutouts and the Flyers allowed only six goals in the series on their way to a sweep. The Islanders took the defending champs the distance, but the team’s stellar defense allowed only 15 shots in Game 7 en route to a 4-1 victory.

The Finals pitted the Bullies against the Buffalo Sabres, with the home team winning the first four games of the series for a 2-2 tie going to Philadelphia for Game 5. The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 13 minutes of the game, going on to win 5-1. Parent made 32 saves in Game 6, shutting out the Sabres, and Bob Kelly’s goal 11 seconds into the third period would be the game-winner in Philadelphia’s 2-0 Cup-clinching victory.

Marching down Broad Street in their second parade in as many years, the 1974-75 Philadelphia Flyers were Stanley Cup champions, making them one of the greatest teams in all of Flyers history.

1. 1973-74

Record: 50-16-12-0 (first in West)

Won Stanley Cup

No season defined the Flyers more than the 1973-74 run to a Stanley Cup Championship.

The fact that the team hoisted hockey’s most precious hardware tells only a small portion of the story. By capturing the Cup, Philadelphia became the first NHL franchise outside of the Original Six to get an engraving on the Cup, legitimizing a franchise that was merely seven years old at the time.

Behind future Philly legends like Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent, the Flyers broke the 40-win mark for the first time in franchise history, and by no small margin. The team would end up hitting 50 wins before season’s end, the first of only five times the franchise would achieve the mark.

Parent would share the Vezina Trophy with Chicago’s Tony Esposito and would also be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy at the conclusion of the Finals. 

What makes this Flyers team the greatest in history? It was not the only to reach 50 wins, or to feature the cast of the Broad Street Bullies or even to win a Stanley Cup Championship.

But it was the first to do all of that, and more.

And there’s something a little more memorable about doing it first.