10 Best Performances/Games in Philadelphia Flyers History

Oct 12, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere (left) and head coach Dave Hakstol and assistant coach Gord Murphy talk the team during a timeout Florida Panthers during the third period at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers defeated the Panthers, 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Is there a singular performance that stands out in the history of the storied Philadelphia Flyers franchise?

It’s almost the end of the year and it’s a time for reflection and giving thanks. As a hockey fan, and specifically a Philadelphia Flyers fan, it might be hard sometimes for you to be thankful for the team’s record or coaching. Yet it’s a good time to reflect on the past and even a bit of the present.

There have been great performance and great games throughout the Flyers history. They’re one of the better team in the NHL since they joined in 1967. This consist of whole games that bring back memories of being Stanley Cup champions or of well-deserved wins. Yet there are also individual performances throughout the history of the Flyers that made us smile, cheer and even cringe.

A requirement of a performance on this list means that it needs to be from a game the Flyers won and it was significant enough to warrant a mention. So sit and enjoy a trip back through time with the 10 best performances and games in Flyers history as a franchise.

Next: Tim Kerr: A Flyers Legend

10. Tim Kerr was a Flyers shooting machine

Tim Kerr, a winger for the Philadelphia Flyers for 11 seasons, is a name many during the 1980s can’t forget. Ranked seventh in NHL history for goals scored per game, Kerr only stopped playing when injuries overtook him and he needed to end his time on the ice.

Kerr had a rough go of his first four seasons with Flyers, having three knee injuries and a broken leg. Yet the pain didn’t stop and and Kerr persisted through the injuries to become a legend. He was a dynamite defensemen and would take a stick to anyone in his way, even after he scored a goal. He scored 370 goals in 655 career games and at 6 foot, three inches and 225 pounds, he was a formidable player to deal with on the ice. Kerr was unstoppable the closer he got to the net and that helped him in one of his biggest moments.

One of his most significant moments came for Kerr during a playoff game in 1985 against the New York Rangers.  Kerr scored four goals against then Ranger goalie Glen Hanlon. His first goal tied the game and scored his next three goals in quick fashion, racking up four goals in eight minutes and 16 seconds. It was something that hadn’t been seen in the NHL and would solidify his place as a top winger for the Flyers.

Next: Eric Lindros was dominate player

8. J.J. Daigneault scored the Flyers’  game winning goal

The 1987 season will go down as one of the best in Flyers’ history as they went on to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. The season saw the Flyers finish with one of the best records in the NHL. They were first in the Patrick Division with a record 46-26-8, (100 points). The 1987 team wasn’t a strong offensive one but a team built on solid defensive work, gritty players and strong goaltendng from now Flyers head coach Ron Hextall.

The 1987 Stanley Cup Finals was a rematch of the 1985 series where the Flyers took on the Edmonton Oilers and lost in five games. This time around it would take the Oilers the full seven games to take the cup away from the Flyers. Yet it wouldn’t have made it that far without the game winning goal in Game 6.

Jean-Jacques Daigneault, or J.J., was a defensemen for the Flyers. Daigneault had seen little playoff action up to that and wasn’t projected to do much. Yet when he came in contact with a bad pass from Oilers right winger Jari Kurri he took control of it. His slapshot made it down ice to Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr. This sent the series into Game 7, which hadn’t been done in the Stanley Cup in 16 years.  The Flyers would ultimately lose to Edmonton in Game 7 yet they wouldn’t have had the chance to prove themselves without Daigneault’s game winning goal.

Next: Flyers set NHL longest undefeated record

Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall announces Travis Sanheim (not pictured) as the number seventeen overall pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

7. Flyers beat Bruins for longest NHL undefeated record

If the Flyers of this year might have you down, look to the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers team. The team that year solidified their longest undefeated streak with a win against the Boston Bruins on December 22, 1979. The Flyers defeated the Bruins 5-2 and that game broken a previous unbroken NHL record of 28 games. The previous longest undefeated streak was held by the Montreal Canadiens.

The 1979 Flyers win streak of 35 games was the longest in the NHL at the time. They went from October 1979 to January 6th 1980 with 25 wins, zero losses and 10 ties. Granted, during that period in the NHL games were called ties at 60 minutes if both teams’ were tied. Yet the Flyers still managed to have an impressive record. They went 14-0-6 at the Spectrum (their home) and 11-0-4 for road games. That December 22nd game pushed the team to an unheard of winning streak. It would take until January 4th with a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers to give the Flyers the longest undefeated streak in all of professional sports.

Next: Jeremy Roenick and the overtime goal

6. Jeremy Roenick send Flyers to Eastern Conference Finals

What better way for Jeremy Roenick to break the 50 goal mark than netting the overtime winner to send the Philadelphia Flyers to the Eastern Conference finals. The goal came after Toronto Maple Leafs recovered from a two goal deficit in the 3rd period. During the OT period, teammate Tony Amonte joined Roenick on a 2-1 breakaway against defender Bryan McCabe before Roenick snapped a 15-foot one timer into the Toronto net.

Roenick played for the Flyers for four seasons, from 2001 to 2005. He made the playoffs with the team three out of those four years and his most memorable performance came in the 2004 Semifinals against the Toronto Maple Leaves. The win sent the Flyers off to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They would lose to the Lightning in Game 7. Yet Roenick would be remembered for helping the team make the push and try to become Stanley Cup Champions.

Next: Flyers force Game 7 on Tampa Bay

5. Flyers force Game 7 in Eastern Conference Finals with Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay might have wanted to end the Eastern Conference Finals easily but the 2004 Philadelphia Flyers weren’t going to make that happen. It would take overtime for the Flyers to rally and push the Lightning into Game 7. It might not have happened if it wasn’t for the efforts of Keith Primeau and Simon Gagne. It was an important Game 7 since the winner would go onto the Stanley Cup and play the Calgary Flames. A return to the finals would be a first for the Flyers since they were swept last time they made the finals in 1997.

The Primeau-Gagne-Jeremy Roenick (mentioned earlier in this list) line first played together in Game 6. Primeau was the one to send it into overtime. He took a shot that ended up going into a Tampa Bay defensemen named Pavel Kubina before going to Roenick. The shot then went to Gagne, who slapped the shot into the Lightning goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin and it went into the net. It was a second overtime win for the Flyers of the series.

Earlier in the third period, Tampa Bay was leading and it seemed that all was over for the Flyers. Yet it was Primeau to the rescue. He managed to find the puck and kick the puck through the pads of Khabibulin and get it back into the net through the other side. It would send the Flyers into overtime, where he would work with Gagne and Roenick to get the fateful game winning goal.

Next: Philadelphia Flyers stop Soviet advance

4. Philadelphia Flyers crush Soviet Red Army hockey team

Once the Soviety Red Army team swept the Rangers and the Bruins, their next stop was on the city of brotherly love. Here, the Spectrum was home to one of the more famous international debaucles that occured on January 11th 1976 when the Philadelphia Flyers forced the Russian Red Army team to protest the game. For 17 minutes, the Red Army sat off the ice after Hall of Famer (Induction class of 93) Ed Van Impe flattened the Russian powerhouse Valeri Kharlamov. At the time of the hit neither team had scored. The Soviety Red Army team returned to finish the game at 4-1 with the first goal being scored seventeen seconds after play resumed.

It’s been almost 40 years since the game but the exhibition game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Soviety Red Army deserves to be in the Top Five games. As with the 1980 Miracle on Ice game, the exhibition had more implications than just a friendly hockey matchup between countries. The Cold War was still raging on and a year prior was the fall of Saigon, Vietnam. It was still fresh in the minds of the American public and it showed the greatest divide between democracy and communism.

The Russians were also dominating in the world of hockey as well, having swept the WHA All-Star team in 1974 and were reffered to ask the best players in the world. The Red Army team played four NHL teams and demolished the first three. They beat the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, tied the Montreal Canadiens, and crushed the Boston Bruins. The Flyers were able to put a stop to the Red Army’s march and show that they weren’t the only ones who could conqueror the sport of hockey.

Next: Flyers win their first big championship

3. Flyers win their most recent Stanley Cup

It was almost 40 years ago that Philadelphia Flyers fans had the chance to celebrate a Stanley Cup victory. The franchise hadn’t been in the NHL for a decade before it stormed onto the scene. The team won its first Stanley Cup in its seventh season in the league. Then in the eighth, it followed it up with a second Cup victory. They were the expansion team with the quickest Cup victory in the league and they still hold that record.

Parts of the 1975 Stanley Cup games against the Buffalo Sabers were played in heavy fog due to the temperatures in May. In Gae 3 a bat flew down and started diving on the players. The Flyers quickly took games one and two but fell in Game Three, or the Fog Game. It took until Game Six for the Flyers to clinch the Cup in a 2-0 shutout. It would be their last Stanley Cup victory.

The team became known as the Broad Street Bullies and the nickname was well deserved. The team was hard hitting and aggressive on the ice, starting most fights in the NHL. The fan base was rough and tumble and was often disliked by other fans (which it still is today). Yet the Flyers became known for more than their aggressiveness. They were the first NHL  team to go abroad to study the Soviet techniques, first to hire assistant coaches and one of the first teams to utilize morning skating sessions. It might be awhile in Philadelphia before the Cup is raised there again but 40 years ago, the Broad Street Bullies were kings of the hockey world.

Next: Philadelphia Flyers best offensive performance

2. Best Flyers offensive performance: Tom Bladon

As we close in to the final two spots, there is a need to show one of the best offensive performances by a player in Flyers history. Yet it was one game in particular that set him apart in Flyers memories. The video above highlights Tom Bladon as a player but it doesn’t highlight his best game.

Tom Bladon was a defensmen for the Philadelphia Flyers for six seasons, from 1972 to 1978. His most record setting game with the Flyers came on December 11, 1977. The Philadelphia Flyers demolished the Cleveland Barons 11-1 and Bladon was an intigral part of the team. He had a goal and two assist in the first period, added two more in the second period and in the third, put another goal and two assists to his name. The team as a whole outshot the Barons 52-18 and their starting goaltender, Gary Edwards, was pulled after two periods. Surprisingly enough, there were no power play goals by the Flyers throughout the course of the game.

Bladon had an eight point night against the Barons and it was a new record for defensemen in the NHL. It beat out an old record of seven points that had been set by Bobby Orr. He was a strong, physical player and was a powerhouse on defense for the Flyers. However, Bladon would never score more than 14 goals during the season, a low number given his success, and would leave the team the following year. But Bladon still remains one of the best performances by a player in a Flyers’ uniform.

Next: Flyers win their first ever Stanley Cup

1. The Philadelphia Flyers win their first Stanley Cup

We’ve reached the end of our countdown and there is no doubt about what games takes the top spot. The Flyers were a new team to the NHL and were only in their seventh season when they made their first Stanley Cup appearance. Yet despite their rookie shine, the Flyers had all the makings of a Stanley Cup team. They were quick and ruthless on the ice, earning them the Broad Street Bullies nickname. The players could make shots on goals efficiently and opponents had a hard time scoring on the Flyers strong goaltending. There were are the makings of a championship team and it would help them to winning the Cup.

The Philadelphia Flyers met the favorite-to-win Boston Bruins for a Stanley Cup series that would be memorable. The Bruins had played the Flyers during the regular season and had bested with a 17-0-2 record. They had the NHL best scores and home ice advantage on their side. Yet the aggressive, physical and sometimes violent Flyers were not to be taken lightly.

Game 1 saw the Flyers lose to the Bruins but it was captain Bobby Clarke’s o goal in Game 2 that led the Flyers to a 3-2 win and tied the series up at one game a piece. Back at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the Flyers quickly overcame the Bruins’ offensive prowess. They won games three and four back-to-back but lost when the Bruins took a win on their home turf. It would be a Game 6 decision to determine the champion.

The series returned to Philadelphia and in the first period it appeared to be a bad start for the home team. The Bruins outshot the Flyers 16-8 in the first period. A Flyers power play saw Rick MacLeish find the puck after it as tipped to him by Andrew Dupont and it went into net. It would be the only Flyers goals yet it would be enough to shut out the Bruins and win the Stanley Cup. The team would follow their first Cup with a second one the following season.