Philadelphia Flyers 50 Greatest Moments in History

42. Flyers 35 game Unbeaten Streak

Written by Marc Naples

By the 1979-80 season, the Flyers had lost their swagger.  It had been three years since they had made a deep playoff run, and coach Fred Shero had resigned as coach.  His replacement, Bob McCammon didn’t even last a full season, and this season would be the first full season under young Pat Quinn. Young talents Brian Propp and Ken Linseman gave the team new energy.  Linseman led the team in points playing with Bill Barber and Paul Holmgren, while Brian Propp sparked linemate a Bobby Clarke and Reggie Leach to their old from.

This offense proved impossible to hold down, and they simply refused to lose.  They constantly came from behind to win or tie games.  Before you knew it, they had gone 20+ games without a loss.  Their standard of play became so high, that when the Flyers extended their unbeaten streak to 24 games, the Philadelphia fans booed them for blowing a lead and settling for a tie.

The team continued on to shatter records.  First they set the NHL record with a 29 game unbeaten streak, before breaking the pro sports record by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers of 33 games.  They got the streak up 35, before crashing down with 7-1 loss.

After the streak, the Flyers had only two losses on the season even though the calendar said  January 7.  Often lost is the fact that the Flyers immediately began another unbeaten streak of 11 games.  The Flyers ultimately fell short to the dynasty Islanders in the Stanley Cup finals, but it was an amazing season and streak.

Next: Number 41: Sergei Bobrovsky's First Flyers Game