Puneet Varma (Editor)

1999–2000 Philadelphia Flyers season

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Division
  
1st Atlantic

1999–2000 record
  
45–25–12–3

Road record
  
20–16–5–0

Conference
  
1st Eastern

Home record
  
25–9–7–3

Goals for
  
237

The 1999–2000 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 33rd season in the National Hockey League (NHL). One of the most tumultuous seasons in franchise history, the Flyers reached the Eastern Conference Finals, losing in seven games to the New Jersey Devils.

Contents

Off-season

After going unclaimed in the 1999 NHL Expansion Draft, longtime goaltender Ron Hextall was waived by the Flyers on July 1 for the purpose of buying out the final season of his contract. Hextall cleared waivers and announced his retirement on September 6, 1999.

Longtime broadcaster Gene Hart, who was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 1997, died from a variety of illnesses on July 14.

A little over a week later on July 23, defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny, coming off his rookie season, was fatally injured in a boating accident. Tertyshny was on a boating trip to Okanagan Lake in British Columbia with two players from the Flyers' minor-league affiliate Philadelphia Phantoms, Francis Belanger and Mikhail Chernov, when a freak accident caused him to suffer fatal injuries. The boat hit a wave and caused him to fall forward overboard. The boat ran over him and its propeller slashed his neck and his jugular vein.

Regular season

Head coach Roger Neilson was diagnosed with bone cancer, forcing him to step aside in February 2000 to undergo treatment, so assistant coach Craig Ramsay took over as interim coach for the rest of the season; Neilson later recovered but was informed that he would not be returning.

In January, longtime Flyer and fan favorite Rod Brind'Amour was shipped to the Carolina Hurricanes for Keith Primeau, with the intention of acquiring a big center to complement Eric Lindros. Meanwhile, the strife between Flyers management (particularly GM Bob Clarke) and Lindros, continued to worsen. Less than a month after Ramsay took over, Lindros suffered his second concussion of the season. He played several games after the initial hit and afterwards criticized the team's training staff for failing to initially diagnose the concussion after it happened. It was after this that the Flyers' organization decided to strip Lindros of the captaincy on March 27 and name defenseman Eric Desjardins the team's captain.

With Lindros out indefinitely, the Flyers rallied to overcome the distractions and a 15-point deficit in the standings to win the Atlantic Division and the No. 1 seed in the East on the last day of the regular season.

Season standings

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL=Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM=Penalties in Minutes; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Playoffs

They easily defeated their first round opponent, the Buffalo Sabres, in five games. Primeau's goal in the fifth overtime of Game 4 against the team's second-round opponent, the Pittsburgh Penguins, turned that series in the Flyers' favor as they won in six games, coming back from a 2–0 series deficit. After dropping Game 1 to New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Flyers peeled off three straight wins to take a 3–1 series lead. But New Jersey refused to give up. After New Jersey won Game 5, Lindros returned to the lineup for the first time since March for Game 6 in another losing effort. Early in Game 7, Lindros was on the receiving end of a hit by Scott Stevens, giving him another concussion and leaving the Philadelphia crowd deflated. Without Lindros, the Flyers lost the decisive game by a score of 2–1. To date, it is the only time (of 64 total series) a team in the Conference Finals or Semifinals round has held a 3-1 series lead and lost. It was the second time in franchise history the team lost a series after leading 3 games to 1. New Jersey went on to win the Stanley Cup.

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.

    • Transactions

    The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 20, 1999, the day after the deciding game of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 10, 2000, the day of the deciding game of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals.

    Trades

    Trade notes
  • a Condition not met.

    • Free agency

    The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk (*).

    Re-signed

    The following players were re-signed by the Flyers. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk (*).

    Entry level contracts

    The following players — Flyers draft picks, undrafted free agents, and the unsigned draft picks of other teams — were signed by the Flyers to entry level contracts.

    NHL Expansion Draft

    The 1999 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 25, 1999. It featured one expansion team, the Atlanta Thrashers, selecting players from the other NHL teams except the Nashville Predators. Each NHL team was allowed to protect either 1 goaltender, 5 defensemen, and 9 forwards OR 2 goaltenders, 3 defensemen, and 7 forwards. All first-year players were exempt. The Thrashers were provided a list of players they could select.

    The Flyers protected the following players: goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, defensemen Adam Burt, Eric Desjardins, Karl Dykhuis, Dan McGillis, and Chris Therien, and forwards Rod Brind'Amour, Keith Jones, Daymond Langkow, John LeClair, Eric Lindros, Sandy McCarthy, Mark Recchi, Mikael Renberg, and Valeri Zelepukin.

    The Flyers made the following players available: goaltenders Ron Hextall and Neil Little (unrestricted free agent), defensemen Artem Anisimov (unsigned draft pick), Steve Duchesne (unrestricted free agent), Chris Joseph (restricted free agent), Jeff Lank, David MacIsaac (unrestricted free agent), and Luke Richardson, and forwards Mikael Andersson, Craig Berube (unrestricted free agent), Dennis Bonvie (unrestricted free agent), Marc Bureau, Mark Greig, Paul Healey, Jody Hull, Patrik Juhlin, Dan Kordic (restricted free agent), Shawn McCosh, Steve McLaren, Jim Montgomery, Richard Park (restricted free agent), Ruslan Shafikov (unsigned draft pick), Radovan Somik (unsigned draft pick), Martin Streit (unsigned draft pick), Roman Vopat, Peter White, and Jason Zent.

    NHL Waiver Draft

    The 1999 NHL Waiver Draft was held on September 27, 1999. 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. The Flyers were not involved in any selections during the draft.

    The Flyers protected the following players: goaltenders Brian Boucher and John Vanbiesbrouck, defensemen Adam Burt, Eric Desjardins, Karl Dykhuis, Dan McGillis, Luke Richardson, and Chris Therien, forwards Mikael Andersson, Craig Berube, Rod Brind'Amour, Marc Bureau, Keith Jones, Daymond Langkow, John LeClair, Eric Lindros, Sandy McCarthy, Mark Recchi, Mikael Renberg, and Valeri Zelepukin.

    The Flyers left the following players unprotected: goaltender Neil Little and defensemen Jeff Lank and Dean Melanson, and forwards Mark Greig, Paul Healey, Mike Maneluk, Steve McLaren, Jim Montgomery, Sean O'Brien, Roman Vopat, Peter White, and Jason Zent.

    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 (*).

    Draft picks

    Philadelphia's picks at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts on June 26, 1999.

    Draft notes
  • The Flyers traded their second-round pick, 58th overall, the New York Islanders' 2000 sixth-round pick, and Dainius Zubrus to the Montreal Canadiens for Mark Recchi on March 10, 1999. The Canadiens had the option of choosing the Flyers second-round pick in 1999 or 2000 and the option of taking either the San Jose Sharks' seventh-round pick or the Islanders' 2000 sixth-round pick.
  • a The Flyers traded their third-round pick, 90th overall, to the Calgary Flames for the rights to Ryan Bast and the Flames' eighth-round pick, 224th overall, on October 13, 1998.
  • The Flyers traded their fifth-round pick, 148th overall, and Colin Forbes to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Mikael Andersson and Sandy McCarthy on March 20, 1999.
  • b The Flyers traded Pat Kavanagh to the Vancouver Canucks for the Canucks' sixth-round pick, 160th overall, on June 1, 1999.
  • The St. Louis Blues received the Flyers' sixth-round pick, 180th overall, as compensation for the Flyers hiring Roger Neilson as their head coach.
  • c The Flyers traded Johan Hedberg to the San Jose Sharks for the Sharks' seventh-round pick, 200th overall, on August 6, 1998.
  • The Flyers traded their eighth-round pick, 237th overall, to the Carolina Hurricanes for the rights to Francis Lessard on May 25, 1999.
  • The Flyers traded their ninth-round pick, 265th overall, to the Dallas Stars for the Stars' 1998 ninth-round pick on June 27, 1998.

    • Farm teams

    The Flyers were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL and the Trenton Titans of the ECHL.

    References

    1999–2000 Philadelphia Flyers season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


    Similar Topics