1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers season was the franchise's 17th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). During the final season of the playing careers of Hockey Hall of Famers Bill Barber and Bobby Clarke, the Flyers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Washington Capitals in a three-game sweep.

1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers
Division	3rd Patrick
Conference	5th Wales
1983–84 record	44–26–10
Home record	25–10–5
Road record	19–16–5
Goals for	350 (4th)
Goals against	290 (6th)
Team information
General manager	Bob McCammon
Coach	Bob McCammon
Captain	Bobby Clarke
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Spectrum
Average attendance	16,636
Minor league affiliates	Springfield Indians Toledo Goaldiggers
Team leaders
Goals	Tim Kerr (54)
Assists	Brian Propp (53)
Points	Tim Kerr (93)
Penalty minutes	Glen Cochrane (225)
Plus/minus	Brian Propp (+49)
Wins	Bob Froese (28)
Goals against average	Bob Froese (3.15)

Off-season

Bob McCammon replaced Keith Allen as general manager in the off-season, and retained his position as head coach. McCammon had received an offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins to become their general manager.

Regular season

The youth of the team began to take over the reins from the old guard as Tim Kerr recorded his first 50-goal season. The team finished in third place.

The 1983–84 regular season saw Barber play his final games as he would officially announce his retirement following the next season after being unable to return from reconstructive knee surgery.

Season standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
New York Islanders	80	50	26	4	357	269	104
Washington Capitals	80	48	27	5	308	226	101
Philadelphia Flyers	80	44	26	10	350	290	98
New York Rangers	80	42	29	9	314	304	93
New Jersey Devils	80	17	56	7	231	350	41
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	16	58	6	254	390	38

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.

Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	NJD	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
New Jersey	—	0−7	1−5−1	0−7	3−4	0−5−2	4−28−3
N.Y. Islanders	7−0	—	3−4	4−3	6−1	4−3	24−11−0
N.Y. Rangers	5−1−1	4−3	—	4−3	5−2	3−3−1	21−12−2
Philadelphia	7−0	3−4	3−4	—	7−0	3−4	23−12−0
Pittsburgh	4−3	1−6	2−5	0–7	—	1−6	8−27−0
Washington	5−0−2	3−4	3−3−1	4–3	6–1	—	21−11−3

Vs. Adams Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
New Jersey	1−2	0−2−1	1−1−1	1−2	1−2	4−9−2
N.Y. Islanders	0−2−1	3−0	1−2	3−0	1−2	8−6−1
N.Y. Rangers	0−2−1	1−1−1	1−2	1−2	2−0−1	5−7−3
Philadelphia	1−1−1	0−3	1−2	2−0−1	2−0−1	6−6−3
Pittsburgh	0−3	0−3	2−1	0−2−1	0−3	2−12−1
Washington	1−2	0−2−1	2−1	3−0	1−2	7−7−1

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	Total
New Jersey	2−1	2−1	1−2	0−3	0−3	5−10−0
N.Y. Islanders	3−0	1−2	2−0−1	1−1−1	2−1	9−4−2
N.Y. Rangers	2−1	3−0	1−1−1	2−1	1−2	9−5−1
Philadelphia	1−0−2	1−0−2	0−1−2	1−2	3−0	6−3−6
Pittsburgh	1−1−1	0−3	1−2	0−2−1	1−1−1	3−9−3
Washington	1−1−1	1−2	3−0	2−1	3−0	10−4−1

Vs. Smythe Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	CGY	EDM	LAK	VAN	WIN	Total
New Jersey	0−2−1	0−2−1	2−1	1−2	1−2	4−9−2
N.Y. Islanders	0−3	3−0	2−0−1	3−0	1−2	9−5−1
N.Y. Rangers	2−1	1−2	1−0−2	1−1−1	2−1	7−5−3
Philadelphia	2−1	2−0−1	2−1	1−2	2−1	9−5−1
Pittsburgh	0−1−2	0−3	1−2	1−2	1−2	3−10−2
Washington	2−1	1−2	3−0	2−1	2−1	10−5−0

Playoffs

The Flyers were swept in three games for the second consecutive season, this time by the Washington Capitals.

After the loss, Flyers President Jay Snider informed Bob McCammon he could no longer continue as head coach. As GM, McCammon disagreed a change was needed, so he resigned from both positions altogether on April 25. On May 15, Bobby Clarke retired from playing and was named vice president and general manager of the team.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1983–84 regular season
October: 9–3–1, 19 points (home: 5–1–1; road: 4–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 1 October 6 4–1 Washington Capitals Lindbergh 1–0–0 2 W 2 October 8 6–3 @ Montreal Canadiens Lindbergh 2–0–0 4 W 3 October 9 7–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Lindbergh 3–0–0 6 W 4 October 13 4–3 Winnipeg Jets Lindbergh 4–0–0 8 W 5 October 15 5–1 @ New York Islanders Froese 5–0–0 10 W 6 October 16 4–5 @ New York Rangers Froese 5–1–0 10 L 7 October 20 3–3 OT Boston Bruins Lindbergh 5–1–1 11 T 8 October 22 1–4 @ Washington Capitals Lindbergh 5–2–1 11 L 9 October 23 8–5 Toronto Maple Leafs Lindbergh 6–2–1 13 W 10 October 25 4–2 @ Quebec Nordiques Lindbergh 7–2–1 15 W 11 October 27 4–3 Quebec Nordiques Lindbergh 8–2–1 17 W 12 October 29 3–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Froese 9–2–1 19 W 13 October 30 2–6 New York Islanders Froese 9–3–1 19 L
November: 5–5–2, 12 points (home: 2–2–1; road: 3–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 14 November 3 5–6 Los Angeles Kings Lindbergh 9–4–1 19 L 15 November 5 6–7 @ St. Louis Blues Lindbergh 9–5–1 19 L 16 November 6 4–2 Hartford Whalers Froese 10–5–1 21 W 17 November 8 1–4 @ New York Islanders Lindbergh 10–6–1 21 L 18 November 12 5–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs Froese 11–6–1 23 W 19 November 13 2–3 @ Winnipeg Jets Froese 11–7–1 23 L 20 November 17 5–5 OT Minnesota North Stars Lindbergh 11–7–2 24 T 21 November 20 5–4 OT Pittsburgh Penguins Lindbergh 12–7–2 26 W 22 November 23 2–4 New York Islanders Lindbergh 12–8–2 26 L 23 November 26 5–4 @ Vancouver Canucks Lindbergh 13–8–2 28 W 24 November 29 8–5 @ Calgary Flames Froese 14–8–2 30 W 25 November 30 3–3 OT @ Edmonton Oilers Froese 14–8–3 31 T
December: 6–3–3, 15 points (home: 3–2–1; road: 3–1–2) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 26 December 3 6–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Froese 15–8–3 33 W 27 December 4 5–6 Hartford Whalers Froese 15–9–3 33 L 28 December 8 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks Froese 16–9–3 35 W 29 December 10 8–2 @ New Jersey Devils Lindbergh 17–9–3 37 W 30 December 11 5–6 Buffalo Sabres Froese 17–10–3 37 L 31 December 15 9–4 Washington Capitals Lindbergh 18–10–3 39 W 32 December 17 3–3 OT @ Detroit Red Wings Froese 18–10–4 40 T 33 December 18 3–3 OT Detroit Red Wings Lindbergh 18–10–5 41 T 34 December 21 3–3 OT @ Chicago Black Hawks Froese 18–10–6 42 T 35 December 22 5–0 New Jersey Devils Lindbergh 19–10–6 44 W 36 December 26 5–4 @ Washington Capitals Froese 20–10–6 46 W 37 December 30 3–6 @ New York Rangers Lindbergh 20–11–6 46 L
January: 7–4–2, 16 points (home: 3–2–0; road: 4–2–2) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 38 January 3 7–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Froese 21–11–6 48 W 39 January 5 7–6 OT Winnipeg Jets Froese 22–11–6 50 W 40 January 7 8–4 @ Detroit Red Wings Lindbergh 23–11–6 52 W 41 January 8 1–7 Washington Capitals Lindbergh 23–12–6 52 L 42 January 11 2–6 @ Buffalo Sabres Lindbergh 23–13–6 52 L 43 January 12 1–2 New York Rangers Froese 23–14–6 52 L 44 January 14 3–3 OT @ Quebec Nordiques Froese 23–14–7 53 T 45 January 17 6–4 @ Montreal Canadiens Froese 24–14–7 55 W 46 January 19 2–0 New Jersey Devils Froese 25–14–7 57 W 47 January 21 7–1 New York Islanders Froese 26–14–7 59 W 48 January 25 5–2 @ Los Angeles Kings Froese 27–14–7 61 W 49 January 27 0–4 @ Vancouver Canucks Froese 27–15–7 61 L 50 January 29 5–5 OT @ Chicago Black Hawks Froese 27–15–8 62 T
February: 7–5–2, 16 points (home: 5–2–2; road: 2–3–0) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 51 February 2 2–2 OT Montreal Canadiens Froese 27–15–9 63 T 52 February 4 5–8 @ Boston Bruins Lindbergh 27–16–9 63 L 53 February 5 7–0 Toronto Maple Leafs Froese 28–16–9 65 W 54 February 9 4–3 Edmonton Oilers Froese 29–16–9 67 W 55 February 11 3–6 @ Washington Capitals Froese 29–17–9 67 L 56 February 12 5–6 Vancouver Canucks Lindbergh 29–18–9 67 L 57 February 16 5–2 St. Louis Blues Froese 30–18–9 69 W 58 February 18 4–3 New Jersey Devils Froese 31–18–9 71 W 59 February 19 3–2 OT @ New York Rangers Froese 32–18–9 73 W 60 February 21 4–5 OT Buffalo Sabres Froese 32–19–9 73 L 61 February 23 3–3 OT Minnesota North Stars Froese 32–19–10 74 T 62 February 25 7–9 @ Hartford Whalers Lindbergh 32–20–10 74 L 63 February 26 5–3 New York Islanders Froese 33–20–10 76 W 64 February 29 5–3 @ Edmonton Oilers Froese 34–20–10 78 W
March: 10–5–0, 20 points (home: 7–0–0; road: 3–5–0) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 65 March 1 1–5 @ Calgary Flames Froese 34–21–10 78 L 66 March 3 3–4 @ St. Louis Blues Lindbergh 34–22–10 78 L 67 March 6 2–5 @ New York Islanders Froese 34–23–10 78 L 68 March 8 4–1 Los Angeles Kings Froese 35–23–10 80 W 69 March 10 3–4 @ Minnesota North Stars Lindbergh 35–24–10 80 L 70 March 11 3–2 Calgary Flames Froese 36–24–10 82 W 71 March 14 3–6 @ New York Rangers Froese 36–25–10 82 L 72 March 15 6–3 Boston Bruins Froese 37–25–10 84 W 73 March 17 6–4 New York Rangers Froese 38–25–10 86 W 74 March 19 4–3 @ New Jersey Devils Lindbergh 39–25–10 88 W 75 March 22 13–4 Pittsburgh Penguins Lindbergh 40–25–10 90 W 76 March 24 6–5 New York Rangers Froese 41–25–10 92 W 77 March 25 4–1 New Jersey Devils Froese 42–25–10 94 W 78 March 28 5–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Froese 43–25–10 96 W 79 March 30 6–2 @ New Jersey Devils Lindbergh 44–25–10 98 W
April: 0–1–0, 0 points (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Decision Record Points Recap 80 April 1 1–4 Washington Capitals Froese 44–26–10 98 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1984 Stanley Cup playoffs
Patrick Division Semifinals vs. Washington Capitals – Capitals win 3–0 Game Date Score Opponent Decision Series Recap 1 April 4 2–4 @ Washington Capitals Froese Capitals lead 1–0 L 2 April 5 2–6 @ Washington Capitals Froese Capitals lead 2–0 L 3 April 7 1–5 Washington Capitals Lindbergh Capitals win 3–0 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• 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.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
12	Tim Kerr	RW	79	54	39	93	30	29	3	0	0	0	−4	0
26	Brian Propp	LW	79	39	53	92	49	37	3	0	1	1	−4	6
20	Dave Poulin	LW	73	31	45	76	31	47	3	0	0	0	−4	2
27	Darryl Sittler	C	76	27	36	63	13	38	3	0	2	2	−1	7
16	Bobby Clarke	C	73	17	43	60	23	70	3	2	1	3	−1	6
7	Bill Barber	LW	63	22	32	54	4	36	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Mark Howe	D	71	19	34	53	30	44	3	0	0	0	0	2
14	Ron Sutter	C	79	19	32	51	4	101	3	0	0	0	0	22
23	Ilkka Sinisalo	LW	73	29	17	46	22	29	2	2	0	2	0	0
6	Thomas Eriksson	D	68	11	33	44	28	37	3	0	1	1	−4	0
3	Doug Crossman	D	78	7	28	35	23	63	3	0	0	0	−2	0
11	Len Hachborn	C	38	11	21	32	8	4	3	0	0	0	−2	7
9	Miroslav Dvorak	D	66	4	27	31	19	27	2	0	0	0	−5	2
15	Rich Sutter†	RW	70	16	12	28	10	93	3	0	0	0	0	15
10	Brad McCrimmon	D	71	0	24	24	19	76	1	0	0	0	−1	4
29	Glen Cochrane	D	67	7	16	23	16	225	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	Paul Holmgren‡	RW	52	9	13	22	1	105	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Rick MacLeish‡	C	29	8	14	22	4	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
19	Ray Allison	RW	37	8	13	21	11	47	3	0	1	1	−2	4
8	Brad Marsh	D	77	3	14	17	24	83	3	1	1	2	−1	2
25	Paul Guay†	RW	14	2	6	8	1	14	3	0	0	0	−2	4
22	Ross Fitzpatrick	C	12	4	2	6	4	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Dave Brown	RW	19	1	5	6	4	98	2	0	0	0	0	12
28	Daryl Stanley	D	23	1	4	5	4	71	3	0	0	0	−3	19
18	Lindsay Carson	C	16	1	3	4	−7	10	1	0	0	0	−1	5
11	Ron Flockhart‡	23	8	0	3	3	1	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Bob Froese	G	48	0	2	2		10	3	0	0	0		0
31	Pelle Lindbergh	G	36	0	1	1		6	2	0	0	0		0
24	Randy Holt	D	26	0	0	0	−1	74	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Mark Taylor‡	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Frank Bathe	D	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
35	Bob Froese	48	46	28	13	7	1324	150	3.15	.887	2	2,855	3	2	0	2	76	11	4.37	.855	0	151
31	Pelle Lindbergh	36	34	16	13	3	963	135	4.07	.860	1	1,990	2	1	0	1	13	3	7.01	.769	0	26

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Thomas Eriksson (Defense)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Tim Kerr
		Brian Propp
	NHL Player of the Week	Pelle Lindbergh (October 11)
		Tim Kerr (March 16)
Team	Barry Ashbee Trophy	Miroslav Dvorak
	Class Guy Award	Dave Poulin

Records

See also: List of Philadelphia Flyers records

Among the team records set during the 1983–84 season was the franchise high 350 goals scored on the season. On December 15 against the Washington Capitals, the Flyers scored three shorthanded goals during the game (tied for the team record) and three during the second period. On March 22 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers scored 13 goals, a franchise high which was tied seven months later. 1984 was the final year of Bobby Clarke's team record twelve consecutive years in the playoffs streak dating back to 1973.

The 1983–84 season was the final NHL seasons for three longtime Flyers — Clarke, Bill Barber, and Rick MacLeish — who hold several career records for the team. Clarke holds the regular season marks for seasons played (15, tied with Claude Giroux), games played (1,144), assists (852), and points (1,210). Clarke also holds the playoff marks for seasons played (13), games played (136), assists (77), and points (119). Barber holds the regular season mark for goals scored (420) and is tied for the playoff mark for goals scored (53) with MacLeish.

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
400th goal	Bill Barber	October 9, 1983
First game	Len Hachborn	November 20, 1983
	Daryl Stanley	February 16, 1984
	Paul Guay	March 6, 1984
600th assist	Darryl Sittler	November 29, 1983
1000th game played	Darryl Sittler	January 8, 1984

Franchise firsts

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
Overtime goal, regular season	Bobby Clarke	November 20, 1983

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 18, 1983, the day after the deciding game of the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 19, 1984, the day of the deciding game of the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 8, 1983 (1983-06-08)	To Philadelphia Flyers Doug Crossman 2nd-round pick in 1984	To Chicago Black Hawks Behn Wilson
September 9, 1983 (1983-09-09)	To Philadelphia Flyers Future considerations	To Hartford Whalers Tom Gorence
October 23, 1983 (1983-10-23)	To Philadelphia Flyers Rich Sutter 2nd-round pick in 1984 3rd-round pick in 1984	To Pittsburgh Penguins Andy Brickley Ron Flockhart Mark Taylor 1st-round pick in 1984 3rd-round pick in 1984
January 5, 1984 (1984-01-05)	To Philadelphia Flyers cash	To St. Louis Blues Michel Larocque
January 8, 1984 (1984-01-08)	To Philadelphia Flyers Future considerations	To Detroit Red Wings Rick MacLeish
February 23, 1984 (1984-02-23)	To Philadelphia Flyers Rights to Paul Guay 3rd-round pick in 1985	To Minnesota North Stars Paul Holmgren

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
August 30, 1983 (1983-08-30)	Randy Holt	Washington Capitals		Free agency
October 6, 1983 (1983-10-06)	Rick MacLeish	Pittsburgh Penguins	1-year	Free agency
May 1, 1984 (1984-05-01)	Darren Jensen	Fort Wayne Komets (IHL)	multi-year	Free agency

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via	Ref
August 1, 1983 (1983-08-01)	John Paddock	New Jersey Devils	Free agency
August 15, 1983 (1983-08-15)	Bob Hoffmeyer	New Jersey Devils	Free agency
N/A	Gord Williams		Retirement
October 1983 (1983-10)	Tom Gorence	Edmonton Oilers	Release
May 15, 1984 (1984-05-15)	Bobby Clarke		Retirement

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Ref
August 15, 1983 (1983-08-15)	Thomas Eriksson	multi-year
February 23, 1984 (1984-02-23)	Paul Holmgren	2-year
May 9, 1984 (1984-05-09)	Todd Bergen	multi-year
	Dave Poulin	multi-year
	Rick Tocchet	multi-year
	Peter Zezel	multi-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Philadelphia Flyers draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1983 NHL entry draft, which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, on June 8, 1983.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	Notes
2	41	Peter Zezel	Center	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
3	44	Derrick Smith	Left wing	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
4	81	Allen Bourbeau	Center	United States	Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (Massachusetts)
5	101	Jerome Carrier	Defense	Canada	Verdun Juniors (QMJHL)
6	121	Rick Tocchet	Right wing	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
7	141	Bob Mormina	Forward	Canada	Longueuil Chevaliers (QMJHL)
8	161	Pelle Eklund	Center	Sweden	AIK (Elitserien)
9	181	Robbie Nichols	Right wing	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
10	201	Bill McCormack	Center	United States	Westminster School (Conn.)
11	221	Brian Jopling	Goaltender	United States	Williston Northampton School (Massachusetts)
12	241	Harold Duvall	Left wing	United States	Belmont Hill School (Massachusetts)

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Springfield Indians of the AHL and the Toledo Goaldiggers of the IHL.

References

• "Philadelphia Flyers 1983–84 roster and statistics". The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
• "1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
• "Flyers History - Season Overview : 1983–84". Flyers History. FlyersAlumni.net. Retrieved February 10, 2022.