2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 41st season in the National Hockey League (NHL).^[4] The Flyers went from the worst team in the league during the previous season to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games.

Off-season

In June, the Flyers made a trade which sent the first round draft pick they had acquired in the Peter Forsberg trade (23rd overall) back to the Nashville Predators for the rights to negotiate with impending unrestricted free agents Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. Both were signed to six-year contracts.

Due to having the NHL's worst record during the 2006–07 season, the Flyers had the best chance to claim the first overall pick in the draft lottery. However, the Chicago Blackhawks won the lottery and jumped up to the first overall selection, relegating the Flyers to the 2nd overall pick. After much speculation as to whether the Flyers would trade the pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the Flyers stayed put and selected New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk.

The Flyers wasted no time in addressing their free agent needs. On July 1, the Flyers signed Buffalo Sabres center Daniel Briere to an eight-year, $52 million contract. Continuing to revamp their defensive core, defenseman Joni Pitkanen and forward Geoff Sanderson were traded to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Jason Smith and forward Joffrey Lupul. Smith was named Flyers captain on October 1.^[5]

Regular season

The season began in the image of the Broad Street Bullies era, with multiple-game suspensions handed out to five separate players, the most serious being 20- and 25-game suspensions to Steve Downie and Jesse Boulerice, respectively, for two separate incidents. A 7–3 start in October and a 9–3–1 January run had the Flyers near the top of both the division and conference standings. However, a disastrous ten-game losing streak in February, reminiscent of such a streak the previous season, nearly derailed the Flyers' season. An 8–3–4 run in March coupled with two vital wins over the New Jersey Devils and the Pittsburgh Penguins over the final weekend of the regular season put the Flyers back in the playoffs as the sixth seed and set for a first round matchup with the Washington Capitals.

Divisional standings

Conference standings

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

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

Playoffs

After taking a three games to one series lead over Washington, the Capitals won Games 5 and 6 to force a Game 7 in Washington. The Flyers won the series in overtime on Joffrey Lupul's power play goal. The Flyers then drew a matchup with the heavily-favored Montreal Canadiens in the second round. Despite being outshot the majority of the series, the Flyers upset Montreal in five games and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2003–04 to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. Before the start of the series, the Flyers suffered a fatal blow when it was learned that defenseman Kimmo Timonen was out with a blood clot in his ankle. Coupled with a gruesome facial injury to Braydon Coburn in Game 2, Pittsburgh ran roughshod over the Flyers' depleted defense and jumped out to a 3–0 series lead. The Flyers won Game 4 at home to stave off elimination, and although Timonen returned for Game 5, Pittsburgh finished off the Flyers in five games.

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

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.

				Regular season						Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
18	Richards, MikeMike Richards	22	C	73	28	47	75	14	76	17	7	7	14	0	8
48	Briere, DanielDaniel Briere	30	C	79	31	41	72	−22	68	17	9	7	16	−3	20
22	Knuble, MikeMike Knuble	35	RW	82	29	26	55	−3	72	12	3	4	7	−1	6
17	Carter, JeffJeff Carter	23	C	82	29	24	53	6	55	17	6	5	11	0	12
20	Umberger, R. J.R. J. Umberger	25	C	74	13	37	50	0	19	17	10	5	15	7	10
15	Lupul, JoffreyJoffrey Lupul	24	RW	56	20	26	46	2	35	17	4	6	10	1	2
44	Timonen, KimmoKimmo Timonen	32	D	80	8	36	44	0	50	13	0	6	6	3	8
19	Hartnell, ScottScott Hartnell	25	LW	80	24	19	43	2	159	17	3	4	7	−2	20
5	Coburn, BraydonBraydon Coburn	22	D	78	9	27	36	17	74	14	0	6	6	4	14
6	Jones, RandyRandy Jones	26	D	71	5	26	31	8	58	16	0	2	2	6	4
9	Upshall, ScottieScottie Upshall	24	RW	61	14	16	30	2	74	17	3	4	7	1	44
12	Gagne, SimonSimon Gagne	27	LW	25	7	11	18	−8	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
40	Prospal, VaclavVaclav Prospal	32	LW	18	4	10	14	7	6	17	3	10	13	−3	6
27	Downie, SteveSteve Downie	20	RW	32	6	6	12	2	73	6	0	1	1	−2	10
34	Dowd, JimJim Dowd	39	C	73	5	5	10	0	41	17	1	2	3	0	4
21	Smith, JasonJason Smith	34	D	77	1	9	10	−4	86	17	0	2	2	−4	4
24	Kapanen, SamiSami Kapanen	34	RW	74	5	3	8	−12	16	16	2	0	2	−4	2
2	Hatcher, DerianDerian Hatcher	35	D	44	2	5	7	4	33	15	1	2	3	2	40
26	Vandermeer, JimJim Vandermeer	27	D	28	1	5	6	−1	27	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
53	Tolpeko, DenisDenis Tolpeko	23	C	26	1	5	6	−4	24	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
28	Kukkonen, LasseLasse Kukkonen	26	D	53	1	4	5	3	38	14	0	2	2	−1	6
25	Thoresen, PatrickPatrick Thoresen	24	LW	20	0	5	5	−6	8	14	0	2	2	1	4
32	Cote, RileyRiley Cote	25	LW	70	1	3	4	2	202	3	0	0	0	0	0
14	Ruzicka, StefanStefan Ruzicka	22	RW	14	1	3	4	5	27	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
26	Modry, JaroslavJaroslav Modry	36	D	18	0	3	3	−11	8	9	0	3	3	−6	0
43	Biron, MartinMartin Biron	30	G	62	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	8	17	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	2
8	Fitzpatrick, RoryRory Fitzpatrick	33	D	19	0	1	1	−12	11	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
11	Potulny, RyanRyan Potulny	23	C	7	0	1	1	0	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
30	Niittymaki, AnteroAntero Niittymaki	27	G	28	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
55	Eager, BenBen Eager	24	LW	23	0	0	0	−8	62	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
77	Parent, RyanRyan Parent	20	D	22	0	0	0	−4	6	4	0	1	1	−1	0
36	Boulerice, JesseJesse Boulerice	29	RW	5	0	0	0	−2	29	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
45	Picard, AlexandreAlexandre Picard	22	D	4	0	0	0	−3	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
29	Guenin, NateNate Guenin	25	D	2	0	0	0	2	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
56	Giroux, ClaudeClaude Giroux	20	RW	2	0	0	0	−2	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
65	Greentree, KyleKyle Greentree	24	LW	2	0	0	0	−1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Milestones

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 7, 2007, the day after the deciding game of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 4, 2008, the day of the deciding game of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.^[15]

Trades

Trade notes

• ^a Condition not met.

Signings

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.

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.

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 2007 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on June 22–23, 2007.^[53]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2007 and their NHL career regular season statistics (complete through the end of the 2015–16 season)

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	OT	GAA	Notes
1	2	van Riemsdyk, JamesJames van Riemsdyk	Left Wing	United States	USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NAHL)	446	136	141	277	214	& —	& —	& —	& —
2	41	Marshall, KevinKevin Marshall	Defense	Canada	Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL)	10	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	8	& —	& —	& —	& —	[a]
3	66	Klotz, GarrettGarrett Klotz	Left Wing	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	[b]
5	122	Kempe, MarioMario Kempe	Right Wing	Sweden	St. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	152	Kalinski, JonJon Kalinski	Left Wing	Canada	Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL)	22	1	4	5	0.1 !0	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	161	Maroon, PatrickPatrick Maroon	Left Wing	United States	London Knights (OHL)	220	34	59	93	283	& —	& —	& —	& —	[c]
7	182	Phillips, BradBrad Phillips	Goaltender	United States	USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NAHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

Draft notes^[54]

• The Flyers traded their second-round pick, 31st overall, to the Buffalo Sabres for Martin Biron on February 27, 2007.
• ^a The Flyers traded their 2008 second-round pick and the Nashville Predators' third-round pick, 84th overall, to the Washington Capitals for the Carolina Hurricanes' second-round pick, 41st overall, on June 23, 2007.
• The Flyers traded Freddy Meyer and their third-round pick, 62nd overall, to the New York Islanders for Alexei Zhitnik on December 16, 2006.
• ^b The Flyers traded Kyle Calder to the Chicago Blackhawks for Lasse Kukkonen and the Blackhawks' third-round pick, 66th overall, on February 26, 2007.
• The Flyers traded their fourth-round pick, 92nd overall, and future considerations to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Todd Fedoruk on November 13, 2006.
• ^c The Flyers traded Jon Sim to the Florida Panthers for the Panthers' sixth-round pick, 161st overall, on January 23, 2006.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL^[2] and the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.^[3] The Phantoms, with Craig Berube returning as head coach, finished second in their division and won their first round playoff series against the Albany River Rats in seven games. They lost in the second round to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in five games.^[55] In their first and only season as the Flyers ECHL affiliate, the Nailers finished last in their division and missed the playoffs.

References

General

• hockeyDB.com: Roster and player statistics · Results and Schedule
• hockey-reference.com: Roster and Statistics · Schedule and Results
• Flyers History: Season Overview · Game Scores & Results · Playoff Results

Specific

External links

• Philadelphia Flyers Historical Salaries from CapGeek.com