2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 39th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Buffalo Sabres in six games.

Off-season

The Flyers were one of the more active teams once the lockout came to an end. Replacing the high-profile names of Tony Amonte, John LeClair and Jeremy Roenick were superstar Peter Forsberg, along with defensemen Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje, as well as several players from the Calder Cup-winning Philadelphia Phantoms. When all was said and done, the team had experienced a turnover of nearly two-thirds of the roster.

Regular season

The Flyers began the season with lofty expectations. Despite being hampered by injuries prior to and during 2005–06, the Flyers lived up to those expectations in the first half of the season, reaching the top of the league standings in January while simultaneously holding a ten-point lead in the Atlantic Division. The Deuces Wild line of Forsberg, Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble recorded 75, 79 and 65 points respectively, while Gagne scored a career high 47 goals.

However, the injuries began to accumulate and take their toll. Keith Primeau suffered a concussion on October 25 in Montreal and missed the rest of the season and the playoffs.^[4] In late January, Hatcher was named team captain for the duration of Primeau's absence.^[5] All told, the Flyers were third in the NHL with 388 man-games lost to injury, tops amongst playoff teams.^[6] The second half of the regular season was defined by a record hovering around .500, sending the Flyers on a steady slide in the standings. The Flyers fell short of an Atlantic Division title finishing second by tie-breaker to the New Jersey Devils and drawing the 5th seed and a first round match-up with the Buffalo Sabres.

Season standings

^[7]

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

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

Playoffs

The Flyers lost to Buffalo in six 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
12	Gagne, SimonSimon Gagne	25	LW	72	47	32	79	31	38	6	3	1	4	2	2
21	Forsberg, PeterPeter Forsberg	32	C	60	19	56	75	21	46	6	4	4	8	2	6
22	Knuble, MikeMike Knuble	33	RW	82	34	31	65	25	80	6	1	3	4	1	8
44	Pitkanen, JoniJoni Pitkanen	22	D	58	13	33	46	22	78	6	0	2	2	0	2
26	Handzus, MichalMichal Handzus	28	C	73	11	33	44	−2	38	6	0	2	2	−2	2
17	Carter, JeffJeff Carter	21	C	81	23	19	42	10	40	6	0	0	0	−4	10
20	Umberger, R. J.R. J. Umberger	23	C	73	20	18	38	9	18	5	1	0	1	−3	2
24	Kapanen, SamiSami Kapanen	32	RW	58	12	22	34	−9	12	6	0	0	0	−4	2
18	Richards, MikeMike Richards	20	C	79	11	23	34	6	65	6	0	1	1	−5	0
34	Meyer, FreddyFreddy Meyer	25	D	57	6	21	27	10	33	6	0	1	1	−5	8
5	Johnsson, KimKim Johnsson	29	D	47	6	19	25	5	34	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
37	Desjardins, EricEric Desjardins	36	D	45	4	20	24	3	56	6	1	3	4	−3	6
3	Rathje, MikeMike Rathje	31	D	79	3	21	24	22	46	6	0	0	0	−1	6
2	Hatcher, DerianDerian Hatcher	33	D	77	4	13	17	2	93	6	0	2	2	−4	10
49	Savage, BrianBrian Savage	34	LW	66	9	5	14	−18	28	6	1	0	1	−4	4
19	Radivojevic, BrankoBranko Radivojevic	25	RW	64	8	6	14	−6	44	5	1	0	1	−1	0
11	Sim, JonJon Sim	28	RW	39	7	7	14	−6	28	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
93	Nedved, PetrPetr Nedved	34	C	28	5	9	14	−8	36	6	2	0	2	−4	8
15	Dimitrakos, NikoNiko Dimitrakos	26	RW	9	5	4	9	4	6	5	0	0	0	−2	2
87	Brashear, DonaldDonald Brashear	34	LW	76	4	5	9	−2	166	1	0	0	0	0	0
9	Sharp, PatrickPatrick Sharp	24	C	22	5	3	8	4	10	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
55	Eager, BenBen Eager	22	LW	25	3	5	8	0	18	2	0	0	0	−4	26
29	Jones, RandyRandy Jones	24	D	28	0	8	8	−6	16	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
28	Seidenberg, DennisDennis Seidenberg	24	D	24	2	5	7	−4	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
25	Primeau, KeithKeith Primeau	34	C	9	1	6	7	0	6	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
27	Stevenson, TurnerTurner Stevenson	33	RW	31	1	3	4	−2	45	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
6	Therien, ChrisChris Therien	34	D	47	0	4	4	−7	34	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
14	Ready, RyanRyan Ready	27	LW	7	0	1	1	0	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
23	Ellison, MattMatt Ellison	22	RW	5	0	1	1	2	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
11	Potulny, RyanRyan Potulny	21	C	2	0	1	1	1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
30	Niittymaki, AnteroAntero Niittymaki	25	G	46	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	2	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0
42	Esche, RobertRobert Esche	28	G	44	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	4	6	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	2
23	Gauthier, DenisDenis Gauthier	29	D	17	0	0	0	6	37	6	0	1	1	−5	19
36	Kavanagh, PatPat Kavanagh	26	RW	8	0	0	0	−2	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
41	Picard, AlexandreAlexandre Picard	20	D	6	0	0	0	−2	45	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
46	Gratton, JoshJosh Gratton	23	LW	3	0	0	0	0	14	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
15	Chouinard, EricEric Chouinard	25	C	1	0	0	0	0	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
28	Printz, DavidDavid Printz	25	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
40	Ruzicka, StefanStefan Ruzicka	20	RW	1	0	0	0	0	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
43	Skolney, WadeWade Skolney	24	D	1	0	0	0	0	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004–05 season was officially canceled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.^[12]

Trades

Trade notes

• ^a Option exercised.
• ^b Option not exercised.
• ^c The Flyers received the draft pick as compensation for the Kings hiring Lombardi as their general manager. Lombardi served as a Western Conference scout with the Flyers.

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.

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 2005 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Westin Hotel Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario on July 30, 2005.^[60]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005 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	29	Downie, SteveSteve Downie	Right Wing	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)	434	76	120	196	1057	& —	& —	& —	& —	[a]
3	91	Bartulis, OskarsOskars Bartulis	Defense	Latvia	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)	66	1	8	9	32	& —	& —	& —	& —	[b]
4	119	Duchesne, JeremyJeremy Duchesne	Goaltender	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)	1	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	3.53	[c]
5	152	Beaulieu, JoshJosh Beaulieu	Center	Canada	London Knights (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	174	Flatters, JohnJohn Flatters	Defense	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	215	Clackson, MattMatt Clackson	Right Wing	Canada	Chicago Steel (USHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

Draft notes^[61]

• ^a The Flyers traded their first-round pick, 20th overall, to the Florida Panthers for the Panthers' first-round pick, 29th overall, and the Panthers' 2006 second-round pick on July 30, 2005.
• The Flyers traded their second-round pick, 41st overall, and Rick Kozak to the New York Rangers for Vladimir Malakhov on March 8, 2004.
• The Flyers traded their third-round pick, 81st overall, their 2004 first-round pick, and Jeff Woywitka to the Edmonton Oilers for Mike Comrie on December 16, 2003.
• ^b The Flyers traded their 2004 fifth and sixth-round picks and the San Jose Sharks' 2004 sixth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Lightning's third-round pick, 91st overall, on June 27, 2004.
• The Flyers traded their fourth-round pick, 102nd overall, and the Dallas Stars' third-round pick, 89th overall, to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Lightning's 2006 second-round pick on July 30, 2005.
• ^c The Flyers traded Todd Fedoruk to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for the Mighty Ducks' second-round pick, 59th overall, on July 27, 2005. The Flyers traded the Mighty Ducks' pick to the Phoenix Coyotes for the Columbus Blue Jackets' fourth-round pick, 119th overall, and the Coyotes' 2006 second-round pick on July 30, 2005.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL^[2][62] and the Trenton Titans of the ECHL.^[3]

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