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07-08PhiFly
2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers
Division 4th Atlantic
Conference 6th Eastern
2007–08 record 42–29–11
Home record 21–14–6
Road record 21–15–5
Goals for 248
Goals against 233
Team information
General manager Paul Holmgren
Coach John Stevens
Captain Jason Smith
Alternate captains Simon Gagne
Mike Richards
Arena Wachovia Center
Average attendance 19,556(100.2%)
Team leaders
Goals Danny Briere (31)
Assists Mike Richards (47)
Points Mike Richards (75)
Penalty minutes Riley Cote (202)
Plus/minus Braydon Coburn (+17)
Wins Martin Biron (30)
Goals against average Martin Biron (2.59)

The 2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 41st season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Flyers began the 2007–08 season with the intention of putting the disaster of the previous season behind them. In June, the Flyers made a trade which sent the first round draft pick they had acquired in the Forsberg trade (23rd overall) back to Nashville for the rights to negotiate with impending unrestricted free agents Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. Both were signed to six-year contracts. After much speculation as to whether the Flyers would trade the 2nd overall 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 co-captain Danny Briere to an 8-year, $52 million contract. Continuing to revamp their defensive core, Joni Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson were traded to Edmonton for Oilers captain Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul. Smith was named Flyers captain on October 1st.

The season began in the image of the Broad Street Bullies era, with multiple-game suspensions handed out to 5 separate players, the most serious being 25-game suspensions to Steve Downie and Jesse Boulerice 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. But a disastrous 10-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 huge wins over New Jersey and Pittsburgh over the final weekend of the regular season put the Flyers back in the playoffs as the 6th seed and a 1st round matchup with Washington.

After taking a 3 games to 1 lead over Washington, the Capitals won Games 5 and 6 to force a Game 7 in Washington. Coming back from a 2-0 deficit, the Flyers won the series in overtime on Joffrey Lupul's powerplay goal. The Flyers then drew a matchup with heavily-favored Montreal in the 2nd round. Despite being outshot the majority of the series, the Flyers upset Montreal in 5 games and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 1st time since 2003–04 to face Pittsburgh. Before the start of the series, the Flyers suffered a fatal blow when it was learned that 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 5 games.

Regular season[]

Divisional standings[]

Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 82 47 27 8 247 216 102
2 4 New Jersey Devils 82 46 29 7 206 197 99
3 5 New York Rangers 82 42 27 13 213 199 97
4 6 Philadelphia Flyers 82 42 29 11 248 233 95
5 13 New York Islanders 82 35 38 9 194 243 79

Conference standings[]

Eastern Conference
GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
z-Montreal Canadiens * 82 47 25 10 262 222 104
y-Pittsburgh Penguins * 82 47 27 8 247 216 102
y-Washington Capitals * 82 43 31 8 242 231 94
New Jersey Devils 82 46 29 7 206 197 99
New York Rangers 82 42 27 13 213 199 97
Philadelphia Flyers 82 42 29 11 248 233 95
Ottawa Senators 82 43 31 8 261 247 94
Boston Bruins 82 41 29 12 212 222 94
Carolina Hurricanes 82 43 33 6 252 249 92
Buffalo Sabres 82 39 31 12 255 242 90
Florida Panthers 82 38 35 9 216 226 85
Toronto Maple Leafs 82 36 35 11 231 260 83
New York Islanders 82 35 38 9 194 243 79
Atlanta Thrashers 82 34 40 8 216 272 76
Tampa Bay Lightning 82 31 42 9 223 267 71

bold - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division title, z - clinched best conference record, * - division leader

Game log[]

      Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

2007–08 Game Log

Playoffs[]

Game log[]

      Win       Loss

2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Player stats[]

Skaters[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Mike Richards 18 73 28 47 75 76 17 7 7 14 8
Danny Briere 48 79 31 41 72 68 17 9 7 16 20
Mike Knuble 22 82 29 26 55 72 12 3 4 7 6
Jeff Carter 17 82 29 24 53 55 17 6 5 11 12
R.J. Umberger 20 74 13 37 50 19 17 10 5 15 10
Joffrey Lupul 15 56 20 26 46 35 17 4 6 10 2
Kimmo Timonen 44 80 8 36 44 50 13 0 6 6 8
Scott Hartnell 19 80 24 19 43 159 17 3 4 7 20
Braydon Coburn 5 78 9 27 36 74 14 0 6 6 14
Randy Jones 6 71 5 26 31 58 16 0 2 2 4
Scottie Upshall 9 61 14 16 30 74 17 3 4 7 44
Simon Gagne 12 25 7 11 18 4 - - - - -
Vaclav Prospal 40 18 4 10 14 6 17 3 10 13 6
Steve Downie 27 32 6 6 12 73 6 0 1 1 10
Jim Dowd 34 73 5 5 10 41 17 1 2 3 4
Jason Smith 21 77 1 9 10 86 17 0 2 2 4
Sami Kapanen 24 74 5 3 8 16 16 2 0 2 2
Derian Hatcher 2 44 2 5 7 33 15 1 2 3 40
Jim Vandermeer†‡ 26 28 1 5 6 27 - - - - -
Denis Tolpeko 53 26 1 5 6 24 - - - - -
Lasse Kukkonen 28 53 1 4 5 38 14 0 2 2 6
Patrick Thoresen 25 20 0 5 5 8 14 0 2 2 4
Riley Cote 32 70 1 3 4 202 3 0 0 0 0
Stefan Ruzicka 14 14 1 3 4 27 - - - - -
Jaroslav Modry 26 18 0 3 3 8 9 0 3 3 0
Martin Biron (G) 43 62 0 1 1 8 17 0 1 1 2
Rory Fitzpatrick 8 19 0 1 1 11 - - - - -
Ryan Potulny 11 7 0 1 1 4 - - - - -
Antero Niittymaki (G) 30 28 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
Ben Eager 55 23 0 0 0 62 - - - - -
Ryan Parent 77 22 0 0 0 6 4 0 1 1 0
Jesse Boulerice 36 5 0 0 0 29 - - - - -
Alexandre Picard 45 4 0 0 0 2 - - - - -
Nate Guenin 29 2 0 0 0 2 - - - - -
Claude Giroux 56 2 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
Kyle Greentree 65 2 0 0 0 0 - - - - -

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Flyers. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Goaltenders[]

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP TOI W L OT GA SO SV% GAA GP TOI W L GA SO SV% GAA
Martin Biron 43 62 3539 30 20 9 153 5 .918 2.59 17 1049 9 8 52 1 .904 2.97
Antero Niittymaki 30 28 1424 12 9 2 69 1 .907 2.91 - - - - - - - -

Awards and records[]

Awards[]

NHL
Award Recipient
All-Star Game representative Mike Richards
Kimmo Timonen
NHL 1st Star of the Week Martin Biron (October 22)
Martin Biron (November 26)
NHL 3rd Star of the Week Joffrey Lupul (December 17)
Scott Hartnell (January 14)
Scott Hartnell (January 21)
Mike Knuble (March 3)
Team
Award Recipient
Barry Ashbee Trophy Kimmo Timonen
Bobby Clarke Trophy Mike Richards
Gene Hart Memorial Award Mike Richards
Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Braydon Coburn
Riley Cote
Toyota Cup Martin Biron
Yanick Dupre Memorial Martin Biron

Records[]

Milestones[]

Regular Season
Player Milestone Reached
Denis Tolpeko 1st NHL Game October 4, 2007
Randy Jones 100th NHL Game October 6, 2007
Simon Gagne 400th NHL Point October 20, 2007
Scottie Upshall 100th NHL Game November 8, 2007
Ben Eager
Lasse Kukkonen
100th NHL Game November 10, 2007
Danny Briere 500th NHL Game November 12, 2007
Denis Tolpeko 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
November 15, 2007
Riley Cote 1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
November 15, 2007
Jeff Carter 100th NHL PIM November 15, 2007
Danny Briere 400th NHL Point November 21, 2007
Ben Eager 300th NHL PIM November 26, 2007
Steve Downie 1st NHL Game December 5, 2007
Danny Briere 400th NHL PIM December 5, 2007
Rory Fitzpatrick 200th NHL PIM December 7, 2007
Kimmo Timonen 600th NHL Game December 7, 2007
Steve Downie 1st NHL Goal January 5, 2008
Scott Hartnell 100th NHL Goal January 8, 2008
R.J. Umberger 100th NHL Point January 24, 2008
Sami Kapanen 800th NHL Game January 24, 2008
Riley Cote 1st NHL Goal February 17, 2008
Claude Giroux 1st NHL Game February 19, 2008

Transactions[]

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions before and during the 2007–08 season.

Trades[]

June 4, 2007
To Philadelphia Flyers
future considerations
To Nashville Predators
Matt Ellison
June 18, 2007
To Philadelphia Flyers
rights to Kimmo Timonen
rights to Scott Hartnell
To Nashville Predators
Nashville's 1st round pick in 2007
June 23, 2007
To Philadelphia Flyers
2nd round pick in 2007
To Washington Capitals
2nd round pick in 2008
Nashville's 3rd round pick in 2007
July 1, 2007
To Philadelphia Flyers
Jason Smith
Joffrey Lupul
To Edmonton Oilers
Geoff Sanderson
Joni Pitkanen
3rd round pick in 2009
December 10, 2007
To Philadelphia Flyers
7th round pick in 2009
To Dallas Stars
Jussi Timonen
December 18, 2007
To Philadelphia Flyers
Jim Vandermeer
To Chicago Blackhawks
Ben Eager
February 19, 2008
To Philadelphia Flyers
Jaroslav Modry
To Los Angeles Kings
3rd round pick in 2008
February 20, 2008
To Philadelphia Flyers
3rd round pick in 2009
To Calgary Flames
Jim Vandermeer
February 25, 2008
To Philadelphia Flyers
Vaclav Prospal
To Tampa Bay Lightning
Alexandre Picard
2nd round pick in 2009

Other transactions[]

Date Player Team (League) Notes
Signed via free agency
July 1, 2007 Danny Briere Buffalo (NHL) 8 years, $52 million
October 2, 2007 Jesse Boulerice Albany (AHL) 1 year
October 2, 2007 Jim Dowd New Jersey (NHL) 1 year
October 9, 2007 Rory Fitzpatrick Vancouver (NHL) 1 year
Lost via free agency
May 1, 2007 Eric Meloche Straubing (DEL)
May 13, 2007 Brad Tapper Iserlohn (DEL)
June 4, 2007 David Printz Djurgarden IF (Elitserien)
July 5, 2007 Mark Cullen Detroit (NHL)
July 6, 2007 Denis Hamel Ottawa (NHL)
July 9, 2007 Todd Fedoruk Dallas (NHL)
July 9, 2007 Mike York Phoenix (NHL)
July 13, 2007 Niko Dimitrakos Ottawa (NHL)
August 6, 2007 Dmitry Afanasenkov Dynamo Moscow (RSL)
September 11, 2007 John Slaney Cologne (DEL)
October 17, 2007 Robert Esche Ak Bars Kazan (RSL)
Claimed off waivers
February 22, 2008 Patrick Thoresen Edmonton
Re-signed
May 11, 2007 Scottie Upshall 2 years, $2.45 million
May 14, 2007 Ben Eager 2 years, $1.2 million
May 17, 2007 Lasse Kukkonen 2 years, $1.75 million
June 8, 2007 Riley Cote 1 year
June 8, 2007 Lars Jonsson 1 year
June 14, 2007 Antero Niittymaki 2 years, $2.54 million
June 18, 2007 Scott Hartnell 6 years, $25.2 million
June 18, 2007 Kimmo Timonen 6 years, $37.8 million
July 25, 2007 Boyd Kane 2 years
November 28, 2007 Braydon Coburn 2 years, $2.6 million extension
December 13, 2007 Mike Richards 12 years, $69 million extension
Signed to Entry Level contracts
May 17, 2007 David Laliberte P.E.I. (QMJHL) Drafted 124th overall, 2004
June 1, 2007 Josh Beaulieu London (OHL) Drafted 152nd overall, 2005
June 1, 2007 Jeremy Duchesne Val-d'Or (QMJHL) Drafted 119th overall, 2005
July 23, 2007 Claude Giroux Gatineau (QMJHL) Drafted 22nd overall, 2006
November 1, 2007 Patrick Maroon London (OHL) Drafted 161st overall, 2007
March 19, 2008 Rob Bellamy U. of Maine (HE) Drafted 92nd overall, 2004
March 19, 2008 Matt Clackson Western Michigan (CCHA) Drafted 215th overall, 2005
March 19, 2008 Michael Teslak Michigan Tech (WCHA) Undrafted free agent
March 29, 2008 Jon Kalinski Minnesota State Mankato (WCHA) Drafted 152nd overall, 2007
April 4, 2008 Andreas Nodl St. Cloud State (WCHA) Drafted 39th overall, 2006
April 4, 2008 Michael Ratchuk Michigan State (CCHA) Drafted 42nd overall, 2006

Draft picks[]

Philadelphia's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.

Rnd # Player Position Nationality Drafted From
1 2 James van Riemsdyk Left Wing Flag of the United States United States US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
2 41 Kevin Marshall Defenseman Flag of Canada Canada Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL)
3 66 Garrett Klotz Left Wing Flag of Canada Canada Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
5 122 Mario Kempe Right Wing Flag of Sweden Sweden St. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL)
6 152 Jon Kalinski Left Wing Flag of Canada Canada Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL)
6 161 Patrick Maroon Left Wing Flag of the United States United States London Knights (OHL)
7 182 Brad Phillips Goaltender Flag of the United States United States US National Team Development Program (NAHL)

Farm teams[]

The Flyers were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL and the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. 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. In their first and only season as the Flyers ECHL affiliate, the Nailers finished last in their division and missed the playoffs.

See also[]

References[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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