A sometimes frequent look back at how the Philadelphia Flyers have fared on this day, recalling some of the more memorable moments, achievements, and events that have shaped the organization throughout the club’s storied history
The Flyers have recorded a 7-6-1-1 mark in 15 all-time contests played on October 23, going 6-3-1-1 on home ice. Philadelphia has hosted their last six outings, posting a 3-2-0-1 record in the process.
Some of the more memorable moments in franchise history from October 23:
1969 — Andre Lacroix scored one second period goal and assisted on another, while Bernie Parent stopped 37 of 39 shots as the Flyers and Detroit Red Wings skated to a 2-2 draw at the Spectrum.
The tie was the third in the first five games of the regular season for Philadelphia (1-1-3 record), and they would battle to stalemates in the next two outings as well to give them five deadlocks in their first seven games on the way to a franchise-record 24 draws during the 1969/70 regular season.
Nick Libett staked the visitors to a 1-0 lead with the lone goal of the opening period, but the Flyers stormed back with a pair of man advantage strikes within a span of 2:12 to take a 2-1 lead before Garry Unger beat Parent for the game-tying power play marker late in the middle frame.
“Mr. Hockey” himself, Gordie Howe, came up a goal and fight short of a Gordie Howe hat trick, while Roy Edwards made 32 saves for Detroit in the tie.
1976 — Bill Barber scored twice and Bernie Parent stopped 18 Buffalo shots to lift the Flyers to a 3-2 decision over the Buffalo Sabres at the Spectrum.
Buffalo grabbed a 1-0 lead midway through the opening period courtesy of a Glibert Perreault power play tally, but Barber and Mel Bridgman countered for the home squad before the end of the frame to take a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.
Barber doubled the lead when he beat Sabres’ netminder Gerry Desjardins for a second time in the latter stages of the second, and what had been some extra breathing room actually became the final margin of victory when Perreault’s ‘French Connection’ linemate Richard Martin connected with the back of the net with just under eight minutes remaining in regulation.
Philadelphia heavily outshot the visiting Sabres, 37-20 — including a wide 21-4 margin in the middle stanza — but Desjardins came up with 34 saves to keep Buffalo in the contest.
1980 — Brian Propp snapped a 2-2 tie at 7:11 of the third period and Pete Peeters made 23 saves to lead the Flyers to a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders at the Spectrum.
Reggie Leach opened the scoring with the only marker of the first period, and the game was even through forty minutes after Paul Holmgren’s second period goal was book-ended by power play strikes from Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier.
Bobby Clarke sealed the triumph with an empty netter in the game’s final seconds and also added an assist on Leach’s goal, while defenseman Bob Dailey contributed three helpers to the winning effort.
After giving up 11 shots in each of the first two periods, Pat Quinn’s club tightened the clamps, allowing just Isles three shots to make their way in on Peeters in the final twenty minutes.
1982 — Bobby Clarke played in his 1,000th NHL game in a 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Igloo.
Though they thoroughly dominated the contest — to the tune of a lopsided 50-17 shots on goal margin, including a ridiculous 38-8 count through the first two periods — but the game was knotted at 2-apiece heading into the final stanza thanks to the spectacular play of goaltender Michel Dion.
Doug Lecuyer snapped the deadlock just 1:48 into the third — with the lone goal he would ever score with Pittsburgh — and Pat Boutette provided an insurance marker 1:05 later to boost Dion and the Pens to the improbable win.
Clarke remains the lone Flyer ever to have seen action in 1,000 with the franchise.
Bill Barber and Brian Propp scored the goals for Philadelphia, while Rick St. Croix stopped just 13 of the 17 shots he faced to take the loss.
1983 — Eight different Flyers scored goals and six recorded multiple-point games to offset a Rick Vaive hat trick as Philadelphia blasted the Toronto Maple Leafs in a wild 8-5 affair at the Spectrum.
The home squad got out of the gates quickly and jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals from defensemen Miroslav Dvorak and Glen Cochrane just after the four minute mark, and Leafs’ netminder Mike Palmateer had to be at the top of his game to keep things close as Philly sent 20 shots his way in the frame.
Gaston Gingras cut that lead in half with a power play tally in the first minute of the middle session, but goals from Rick MacLeish and Ilkka Sinisalo made it a 4-1 game. Vaive and Tim Kerr traded man advantage markers before the period was over, and Philadelphia’s 5-2 lead seemed pretty safe heading into the home stretch.
Ron Sutter extended the lead to four just over a minute into the third, but Toronto cut the deficit to 6-4 when Gingras and Vaive each netted their second of the contest within a 44-second span five minutes later.
Philadelphia pushed back with a pair of their own from Rich Sutter and Bill Barber in a 1:44 stretch to restore the four-goal margin, before Vaive completed the hat trick on a power play late in regulation to close out the scoring.
Barber, MacLeish, and Cochrane all finished with a goal and three points for the night, while Pelle Lindbergh made 30 saves for the home team.
The Flyers peppered an opponent’s goalie with 50 shots for a second consecutive year on October 23, as Palmateer ended up with 42 saves but yielded all eight Philly goals.
1984 — Philadelphia got a goal and an assist from both Brian Propp and Lindsay Carson and saw seven different skaters light the lamp as visiting Flyers pounded the Minnesota North Stars, 7-2 at the Met Center.
Following a scoreless first, Philly sent a 22-shot assault towards the Minnesota net with Propp, Mark Howe, Murray Craven, and Rick Tocchet all scoring second period goals to make it 4-0 heading into the final frame.
Goals from Mark Napier and Bob Rouse cut that lead in half just over three minutes into the third to make things interesting, but rookie Derrick Smith notched his first NHL goal, before Lindsay Carson and Peter Zezel provided additional insurance to close out the scoring.
Defenseman Thomas Eriksson assisted on three Philadelphia goals, while fellow-Swede Pelle Lindbergh stopped 31 of 33 Minnesota shots to improve to 5-1-1 for the season.
1986 — Mark Howe scored once and assisted on three other Philadelphia goals while Bob Froese stopped 28 of 31 shots to lead the Flyers to a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Spectrum.
Ilkka Sinisalo, Pelle Eklund, Tim Kerr, and Rick Tocchet also scored for the Flyers, while Mario Lemieux recorded a goal and assist in a losing effort.
The play of Froese enabled Philadelphia to withstand being outshot, 31-20, besting Pittsburgh goalie Gilles Meloche, who stopped just 15 shots.
1988 — Despite a four-point effort from Rick Tocchet, the Flyers fell to the visiting Calgary Flames on a Jim Peplinski overtime goal, 5-4 at the Spectrum.
Tocchet scored twice and assisted on a Brian Propp tally — all in the first period — then added a helper on Peter Zezel’s go-ahead goal early in the third.
But Hakan Loob tied the contest with only 1:21 left on the clock in regulation to send the game to the extra session, setting the stage for Peplinski’s winner.
Ron Hextall finished with 36 saves, while winning netminder Rick Wamsley stopped 22 of the 26 Flyers shots he faced.
1993 — Teemu Selanne scored twice and assisted on three other Winnipeg goals and Keith Tkachuk recorded a hat trick as the visiting Jets blasted the Flyers, 9-6 at the Spectrum.
Alexei Zhamnov, linemate to Tkachuk and Selanne, added a goal and three helpers for the Jets, who took an early 3-0 lead on Philadelphia in the see-saw tilt.
The Flyers stormed back with four goals – from Josef Beranek, Rod Brind’Amour, and a pair from Mikael Renberg – and Eric Lindros also dented the twine as it was a wild 5-5 deadlock after two, but Winnipeg outscored the home team 4-1 in the decisive third period.
Renberg ended up with a pair of goals and an assist, and Mark Recchi scored once and added two helpers for Philadelphia.
Beranek’s second period tally gave him at least one goal in six consecutive contests (eight total), and he would strike yet again in the next game to put together the best goal-scoring streak of his NHL career.
Tommy Soderstrom remained in net for the Flyers for the duration of the Jets’ onslaught and was torched for all nine Jets goals on 32 shots, while Bob Essensa made 18 saves in relief of starter Stephane Beauregard to post the win for Winnipeg.
1997 — John LeClair scored the game-winning goal with 1:53 left in regulation and Garth Snow stopped 20 of 23 shots as the Flyers defeated the visiting Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the CoreStates Center.
Rod Brind’Amour scored a goal and assisted on another, while Colin Forbes and Trent Klatt also scored for Philadelphia.
Marty McInnis scored twice for the Flames, while Dwayne Roloson made 30 saves in the loss.
2001 — Keith Primeau was named the 13th captain in Flyers’ history, taking over the role from defenseman Eric Desjardins, who stepped down because he felt he wasn’t performing well enough on the ice.
2010 — Mike Richards scored once and assisted on a pair of other goals as the Flyers whipped the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Philadelphia dominated play from the opening faceoff, outshooting the Leafs by a wide margin in each stanza – 14-4, 13-7, 13-3 – to finish at 40-14 for the contest.
Richards and Ville Leino each scored goals 1:51 apart late in the first period, but Toronto’s Phil Kessel cut the lead in half early in the middle frame. Blair Betts and Clarke MacArthur traded markers before the session expired and though the Flyers were heavily carrying play, Jean-Sebastien Giguere was holding his Leafs in the game at 3-2 heading into the final stanza.
Scott Hartnell and Daniel Briere each hit the back of the net before the third was eight minutes old, and Philadelphia cruised the rest of the way to the victory.
Brian Boucher had a relatively quiet night in stopping 12 shots to pick up the win, while Giguere turned aside 35 of 40 Flyers’ offerings in defeat.
October 23 Flyers Trade — 1983: ‘Flocky Hockey’ departs Philadelphia
To the Flyers — Rich Sutter, 1984 2nd and 3rd round draft picks
To the Penguins — Ron Flockhart, Andy Brickley, Mark Taylor, 1984 1st and 3rd round draft picks
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On this date in 1983, Ron Flockhart — the popular center who burst onto the Philadelphia hockey scene with a flashy style of play that inspired the moniker of “Flocky Hockey” — was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of a package to bring right winger Rich Sutter — Ron’s twin brother — to the Flyers.
Flockhart — who centered the “Hi-Speed Line” with young wingers Brian Propp and Ray Allison — recorded 65 goals and 145 points in 167 regular season contests with the club. He would go on to have stints with the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and Boston Bruins before heading to Italy after four games in Boston to begin the 1988/89 campaign.
The trade was thought to bring a long-term brother duo to the city, but Rich instead became something of a whipping boy for head coach ‘Iron’ Mike Keenan.
The threat of sending Rich to the Hershey Bears – the Flyers AHL affiliate at the time — was said to often be used as an incentive for Ron to pick up his game when the coach felt he was under-performing.
The gritty Rich would go on to play in 204 regular season games over three years in Philadelphia — compiling 36 goals, 83 points, and 381 penalty minutes — and was part of the 1985 Cup finalist squad before being shipped to the Vancouver Canucks in a June, 1986 trade that brought defenseman J.J. Daigneault to Philly. Sutter would go on to play for the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs before retiring in 1994/95.
