MELTZER: Top 5 Underrated Goalie Seasons

When it comes to the best seasons by Flyers goalies in franchise history, it is understandably the four campaigns in which the team reached the Stanley Cup Final and its goalie won the Vezina Trophy -- two by Bernie Parent and one apiece by Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall, with Parent and Hextall also winning the Conn Smythe Trophy -- that get the most attention.

However, there have also been a number of years in which the Flyers received stellar goaltending (at least in the regular season) but which seldom get mentioned about the best years. Listed chronologically, here are five of the most underrated seasons by Flyers goaltenders throughout team history.

BERNIE PARENT/DOUG FAVELL (1967-68)
In the first year of the NHL's Expansion Era, the Philadelphia Flyers finished in first place in the newly created Western Conference (consisting of the six expansion clubs). Philadelphia was also the only brand new team to defeat all of the "Original Six" clubs at least once apiece during the 1967-68 regular season. Keith Allen's club did so despite scoring just 173 goals for the season; the second-fewest in the league that year.
How did the club accomplish that feat? By ranking 3rd leaguewide with a team 2.42 goals against average (Montreal was first at 2.26 and Toronto was second at 2.38). Allen's team played a defensively responsible, albeit offensively bland. brand of hockey. The club's not-so-secret weapon, though, was its goaltending.

Favell's 2.27 goals against average ranked third across the league that season, while Parent's 2.49 GAA ranked eighth. Save percentage was not an official stat in that era but can be retroactively determined through shots of goal and goals against. Favell ranked 3rd leaguewide with a .931 save percentage and Parent was fourth at a .926 save percentage.

Side note: Parent and Favell, born two days apart (April 3 for Parent, April 5 for Favell) in 1945, were teammates on the Memorial Cup winning Niagara Falls Flyers and teammates in the Bruins' system before both were selected by Philadelphia in the Expansion Draft. That run together continued until Parent was traded to Toronto midway through the 1970-71 season. Later, in the spring of 1973, Parent and Favell were traded for one another when the Flyers reacquired Parent's rights from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
WAYNE STEPHENSON (1975-76)
Coming off back-to-back Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy awards for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Parent and his team received devastating news on October 5, 1975. Parent was placed in traction with nerve damage from a severely pinched neck muscle.

With Parent shelved, the Flyers goaltending duties for the vast majority of the regular season fell to backup goalie Wayne Stephenson. Later, Stephenson was in goal throughout the Stanley Cup Semifinal against Boston and the Stanley Cup Final against Montreal.
"Fort Wayne" responded with a very strong season. In 64 starts and two relief appearances during the regular season, he won 40 games (second only to Montreal Canadiens' legend Ken Dryden's 42 wins). Stephenson posted a 2.58 goals against average (4th in the NHL) and .908 save percentage (5th).
Stephenson was also the winning goaltender in the Flyers' famous 4-1 win over the Red Army (CSKA) team at the Spectrum on Jan. 11, 1976. He was originally slated to split duties with Bobby Taylor, but head coach Fred Shero decided to let Stephenson continue because he wasn't seeing many shots and was working on a shutout for much of the afternoon.

The Flyers were virtually unbeatable on home ice that season, posting a staggering 36-2-2 mark at the Spectrum (15-11-14 on the road). Stephenson went 30-2-2 at home in 1975-76, with a 2.01 goals against average (tops in the NHL) and .925 save percentage (also No. 1 leaguewide). Fittingly, Stephenson represented the Campbell Conference at 29th NHL All-Star Game, which was held at the Spectrum.
After the season, Stephenson placed 3rd in the NHL's All-Star voting among goalies. In that era, the Vezina Trophy automatically went to the goaltender or goalie tandem with the lowest goals against average in the league (the Jennings Trophy was created in 1982-83 to recognize that accomplishment). The 1975-76 Vezina Trophy went to Dryden, with the Islanders' Glenn "Chico" Resch in 2nd place and the Atlanta Flames' Dan Bouchard in third. Stephenson was fourth.

One of Stephenson's most memorable non-goaltending moments of the 1975-76 season came in the second period of a 6-1 blowout win at home against Detroit otherwise highlighted by an Orest Kindrachuk hat trick and Bill Barber's 40th goal of the season. Trailing 4-0 midway through the game, the Red Wings' frustrations boiled over after Flyers defenseman Jack McIlhargey cross-checked Nick Libett. A line brawl ensued, with 11 of the 12 players on the ice engaging in fisticuffs. The combatants included Stephenson, who unhesitatingly jumped into the fray despite the fact he had a shutout going at the time.

PETE PEETERS/PHIL MYRE (1979-80)
After Parent sustained a career-ending eye injury on Feb. 17, 1979, the Flyers scrambled to set a new plan in goal. Stephenson was also gone after the 1978-79 season, joining the Washington Capitals.
The solution was a tandem arrangement in goal. The Flyers acquired veteran goalie Phil Myre via trade and promoted prospect Pete Peeters from the AHL's Maine Mariners to the big club on a full-time basis.
Few would have suspected before the 1979-80 season that the Flyers would go on to rattle off a North American pro sports record 35-game unbeaten streak or would come within a highly controversial Game 6 overtime loss in the Stanley Cup Final from hosting a Game 7 against the New York Islanders.
Head coach Pat Quinn divided the work evenly between rookie Peeters (40 games played, 29-5-5 record, 2.73 GAA, .898 SV%) and Myre (41 GP, 3.58 GAA, .875 SV%) during the regular season. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Peeters got the majority of the work (13 GP, 8-5 record, 2.78 GAA, .902 SV%) while Myre outperformed his regular season pace (6 GP, 5-1 record, 2.50 GAA, .920 SV%). Both goalies recorded one playoff shutout apiece.
As a rookie, Peeters earned a trip to the NHL All-Star Game. With the stock of top goalie prospect Pelle Lindbergh rising with a bullet and Philadelphia aging and depleted on defense, the Flyers traded Peeters to Boston after the 1981-82 season in a straight-up trade for young defenseman Brad McCrimmon.

BOB FROESE (1985-86)
Under the most trying circumstances imaginable, "Frosty" quietly had an excellent 1985-86 regular season after Lindbergh perished in an automobile crash in Nov. 1985. Oddly enough, at the time of Lindbergh's death, the Flyers had all-but-finalized trade with the LA Kings that would have sent Froese to LA in exchange for defenseman Jay Wells (who later joined the Flyers). The trade was not consummated due to the tragic accident.
Froese remained a Flyer for one additional year, sharing time in goal with rookie Darren Jensen (29 games played) and, later, Chico Resch (five games). It was Froese who got the majority of the work, appearing in 55 games.
All Froese did in his one season as Philadelphia's primary starter was winning the Jennings Trophy with his 2.55 goals against average. He also posted a 31-10-3 record and .909 save percentage, while replacing Lindbergh (posthumously elected as a starter) on the Wales Conference's roster for the 1985-86 All-Star Game.

The Flyers were a heavy favorite entering the first round of the playoffs against the New York Rangers but John Vanbiesbrouck more or less stole the series with multiple brilliant performances. Froese played competently but not to "Beezer's" level. Later, Froese finished as the top runner-up in the Vezina Trophy voting, in which Vanbiesbrouck prevailed.
The next season, Froese was quickly displaced as Flyers starter by fiery rookie goalie Ron Hextall. "Frosty" was then traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for defenseman Kjell Samuelsson.
The 1984-85, 1985-86 and 1986-87 Flyers are the only team in NHL history to have three straight Vezina Trophy finalists with three different goalies; an oft-overlooked fact because Froese's season in the middle is often forgotten due to Lindbergh's passing and the Flyers' first-round exit in between two trips to the Cup Final.
Statistically, Froese had a surprisingly strong career in Philadelphia. In fact, his raw stats were actually superior to Lindbergh's. However, it should be noted that Lindbergh got the bulk of the "tougher" games as he emerged as an elite NHL goalie.

Even if Froese's true talent ceiling was that of a top-notch backup or half of a strong tandem rather than that of a bonafide No. 1 NHL starter for a Cup contender, the future pastor served his team well. Neither he nor Jensen get enough credit for holding the fort the rest of the season after Lindbergh was lost and the rest of the club battled their emotional heartache and eventual mental fatigue.
ROMAN CHECHMANEK/ROBERT ESCHE (2002-03)
Cechmanek had generally excellent regular seasons and wildly uneven playoff runs during his three tumultuous years in Philadelphia. What cannot be disputed is that he was the top runner-up for the Vezina Trophy in 2000-01, won the Bobby Clarke Trophy as Flyers' MVP in both 2000-01 and 2002-03 and shared the Jennings Trophy with teammate Robert Esche the latter year.
Officially the backup to Cechmanek rather than a tandem starter, Esche nonetheless qualified to share the Jennings Trophy with his teammate because Cechmanek removed himself from several scheduled starts in 2002-03. As a result, the ultra-competitive Esche got into 30 games that year and posted a 2.20 GAA and .907 save percentage. He also posted a pair of shutouts.
In the meantime, the unorthodox Cechmanek played in 58 games, rattling off a 33-15-10 record, career best 1.83 GAA, .925 save percentage and six shutouts.
It is true that Ken Hitchcock's 2002-03 team played a stifling defensive system in front of Cechmanek and Esche (whereas Cechmanek's high-wire style was what carried the day during the 2000-01 regular season). Nonetheless, it cannot be fairly argued that Cechmanek and Esche did anything other than give the Flyers a good chance to win throughout their Jennings Trophy winning campaign.
Esche's strongest moments as a Flyer, however, would come the next year. Tabbed as the team's playoff starter in 2004, Esche outdueled Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur in the first round and eventually backstopped his club to within a single win of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final. Philadelphia lost Game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Final to Tampa Bay, 2-1.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Steve Mason in 2014-15 (2.25 GAA, .928 save percentage, 51 games played while battling injuries) and the tandem of youngster Carter Hart and veteran Brian Elliott in 2019-20.