The 1969–70 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' third season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, setting a team record for fewest wins and an NHL record for most ties.
Off-season
On May 20, 1969, Keith Allen was named vice president and assistant general manager of the team and replaced as head coach by Vic Stasiuk. Stasiuk spent the previous two seasons as the head coach of the Quebec Aces, the Flyers American Hockey League affiliate.
The Flyers took a chance when they selected a 19-year-old diabetic from Flin Flon, Manitoba, named Bobby Clarke with their second draft pick, 17th overall, in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft.
Regular season
By the time training camp came around it was clear that Clarke was the best player on the team, and he quickly became a fan favorite. His 15 goals and 31 assists earned him a trip to the NHL All-Star Game.
On December 11, 1969, the Flyers introduced what became one of the team's best-known traditions: playing a recording of Kate Smith singing God Bless America instead of The Star-Spangled Banner before important games. The perception was that the team was more successful on these occasions, so the tradition grew. The move was initially done by Flyers promotion director Lou Scheinfeld as a way to defray national tensions at the time of the Vietnam War: Scheinfeld noticed that people regularly left their seats to walk around during the anthem, but showed more respect and often sang along to "God Bless America". To this day, the team plays the song before major playoff games, currently with Lauren Hart (daughter of Hall of Fame Flyers broadcast announcer Gene Hart) performing the first part of the song, a recording of Smith singing the second part, and Lauren Hart joining the recording for the finale. As of the close of the 2013–14 Flyers season, the Flyers have a record of 96–28–4 when God Bless America is sung prior to home games.
General manager Bud Poile was fired on December 19. Keith Allen was named his replacement on December 22.
The team struggled in 1969–70 recording a franchise worst (as of completion of the 2013–14 season) in wins (17). Even with such a bad output, the Flyers had a seven-point lead on the Oakland Seals with six games to play. However, the Flyers lost their last six games and Oakland made up the deficit. They lost the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot to Oakland, missing the playoffs for the first time.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Schedule and results
Regular season
|- style="background:#fcf;" | 1 || October 11 || @ Minnesota North Stars || 0–4 || 0–1–0 || 0 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 2 || October 15 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–3 || 0–1–1 || 1 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 3 || October 19 || Montreal Canadiens || 1–1 || 0–1–2 || 2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 4 || October 22 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs || 4–3 || 1–1–2 || 4 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 5 || October 23 || Detroit Red Wings || 2–2 || 1–1–3 || 5 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 6 || October 26 || St. Louis Blues || 0–0 || 1–1–4 || 6 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 7 || October 30 || New York Rangers || 3–3 || 1–1–5 || 7 || |-
|- style="background:#fcf;" | 8 || November 1 || @ St. Louis Blues || 0–8 || 1–2–5 || 7 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 9 || November 2 || Minnesota North Stars || 6–2 || 2–2–5 || 9 || |- style="background:#fcf;" | 10 || November 6 || Montreal Canadiens || 1–4 || 2–3–5 || 9 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 11 || November 9 || Oakland Seals || 2–2 || 2–3–6 || 10 || |- style="background:#fcf;" | 12 || November 12 || @ Minnesota North Stars || 2–4 || 2–4–6 || 10 || |- style="background:#fcf;" | 13 || November 15 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs || 2–4 || 2–5–6 || 10 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 14 || November 20 || Los Angeles Kings || 3–2 || 3–5–6 || 12 || |- style="background:#fcf;" | 15 || November 22 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–5 || 3–6–6 || 12 || |- style="background:#fcf;" | 16 || November 23 || Toronto Maple Leafs || 2–3 || 3–7–6 || 12 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 17 || November 26 || Detroit Red Wings || 1–1 || 3–7–7 || 13 || |- style="background:#fcf;" | 18 || November 27 || @ Boston Bruins || 4–6 || 3–8–7 || 13 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 19 || November 29 || @ New York Rangers || 2–2 || 3–8–8 || 14 || |- style="background:#ffc;" | 20 || November 30 || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–3 || 3–8–9 || 15 || |-