The 2004–05 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 38th season in the National Hockey League (NHL), however its games were canceled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The other 29 teams did not play either due to the labor dispute. Off-season After being defeated in the seventh game of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers prepared for the looming labor uncertainty associated with the impending expiration of the existing NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. While team captain Keith Primeau was re-signed to a four-year contract worth $17 million prior to hitting the free agent market, leading scorer Mark Recchi was not – general manager Bob Clarke said he would not re-sign Recchi until a new collective bargaining agreement was in place – and instead signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 9. Contract offers were made to impending unrestricted free agents Vladimir Malakhov and Alexei Zhamnov, key acquisitions during the final quarter of the 2003–04 regular season, but the Flyers were unable to come to terms with either player. Unsigned 2001 first-round draft pick R. J. Umberger, whose NHL rights had previously been held by the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers, signed with the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent on June 16. The Flyers signed free agent right wingers Mike Knuble of the Boston Bruins and Turner Stevenson of the New Jersey Devils to three-year contracts after the free agency period began. On July 13 undrafted free agent forward Tony Voce, who played four seasons at Boston College, became the first native of Philadelphia to sign with the Flyers. Schedule The Flyers preseason and regular season schedules were announced on July 14, 2004. |- | 1 || September 23 || @ Washington Capitals |- | 2 || September 30 || Washington Capitals |- | 3 || October 2 || @ New York Islanders |- | 4 || October 5 || New York Islanders |- | 5 || October 6 || New Jersey Devils |- | 6 || October 9 || @ New Jersey Devils |- | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;"| Notes: Neutral site game which was scheduled to be played at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania |- |- | 1 || October 13 || @ Tampa Bay Lightning |- | 2 || October 14 || @ Florida Panthers |- | 3 || October 16 || @ Montreal Canadiens |- |