There is a famous saying that reads, "Records were made to be broken." There are many records in pro sports that have fallen to the next generation of finely tuned atheletes. There are far fewer records, such as Wayne Gretzky's career points record, Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, or Pete Sampras' career Grand Slam victories record, that by all accounts will likely never be broken. However, the 35 game unbeaten streak of the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers still stands today as one of the most astonishing records in the world of professional sports. Their incredible unbeaten streak still holds as the longest such streak in the history of North American professional sports. Although nothing is impossible, it may be safe to say that this particular record will always stand.

The Flyers opened their 1979-80 saeson with as much fanfare as usual, and the Flyers were expected to be a very tough, competitive team. But noone knew what the team would do to start thier season. They started off the regular season by defeating the New York Islanders, and losing their second game to the Atlanta Flames. But after that, the steamrolling began. They went on the win 12 of their next 13 games, getting their only tie against the Monreal Canadiens. They actually set the streak record of 29 straight unbeaten games on December 22, 1979 by defeating the Boston Bruins. But the Flyers weren't done there, and extended their record by 6 more games. Before it was all said and done, the Flyers had started their season with a 26-1-10 mark.

During that stretch, it did take a few lucky breaks and struggling come-from-behind ties and wins to keep the team on the warpath. Whether it was Bobby Clarke's playmaking, Reggie Leach's scoring, or the solid netminding of Phil Myre and Pete Peeters, the Flyers always managed to wring a point from the competition. Finally, on January, 6, 1980, the streak ended when the Minnesota North Stars beat the Flyers by the lopsided score of 7-1. During that stretch, the Flyers quickly became the odds-on favorite to win the Cup, as fate seemed to be guiding them along. The Flyers did in fact have the second best points total in team history at season's end with 116. And, they were able to tear through the first three rounds of the playoffs 11 games to 2. However, they wound up losing to the New York Islanders in the Finals, who were on their way to 4 straight Cup Championships from that year on.

Not only will the 1979-80 Flyers be remembered as one of the best teams in Flyers history, but they will always stand out for their extraordinary and astonishing unbeaten streak. It was a span of 3 months that will never br forgotten by Flyers fans.