Yves Preston made his first appearance with the Philadelphia Flyers due to a suspension. Paul Holmgren had earned a six game rest in December 1978, which forced the Flyers to call up Preston. Preston was at the beginning to his third season in minor-pro hockey when he got the call while playing for the Maine Mariners. He joined Pete Peeters in making the trip to Philadelphia. He was thrown into the NHL action almost immediately.
On December 14, 1978, Yves discovered the cozy confines of an NHL penalty box. The visit does not show up in his career stats for he was serving a bench minor and not his own penalty. Two days later Yves scored his first NHL goal in a 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Flames. He evened the score 2-2 when he converted a Bernie Parent pass for a score against goaltender Dan Bouchard. Washington visited Philadelphia on December 21st for a game at the Spectrum. Preston was paired up with Blake Dunlop on one of the Flyer lines and the combination clicked against the Capitals. In the first period Preston scored to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. The Caps crawled back to tie the score but Yves was there to restore the lead. His goal turned out to be the game winner as Philadelphia rolled on to a 5-2 victory. On the game Yves Preston finished with two goals and an assist.
Preston returned to the Mariners in January 1979. Upon his return he helped lead the team to the top spot in the AHL. Maine continued on to capture the Calder Cup with Yves supplying timely goals along the way. His overtime winner in Game 1 of the Finals against New Haven, and a hat trick in Game 2 were too much for the Nighthawks to overcome. Yves Preston had another call-up with the Flyers in the 1980-81 season, recording four goals and two assists in 19 games. Yves wound up his playing career in 1984 with Milwaukee, of the International Hockey League.
