I'm 16, wasn't even old enough to watch the team in the 2010-2012 era. Recently got into hockey and despite the team not being a top team in the NHL, I love this team, I love the fans that we have, I look forward to seeing what Danny B can do as GM
I got into baseball, watched the Phillies, started watching all the other philly sports teams and the game of Hockey is one of my favorites to watch so I got hooked, and went to a flyers game this past season, loved it so much!
That makes sense. Kinda how I got into the Phillies
Never really watched baseball growing up but was a 3/4 fan and saw all my friends enjoying baseball so I said fuck it and started watching it. Still my 4th favorite and I don’t get suicidal when they lose like I do with the Sixers flyers or eagles but I enjoy it and watch most games
Might be for the best.
This organization coasted on having the most loyal fanbase in the city for decades aka the famous stepfords. Now they actually have to win over fans.
This. 100%. I personally believe the fact the flyers had an insanely loyal fan base for so long kept them from doing what was needed to be done (tear it down and start over).
Really good point and I do think it woke them up a bit the season before last when we really weren’t showing up to games. The rangers fans owning Wells Fargo center wasn’t a good look and woke up a lot of people that really weren’t paying attention of it
The reason why I think it's incompetence is they still went decades without a cup with Ed Snyder (who obviously cared and understood a ton). But the beauty of your system is even if you're wrong, you still save money. What's the worst that can happen? It's not like they're going to move the team to Kansas City.
Snyder was also the person pushing for Bryzgalov leading to trading Bobrovsky for a 2nd and 2 4th round picks. He also pushed for another defenseman who turned out to be Andy MacDonald.
I think there's 10+ straight years the organization has failed fans and potential fans as well as the players. So I wouldn't be at all surprised of a generation not caring.
i didn’t grow up super into hockey (25F for reference), we went to a few phantoms games but that’s it. but my boyfriend LOVES it and got me into it. what got me to love the flyers specifically was the atmosphere of the home games, as well as watching their documentary about their broad street bully days. as someone who was born and raised here in philly the documentary made me respect and love our boys, even as a new fan, and now they got me sucked in!!!
also when they kicked the shit out of the russians, god that was amazing to watch.
also realizing that our boys were the reason that rules of hockey were starting to change due to the amount of bullying, i love them even more.
as a brand new fan starting in september of last year basically, we went to 8+ games and also froze our ass off at the outdoor game in NJ. It’s an amazing experience, every game was beyond fun, and i love being a hockey fan now. Even being haggled by devils fans in NJ was part of a super fun experience (being on the other side of the “bullying” was pretty hilarious)
basically i guess to summarize, to create new fans:
- IN PERSON GAMES!!!! the atmosphere is all you need to really get into it!
- that documentary i found to be just lovely bc I’m a dirtball from south philly, so the fact that they went out and bullied everyone and made a name for our team, to a point where other teams were like “oh shit we’re playing the flyers tonight”, also changing the rules of hockey, made me really love and respect my home team
GO FLYERS !!
I’m 42. I was 15 when we got swept by Detroit in 97. The salary cap was installed several years later. IMHO, the Flyers have been garbage since the salary cap era minus like…2 seasons. Maybe 3…. There is an entire generation of a fan base that is disassociated with our hockey team because we’ve been worse than the marlins in 20+ years…
I'm 38, I remember that series well, unfortunately. Maybe it's because I'm a stubborn fuck, but it actually made me a bigger fan. I knew we'd get back some day, then there was the Blackhawks heartbreak. Then after that was pure misery, but at least there's light now. I have faith in Briere and Jones, and where they're taking us.
If they don't go all in around a Michkov-aged core, the same way Florida built elite talent in the same age cohort around Barkov and Ekblad, then I'm at a complete loss.
Trading Konecny now and Laughton by the deadline to get future assets to help draft/develop a new core are the easiest no brainers of no brainers for any rebuilding team. If Jones/Briere choke on this very basic step, then I'll know that the failed management approach that caused the all misery is still entrenched.
I have to agree, as much as I love TK and Laughton. Michkov could and probably will need a few years to develop, if he even arrives this season. They have to draft well too. They need centers and more elite finishers. I do like the young talent they have. Foerster, York, Tippett, Brink, and really most of the defensive core I like. I still haven't given up on Frost, I feel like he's right on the cusp of being a really good offensive threat.
FLA only has 3 players on their team that they drafted and their teams age range is all over the place. They’re literally the text book definition of old school pre cap Flyers team building where they wheel and deal themselves into contention. Imo a poor comparison example but I wouldn’t complain if Danny Paul Holmgrened the Flyers into contention again.
Sure, lots of trades but the core is all elite talent from about 27 to 30. Lots of former firsts or players who became elite. Barkov, Ekblad, Tkachuk, Forsling, Verhaeghe, Montour, plus the younger Lundell, and then supplemental pieces like Rodrigues and Mikkola all in that age range.
The equivalent is to build the core around Michkov's age range. I don't care if it is own picks or trades, but today, the trades have to be for FUTURE assets, not trading away future assets to make the 2025 Flyers better. To be the Panthers they have a ton of high-end talent holes to fill with players who are today from 22 to 16 yrs old. Briere/Jones need to focus on that future and not fall into Flyers bad habits of trying to glow-up inherently flawed rosters by borrowing or tying up cap from the future. Example, trading a pick for a 26 yr old 2c today or having 33 yr old Konecny under contract for $9m five seasons from now. Both moves would hurt a future Michkov core.
I don't care that they came by trades, they built a high-end talent core of players who are about 27 to 30. The lesson is to build a core of high-end talent in Michkov's age range. The Flyers need to draft/develop like crazy, and if their own picks don't pan out, and they are shrewd, then they can in three or so years add future equivalents to Reinhart, Bennett, Tkachuk, Montour, and Forsling. If they do pan out, they'll look more like Dallas, who has loads of homegrown talent. Either way, they need to stay focused on filling all those future roster holes they've got. Konecny traded and at some point soon, Laughton traded, helps that cause. Elite talent around the Michkov core is the key.
Don’t let the Stanley cup finals run fool you into thinking they were a good team that year. We rode Michael Leighton, a waiver wire pickup, to the finals after making it to the playoffs in game 82 in a shootout win.
This franchise has been garbage to mediocre since the 2005 lockout
Realistically you are right. We just couldn’t adjust to the salary cap with Holmgrem and they hired two clowns right after him. Hoping Danny and Keith jones are different but man… idk
Salary cap, plus analytics, plus expansion, plus rules enforcement. The Flyers have been one of the last teams to even begin to adjust. Christ, I remember watching the Flyers play the late nineties Avalanche team with Forsberg and Sakic and realize, Jesus, these guys are skating circles around and whipping the puck past what I thought was a great team. To your point, it has been the same for decades.
That 2010 lucky run was the worst thing to happen to them because it validated an otherwise flailing organization and sent them further down the "chasing the bubble" and "if we just get in, anything can happen" failed approach rabbit hole. Meanwhile, smart teams were intentionally building modern dynasties for Cup compete windows (Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA, and Tampa primarily).
It is only in the past couple of years that they've even feigned to understand just how outdated their mindset has been. If draft picks/prospects go out for "now" players or Konecny isn't gone by draft day and Laughton is still here by next trade deadline, then those are the tells, the old Flyers losing management approach will be alive and well. If they aren't smart enough to fully embrace drafting and developing a new core around Michkov's age cohort, then they don't deserve our support.
I was born in July 76 so that means in my almost 48 years on this earth I've never witnessed the Flyers hoisting the cup. I can't believe I've stuck in there this long without switching teams. jk. I'm a lifer, win or lose.
I got properly into hockey about a decade ago, solidly into the mediocre years. I’m not even from the states and somehow ended up here (don’t ask me how, it’s a combo of instinctive dislike for other teams and instinctive need to yell and overreact)
So I think you’re overestimating just how unlikely it is people have become fans in that time period
Flyers still have pull.i have kids starting in hockey and they gravitated towards the flyers mainly because their youth program is so welcoming and well done. If you like hockey is easy to like flyers if you grow up around the area, it’s just harder for local kids to notice it when the team doesn’t stand out.
But gritty and the youth program are enough to bring kids in. It was for mine anyway. My youngest son watched flyers games FOR gritty in think
I think we will gain more fans if the front office would add even MORE advertisements on the Jerseys and increase the size of the BLUE IBX logo.
That 'll get bums in the seats!
My son is 12. I guess about 5 or 6 years ago we were watching a Flyers v Detroit game. It was late in the season and the team was losing.
My son turned to me and said “Dad- have the Flyers ever been good?” It was a bit heartbreaking.
He did get to see the bubble team though that technically was 1st place. That team was rolling too before the Covid pause.
I assume most young people who actually like hockey are like me and follow multiple teams but keep philly in the peripheral. I’m big into NHL lore and history and follow TOR and now EDM religiously but you bet your ass if the Flyers stop sucking I’ll be the loudest fan in hockey and so will 80% of this city. The moment we have a contending core again I guarantee you you’ll see more Flyers fans from every demographic then you thought possible.
There’s a strong youth hockey core in the area. Those kids are hockey fans, unfortunately when the team isn’t in the playoffs every year, it’s easy for an 8 year old to follow the teams their favorite superstars are on. Just go get a couple superstars and we’ll be straight. Sounds easy enough.
I can only speak about our family experience. Our son is 21, and a huge Philadelphia sports fan with two exceptions. The first is the Union, and for him, he was a solid soccer player and appreciates the game and generally does not like the MLS and so it's understandable.
But the other exception is the Flyers. He just doesn't follow them, couldn't tell you the name of more than two players and generally doesn't care. This may be my fault since when he was young, he would watch TV with me, and that meant watching sports. I stopped paying attention when Comcast bought the Flyers since I don't believe that corporations can be good stewards of pro sports teams. And so, we watched tons of Phillies and Sixers's games, and of course Eagles' games (but football is easy since it's once a week). Regardless, he lived and died with Philadelphia sports and learned early on that heartbreak defines us as a sports town. But he's a true Philadelphia sports fan, but not a Flyers fan.
But none of his friends followed the Flyers either. It just feels like because they were so mediocre and at times very bad that they lost fans, my son included. It's a shame, and I feel like the Flyers fall to irrelevancy is one of the biggest untold stories in sports.
I agree that winning builds lifelong fans to a certain extent.
1. If winning is all it takes than Buffalo, Chicago, LA, Toronto and so many other fanbases should be non existent.
2. I also don't think you can only join a fan base in your early years. When a team gets good and is fun to watch what is stopping a 20 something who never had any interest from jumping on the bandwagon and forming life long fandom then? I lived in Denver 15 years ago when the Av's were really bad and tickets were cheap, I don't think they struggle for fans today.
3. Sure, everyone has their favorite childhood hero's from "the good old days" but you don't really realize how good they are at the time. When I was a kid John Vanbiesbrouck was my favorite flyer, that makes no sense to me now. Sure the flyers weren't contenders the last 10 years but Giroux, Simmonds, Voracek, Ghost are all a hell of a group of players for kids to look up to and made the team fun.
Lets me real, the Flyers aren't the Cleveland Browns just yet.
I went from a rabid fan in my youth to barely paying attention, it hasn't happened with other sports even with incompetent and bad teams so I agree winning isn't the main thing. It does play a part though, took till the Phillies got Harper before I paid attention to them again after the 07-11 run.
Personally I think many people my age (40) lost interest during the strike and it never fully came back. I watched during the cup run and I watch during the playoffs but I've just never fully came back. Giroux was great and there were some fun teams but I feel like the draw still didn't hit. The Flyers haven't had a personality even the good years I can't define the team, not like the Lindros years.
Love your last sentence.
However, if Briere and Jones turn out to be clowns and don't figure out how to go all-in around a Michkov-aged and high-talent core, and we get back on the perpetual bubble team merry-go-round, then all bets are off.
Stupid Tortorella quotes and Gritty are the only things that have been keeping the Flyers nationally relevant for several years now. This season was mostly fun and I hope that continues, but management need not be confused- the final season results for the next handful of years are irrelevant. Michkov choosing them was a Mitzvah. They got a player who would be #1 overall in most draft years at pick #7.
If this isn't a Florida-level team (multiple ECFs) in five or six years (for multiple seasons) and instead reverts back to what they've always been (low skill/try hard, make the playoffs and be easy outs in the 1st or 2nd rounds), then yeah, we will be the Cleveland Browns.
This ain't a Canadian city nor an original six franchise. Going on two generations of irrelevance would in fact kill the interest to below Union soccer.
Or they don't know, they are there just not aware.
I'm 64, started watching hockey Clarke's rookie season, played hockey up until about 8 years ago.
The non-hockey world isn't in my sphere of understanding.
I have younger cousins that don't even think about the Flyers being a good team, the organization shit the bed the last decade and all they gave us was Gritty........
A generation is defined as 20 to 30 years, so yes I do beleive that
I dont think I would have the love I have for the game If i was not part of the 70s/80s teams, I dont find myself much interested in todays game.
Where before, i treated every game like an Eagles game, players played every shift of every game as if it meant something
That’s a really cool thought. Not to mention players. Look how many players are in the NHL from the Delaware Valley area that probably correlates to a dad becoming a fan during the Broad Street Bullies era. Absolutely was the reason I ended up playing hockey too.
Will always be a flyers fan, especially because I grew up with the legion of doom era and learned a lot about the org from my grandfather who loved all Philly sports. Then I lived in Texas during the cup run against the blackhawks (as painful as that was, its was an awesome ride…until it wasn’t 😂 story of a Philly sports fans).
I’m in Colorado now and still keep tabs on the flyers (but not nearly as much as the birds, Phils, or sixers), but it is fun going to Avs games and seeing what a team can do with a proper rebuild.
I’m late twenties, and I was lucky enough to be a fan when they were good and made that cup run, and the series against the pens with bryz. Hockey was my favorite sport for sure, even over the eagles. As I went to college, I didn’t have friends that wanted to go to the college hockey games with me, and I didn’t go as much as the years went on, until I stopped going. I still followed the flyers, and tickets were dirt cheap as a student. I didn’t care that they sucked because I thought it would be a phase. Now 12 years after the last exciting playoff series, and they really haven’t put an exciting product out. For years we were just moving away one good player at a time until we traded G. And he seemed glad to be gone. The most exciting playoff moment in that time was the bubble year, and that was something of a flash in the pan. The team has made minor improvements here and there and we have remained in playoff bubble purgatory. I am a bigger fan of eagles, sixers and probably the Phillies as well now. And say what you will about the 2nd round sixers, but at least they try to put a competitive product on the floor to the point that a 2nd round exit is a disappointment, and has been for the past 5-6 years. I can’t remember the last time the flyers made it that far, it might have been 2012-2013.
You are a good example of what I meant with this post as well and definitely relatable in many ways.
If hockey didn’t get more popular on social media and there wasn’t more outlets for me to follow it and the league as a whole hockey would definitely have fell from my favorite to least favorite of the four sports just like you.
My advice would be to get more into the NHL as a whole rather than just the flyers as that’s the only thing that really saved me from complete apathy
I got into the Flyers at age 8 on their first Cup run. By the next year I was all in, with shirts, coats, hats etc. and a Bobby Clarke Mylec street hockey stick. From age 8 to 21 (in '86), I saw the Flyers make the playoffs every year, win two Cups, and get to the Finals six times. And from age 21 until the 2012 tailspin, I saw seven more Conference Finals and two more Cup Finals. Despite the dips in the early 90s and 20-teens, I still think of the Flyers as a winning organization.
An 8-year-old who got into the Flyers in 2012, and will be 21 this coming season, has seen the Flyers miss the playoffs eight times and win one series (in the bubble). Their Flyers have been nothing but losers.
It's like we're rooting for two completely different organizations.
I actually started going to games during that time and it made me a fan to this day.
They were "mediocre" but had a ton of talented guys you wanted to watch like G, Jake, Simmer, Coots. Just like the 2003 to 2006 Phillies stunk but they had a ton of fun talent to watch.
They’ve been worse than bad, they’ve been boring. But then, the NHL as a whole has gotten more boring over the last 10 years. Not as many big plays. Not as many personalities.
Im 16, i wouldnt say i was born into a hockey family but in January my parents got tickets to a flyers game that really sparked my interest in the game even though we lost and ive become obsessive ever since lol
You cannot build a fanbase with a garbage product. I moved to South Florida over 25 years ago and the only team I ditched were the Flyers. Go Panthers!
I'm 24. Old enough to remember the 2010 finals. My dedication stems from me and my father having a shared team to root for.
I was born in New Jersey, but my dad is from Pennsylvania and grew up in and around Philadelphia. He was old enough to remember the last time the Flyers had the cup, Him, my uncle, and my grandfather were big fans and I was surrounded by the team as a kid. I remember going to games with him when I was 8-9 years old, we even got the chance to be in one of those club suites in a gift from his dad / my grandfather. He also took us to see the Phantoms when they were still in the Spectrum. I grew to love the team, and Philadelphia as a whole during my childhood, and it stuck with me as I grew up. Nobody else I knew growing up was fans of the Flyers, I met mostly Devils fans, as well as Rangers fans.
When I moved to Cleveland a few years ago, Philadelphia sports teams became more important to me, since the Flyers only play in Columbus (the closest NHL team to me) twice a year or so, it became a chance for me to reconnect with something that was connected to my childhood. I saw them play in April in Columbus, and while it was a painful game to watch, I was still taken back to when I was 11 years old watching Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, and Claude Giroux play from the upper decks of WFC and I knew I would never let the Flyers go.
You’re putting too much logic into it. Men simple. Men drink beer. Men watch sports. Men root for teams. Locals root for local teams. It’s simple. Remember, Sabres, Blue Jackets, Wild, Predators, Sharks, Jets, Senators, Canucks, Panthers all have a fan base that’s strong while their teams have never ever won Lord Stanley’s Cup.
I had this conversation with my 13 year old daughter who has loved the Phillies for a few years but describes the Flyers as boring after going to a few games in person where nothing exciting happened. I told her she doesn’t even know because she hasn’t seen playoff hockey but…how old is she going to be before we realistically have a deep playoff run?
It’s completely how it works lol. Winning leads to new fans because who doesn’t like to win?
The Phillies are the best example of that even in the past two years they’ve built up a new explosion of popularity and added a lot of younger fans who they missed out on getting from 2011-2021 when they were just as mediocre and bad as the flyers.
Not to say the flyers fanbase won’t eventually tap into this generation if they start winning and being a good team but at this moment there is not a lot of fans from the kids who grew up watching sports from 2012 to now
I'm 16, wasn't even old enough to watch the team in the 2010-2012 era. Recently got into hockey and despite the team not being a top team in the NHL, I love this team, I love the fans that we have, I look forward to seeing what Danny B can do as GM
Going to a game in person really got me addicted to the flyers as a kid
Ya I never really "got it" until I went to a real game.
What made you get into it?
I got into baseball, watched the Phillies, started watching all the other philly sports teams and the game of Hockey is one of my favorites to watch so I got hooked, and went to a flyers game this past season, loved it so much!
That makes sense. Kinda how I got into the Phillies Never really watched baseball growing up but was a 3/4 fan and saw all my friends enjoying baseball so I said fuck it and started watching it. Still my 4th favorite and I don’t get suicidal when they lose like I do with the Sixers flyers or eagles but I enjoy it and watch most games
Might be for the best. This organization coasted on having the most loyal fanbase in the city for decades aka the famous stepfords. Now they actually have to win over fans.
Sips coffee, theirs a reason why those bands were on the ice.
“We have the most passionate fans!”…“No not like that”
This. 100%. I personally believe the fact the flyers had an insanely loyal fan base for so long kept them from doing what was needed to be done (tear it down and start over).
Really good point and I do think it woke them up a bit the season before last when we really weren’t showing up to games. The rangers fans owning Wells Fargo center wasn’t a good look and woke up a lot of people that really weren’t paying attention of it
Have to stop paying for tv, jerseys, hats... to make management understand.
My hot take is that they understand, but are just incompetent.
I'm not as sure as you are. To make sure, hit them in the wallet.
The reason why I think it's incompetence is they still went decades without a cup with Ed Snyder (who obviously cared and understood a ton). But the beauty of your system is even if you're wrong, you still save money. What's the worst that can happen? It's not like they're going to move the team to Kansas City.
Snyder was also the person pushing for Bryzgalov leading to trading Bobrovsky for a 2nd and 2 4th round picks. He also pushed for another defenseman who turned out to be Andy MacDonald.
Hit Comcast in the wallet? The bottomless pit of wealth?
They do probably want Spectacore to be self sufficient.
I think there's 10+ straight years the organization has failed fans and potential fans as well as the players. So I wouldn't be at all surprised of a generation not caring.
i didn’t grow up super into hockey (25F for reference), we went to a few phantoms games but that’s it. but my boyfriend LOVES it and got me into it. what got me to love the flyers specifically was the atmosphere of the home games, as well as watching their documentary about their broad street bully days. as someone who was born and raised here in philly the documentary made me respect and love our boys, even as a new fan, and now they got me sucked in!!! also when they kicked the shit out of the russians, god that was amazing to watch. also realizing that our boys were the reason that rules of hockey were starting to change due to the amount of bullying, i love them even more. as a brand new fan starting in september of last year basically, we went to 8+ games and also froze our ass off at the outdoor game in NJ. It’s an amazing experience, every game was beyond fun, and i love being a hockey fan now. Even being haggled by devils fans in NJ was part of a super fun experience (being on the other side of the “bullying” was pretty hilarious) basically i guess to summarize, to create new fans: - IN PERSON GAMES!!!! the atmosphere is all you need to really get into it! - that documentary i found to be just lovely bc I’m a dirtball from south philly, so the fact that they went out and bullied everyone and made a name for our team, to a point where other teams were like “oh shit we’re playing the flyers tonight”, also changing the rules of hockey, made me really love and respect my home team GO FLYERS !!
I’m 42. I was 15 when we got swept by Detroit in 97. The salary cap was installed several years later. IMHO, the Flyers have been garbage since the salary cap era minus like…2 seasons. Maybe 3…. There is an entire generation of a fan base that is disassociated with our hockey team because we’ve been worse than the marlins in 20+ years…
I'm 38, I remember that series well, unfortunately. Maybe it's because I'm a stubborn fuck, but it actually made me a bigger fan. I knew we'd get back some day, then there was the Blackhawks heartbreak. Then after that was pure misery, but at least there's light now. I have faith in Briere and Jones, and where they're taking us.
If they don't go all in around a Michkov-aged core, the same way Florida built elite talent in the same age cohort around Barkov and Ekblad, then I'm at a complete loss. Trading Konecny now and Laughton by the deadline to get future assets to help draft/develop a new core are the easiest no brainers of no brainers for any rebuilding team. If Jones/Briere choke on this very basic step, then I'll know that the failed management approach that caused the all misery is still entrenched.
I have to agree, as much as I love TK and Laughton. Michkov could and probably will need a few years to develop, if he even arrives this season. They have to draft well too. They need centers and more elite finishers. I do like the young talent they have. Foerster, York, Tippett, Brink, and really most of the defensive core I like. I still haven't given up on Frost, I feel like he's right on the cusp of being a really good offensive threat.
FLA only has 3 players on their team that they drafted and their teams age range is all over the place. They’re literally the text book definition of old school pre cap Flyers team building where they wheel and deal themselves into contention. Imo a poor comparison example but I wouldn’t complain if Danny Paul Holmgrened the Flyers into contention again.
Sure, lots of trades but the core is all elite talent from about 27 to 30. Lots of former firsts or players who became elite. Barkov, Ekblad, Tkachuk, Forsling, Verhaeghe, Montour, plus the younger Lundell, and then supplemental pieces like Rodrigues and Mikkola all in that age range. The equivalent is to build the core around Michkov's age range. I don't care if it is own picks or trades, but today, the trades have to be for FUTURE assets, not trading away future assets to make the 2025 Flyers better. To be the Panthers they have a ton of high-end talent holes to fill with players who are today from 22 to 16 yrs old. Briere/Jones need to focus on that future and not fall into Flyers bad habits of trying to glow-up inherently flawed rosters by borrowing or tying up cap from the future. Example, trading a pick for a 26 yr old 2c today or having 33 yr old Konecny under contract for $9m five seasons from now. Both moves would hurt a future Michkov core.
Ekblad and barkov is not the best example, most of their great players came in trades years later when they were ready to compete
I don't care that they came by trades, they built a high-end talent core of players who are about 27 to 30. The lesson is to build a core of high-end talent in Michkov's age range. The Flyers need to draft/develop like crazy, and if their own picks don't pan out, and they are shrewd, then they can in three or so years add future equivalents to Reinhart, Bennett, Tkachuk, Montour, and Forsling. If they do pan out, they'll look more like Dallas, who has loads of homegrown talent. Either way, they need to stay focused on filling all those future roster holes they've got. Konecny traded and at some point soon, Laughton traded, helps that cause. Elite talent around the Michkov core is the key.
Don’t let the Stanley cup finals run fool you into thinking they were a good team that year. We rode Michael Leighton, a waiver wire pickup, to the finals after making it to the playoffs in game 82 in a shootout win. This franchise has been garbage to mediocre since the 2005 lockout
The Primeau/Roenick/Gagne team should've won the whole fucking thing before the lockout. Fucking Lightning.
Realistically you are right. We just couldn’t adjust to the salary cap with Holmgrem and they hired two clowns right after him. Hoping Danny and Keith jones are different but man… idk
Salary cap, plus analytics, plus expansion, plus rules enforcement. The Flyers have been one of the last teams to even begin to adjust. Christ, I remember watching the Flyers play the late nineties Avalanche team with Forsberg and Sakic and realize, Jesus, these guys are skating circles around and whipping the puck past what I thought was a great team. To your point, it has been the same for decades. That 2010 lucky run was the worst thing to happen to them because it validated an otherwise flailing organization and sent them further down the "chasing the bubble" and "if we just get in, anything can happen" failed approach rabbit hole. Meanwhile, smart teams were intentionally building modern dynasties for Cup compete windows (Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA, and Tampa primarily). It is only in the past couple of years that they've even feigned to understand just how outdated their mindset has been. If draft picks/prospects go out for "now" players or Konecny isn't gone by draft day and Laughton is still here by next trade deadline, then those are the tells, the old Flyers losing management approach will be alive and well. If they aren't smart enough to fully embrace drafting and developing a new core around Michkov's age cohort, then they don't deserve our support.
I was born in July 76 so that means in my almost 48 years on this earth I've never witnessed the Flyers hoisting the cup. I can't believe I've stuck in there this long without switching teams. jk. I'm a lifer, win or lose.
I got properly into hockey about a decade ago, solidly into the mediocre years. I’m not even from the states and somehow ended up here (don’t ask me how, it’s a combo of instinctive dislike for other teams and instinctive need to yell and overreact) So I think you’re overestimating just how unlikely it is people have become fans in that time period
Flyers still have pull.i have kids starting in hockey and they gravitated towards the flyers mainly because their youth program is so welcoming and well done. If you like hockey is easy to like flyers if you grow up around the area, it’s just harder for local kids to notice it when the team doesn’t stand out. But gritty and the youth program are enough to bring kids in. It was for mine anyway. My youngest son watched flyers games FOR gritty in think
I think we will gain more fans if the front office would add even MORE advertisements on the Jerseys and increase the size of the BLUE IBX logo. That 'll get bums in the seats!
My son is 12. I guess about 5 or 6 years ago we were watching a Flyers v Detroit game. It was late in the season and the team was losing. My son turned to me and said “Dad- have the Flyers ever been good?” It was a bit heartbreaking. He did get to see the bubble team though that technically was 1st place. That team was rolling too before the Covid pause.
I assume most young people who actually like hockey are like me and follow multiple teams but keep philly in the peripheral. I’m big into NHL lore and history and follow TOR and now EDM religiously but you bet your ass if the Flyers stop sucking I’ll be the loudest fan in hockey and so will 80% of this city. The moment we have a contending core again I guarantee you you’ll see more Flyers fans from every demographic then you thought possible.
I'm 48. Get off my lawn.
There’s a strong youth hockey core in the area. Those kids are hockey fans, unfortunately when the team isn’t in the playoffs every year, it’s easy for an 8 year old to follow the teams their favorite superstars are on. Just go get a couple superstars and we’ll be straight. Sounds easy enough.
Really easy to do picking 12th overall right lol
I can only speak about our family experience. Our son is 21, and a huge Philadelphia sports fan with two exceptions. The first is the Union, and for him, he was a solid soccer player and appreciates the game and generally does not like the MLS and so it's understandable. But the other exception is the Flyers. He just doesn't follow them, couldn't tell you the name of more than two players and generally doesn't care. This may be my fault since when he was young, he would watch TV with me, and that meant watching sports. I stopped paying attention when Comcast bought the Flyers since I don't believe that corporations can be good stewards of pro sports teams. And so, we watched tons of Phillies and Sixers's games, and of course Eagles' games (but football is easy since it's once a week). Regardless, he lived and died with Philadelphia sports and learned early on that heartbreak defines us as a sports town. But he's a true Philadelphia sports fan, but not a Flyers fan. But none of his friends followed the Flyers either. It just feels like because they were so mediocre and at times very bad that they lost fans, my son included. It's a shame, and I feel like the Flyers fall to irrelevancy is one of the biggest untold stories in sports.
I agree that winning builds lifelong fans to a certain extent. 1. If winning is all it takes than Buffalo, Chicago, LA, Toronto and so many other fanbases should be non existent. 2. I also don't think you can only join a fan base in your early years. When a team gets good and is fun to watch what is stopping a 20 something who never had any interest from jumping on the bandwagon and forming life long fandom then? I lived in Denver 15 years ago when the Av's were really bad and tickets were cheap, I don't think they struggle for fans today. 3. Sure, everyone has their favorite childhood hero's from "the good old days" but you don't really realize how good they are at the time. When I was a kid John Vanbiesbrouck was my favorite flyer, that makes no sense to me now. Sure the flyers weren't contenders the last 10 years but Giroux, Simmonds, Voracek, Ghost are all a hell of a group of players for kids to look up to and made the team fun. Lets me real, the Flyers aren't the Cleveland Browns just yet.
I went from a rabid fan in my youth to barely paying attention, it hasn't happened with other sports even with incompetent and bad teams so I agree winning isn't the main thing. It does play a part though, took till the Phillies got Harper before I paid attention to them again after the 07-11 run. Personally I think many people my age (40) lost interest during the strike and it never fully came back. I watched during the cup run and I watch during the playoffs but I've just never fully came back. Giroux was great and there were some fun teams but I feel like the draw still didn't hit. The Flyers haven't had a personality even the good years I can't define the team, not like the Lindros years.
Love your last sentence. However, if Briere and Jones turn out to be clowns and don't figure out how to go all-in around a Michkov-aged and high-talent core, and we get back on the perpetual bubble team merry-go-round, then all bets are off. Stupid Tortorella quotes and Gritty are the only things that have been keeping the Flyers nationally relevant for several years now. This season was mostly fun and I hope that continues, but management need not be confused- the final season results for the next handful of years are irrelevant. Michkov choosing them was a Mitzvah. They got a player who would be #1 overall in most draft years at pick #7. If this isn't a Florida-level team (multiple ECFs) in five or six years (for multiple seasons) and instead reverts back to what they've always been (low skill/try hard, make the playoffs and be easy outs in the 1st or 2nd rounds), then yeah, we will be the Cleveland Browns. This ain't a Canadian city nor an original six franchise. Going on two generations of irrelevance would in fact kill the interest to below Union soccer.
Or they don't know, they are there just not aware. I'm 64, started watching hockey Clarke's rookie season, played hockey up until about 8 years ago. The non-hockey world isn't in my sphere of understanding.
Well that kinda goes with what I mean. They don’t know and aren’t aware because frankly what was there to be aware of in the past 12 years?
Yes but the same could be said for the Phillies, if they start winning those fans will show up
🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️
I have younger cousins that don't even think about the Flyers being a good team, the organization shit the bed the last decade and all they gave us was Gritty........
A generation is defined as 20 to 30 years, so yes I do beleive that I dont think I would have the love I have for the game If i was not part of the 70s/80s teams, I dont find myself much interested in todays game. Where before, i treated every game like an Eagles game, players played every shift of every game as if it meant something
That’s a really cool thought. Not to mention players. Look how many players are in the NHL from the Delaware Valley area that probably correlates to a dad becoming a fan during the Broad Street Bullies era. Absolutely was the reason I ended up playing hockey too.
I was just thinking about that too how many NHLers are actually from the Philly area? Not as many as you’d think
Gaudreau, Robinson, & Colton come to mind. But I suppose you’re right. AHL, ECHL, & NCAA D1 has quite the list though.
Probably a good thing. The organization still operates like its 1979. The broad street bully nostalgia needs to end
Will always be a flyers fan, especially because I grew up with the legion of doom era and learned a lot about the org from my grandfather who loved all Philly sports. Then I lived in Texas during the cup run against the blackhawks (as painful as that was, its was an awesome ride…until it wasn’t 😂 story of a Philly sports fans). I’m in Colorado now and still keep tabs on the flyers (but not nearly as much as the birds, Phils, or sixers), but it is fun going to Avs games and seeing what a team can do with a proper rebuild.
We will see if it’s truly a proper rebuild lol
*Meaning the Avs, who won the Stanley cup just two years ago
Makes sense. That is definitely what I’d call a proper rebuild. The flyers? lol
I’m late twenties, and I was lucky enough to be a fan when they were good and made that cup run, and the series against the pens with bryz. Hockey was my favorite sport for sure, even over the eagles. As I went to college, I didn’t have friends that wanted to go to the college hockey games with me, and I didn’t go as much as the years went on, until I stopped going. I still followed the flyers, and tickets were dirt cheap as a student. I didn’t care that they sucked because I thought it would be a phase. Now 12 years after the last exciting playoff series, and they really haven’t put an exciting product out. For years we were just moving away one good player at a time until we traded G. And he seemed glad to be gone. The most exciting playoff moment in that time was the bubble year, and that was something of a flash in the pan. The team has made minor improvements here and there and we have remained in playoff bubble purgatory. I am a bigger fan of eagles, sixers and probably the Phillies as well now. And say what you will about the 2nd round sixers, but at least they try to put a competitive product on the floor to the point that a 2nd round exit is a disappointment, and has been for the past 5-6 years. I can’t remember the last time the flyers made it that far, it might have been 2012-2013.
You are a good example of what I meant with this post as well and definitely relatable in many ways. If hockey didn’t get more popular on social media and there wasn’t more outlets for me to follow it and the league as a whole hockey would definitely have fell from my favorite to least favorite of the four sports just like you. My advice would be to get more into the NHL as a whole rather than just the flyers as that’s the only thing that really saved me from complete apathy
I got into the Flyers at age 8 on their first Cup run. By the next year I was all in, with shirts, coats, hats etc. and a Bobby Clarke Mylec street hockey stick. From age 8 to 21 (in '86), I saw the Flyers make the playoffs every year, win two Cups, and get to the Finals six times. And from age 21 until the 2012 tailspin, I saw seven more Conference Finals and two more Cup Finals. Despite the dips in the early 90s and 20-teens, I still think of the Flyers as a winning organization. An 8-year-old who got into the Flyers in 2012, and will be 21 this coming season, has seen the Flyers miss the playoffs eight times and win one series (in the bubble). Their Flyers have been nothing but losers. It's like we're rooting for two completely different organizations.
This really is the worst and longest era of crap hockey.
I actually started going to games during that time and it made me a fan to this day. They were "mediocre" but had a ton of talented guys you wanted to watch like G, Jake, Simmer, Coots. Just like the 2003 to 2006 Phillies stunk but they had a ton of fun talent to watch.
They’ve been worse than bad, they’ve been boring. But then, the NHL as a whole has gotten more boring over the last 10 years. Not as many big plays. Not as many personalities.
I'm 22 and I can count on one hand the number of people who were as into the flyers as me growing up. The fandom has been painful.
Im 16, i wouldnt say i was born into a hockey family but in January my parents got tickets to a flyers game that really sparked my interest in the game even though we lost and ive become obsessive ever since lol
You cannot build a fanbase with a garbage product. I moved to South Florida over 25 years ago and the only team I ditched were the Flyers. Go Panthers!
Well that’s no loyalty although I’ll agree with the garbage product.
I'm 24. Old enough to remember the 2010 finals. My dedication stems from me and my father having a shared team to root for. I was born in New Jersey, but my dad is from Pennsylvania and grew up in and around Philadelphia. He was old enough to remember the last time the Flyers had the cup, Him, my uncle, and my grandfather were big fans and I was surrounded by the team as a kid. I remember going to games with him when I was 8-9 years old, we even got the chance to be in one of those club suites in a gift from his dad / my grandfather. He also took us to see the Phantoms when they were still in the Spectrum. I grew to love the team, and Philadelphia as a whole during my childhood, and it stuck with me as I grew up. Nobody else I knew growing up was fans of the Flyers, I met mostly Devils fans, as well as Rangers fans. When I moved to Cleveland a few years ago, Philadelphia sports teams became more important to me, since the Flyers only play in Columbus (the closest NHL team to me) twice a year or so, it became a chance for me to reconnect with something that was connected to my childhood. I saw them play in April in Columbus, and while it was a painful game to watch, I was still taken back to when I was 11 years old watching Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, and Claude Giroux play from the upper decks of WFC and I knew I would never let the Flyers go.
You’re putting too much logic into it. Men simple. Men drink beer. Men watch sports. Men root for teams. Locals root for local teams. It’s simple. Remember, Sabres, Blue Jackets, Wild, Predators, Sharks, Jets, Senators, Canucks, Panthers all have a fan base that’s strong while their teams have never ever won Lord Stanley’s Cup.
No, I dont think thats how it works at all
You don't think being a good team interests could-be fans more than mediocrity does? There is definitely a generational divide with fans right now.
I had this conversation with my 13 year old daughter who has loved the Phillies for a few years but describes the Flyers as boring after going to a few games in person where nothing exciting happened. I told her she doesn’t even know because she hasn’t seen playoff hockey but…how old is she going to be before we realistically have a deep playoff run?
You might have grandkids by then.
Yea the flyers play boring 1979 hockey
It’s completely how it works lol. Winning leads to new fans because who doesn’t like to win? The Phillies are the best example of that even in the past two years they’ve built up a new explosion of popularity and added a lot of younger fans who they missed out on getting from 2011-2021 when they were just as mediocre and bad as the flyers. Not to say the flyers fanbase won’t eventually tap into this generation if they start winning and being a good team but at this moment there is not a lot of fans from the kids who grew up watching sports from 2012 to now