61 Facts About Philadelphia Flyers

1.

Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia.

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2.

The Philadelphia Flyers compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference.

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3.

Additionally, the Philadelphia Flyers have the most appearances in the conference finals of all 24 expansion teams, and they are second behind the St Louis Blues for the most playoff appearances out of all expansion teams .

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4.

Philadelphia Flyers have played their home games on Broad Street since their inception, first at the Spectrum from 1967 until 1996, and then at the Wells Fargo Center since 1996.

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5.

The Philadelphia Flyers have had rivalries with several teams over the years.

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6.

Philadelphia Flyers began making plans for a new arena upon hearing the NHL was looking to expand due to fears of a competing league taking hold on the West Coast and the desire for a new television contract in the United States.

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7.

However, playoff success did not come so quickly, as the Philadelphia Flyers were upset by St Louis in a first-round, seven-game series.

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8.

The keystone of those teams was acquired when the Philadelphia Flyers took a chance on a 19-year-old diabetic from Flin Flon, Manitoba, Bobby Clarke, with their second draft pick, 17th overall, in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft.

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9.

However, in the season's final game, the Philadelphia Flyers needed a win or a tie against the second-year Buffalo Sabres to beat out Pittsburgh for the final playoff spot.

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10.

The Philadelphia Flyers lost the tiebreaker to Pittsburgh and missed the playoffs.

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11.

Fortunately for the Philadelphia Flyers, they had home-ice advantage as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals by winning Game 7 and in the process made history by becoming the first expansion team to win a playoff series over an Original Six team.

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12.

The Philadelphia Flyers picked up the lead early when Rick MacLeish scored a first-period goal.

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13.

The Philadelphia Flyers looked to be headed toward another sweep after winning the first three games.

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14.

However, the Philadelphia Flyers did not come close to a third straight championship without an injured Bernie Parent, as they ran into an up-and-coming dynasty in Montreal, and were swept in four-straight games.

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15.

The Philadelphia Flyers' season came to an end against Fred Shero's Rangers in a five-game quarterfinal loss.

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16.

In doing so, the Philadelphia Flyers wrapped up the Patrick Division title with 14 games to spare and the first overall seed in the playoffs.

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17.

The Philadelphia Flyers rolled through the playoffs by sweeping the Rangers in three games, defeating the Islanders in five and beating Quebec in six to return to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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18.

The Philadelphia Flyers then defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Canadiens in a fiery six-game series to win the Wales Conference and return to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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19.

The Philadelphia Flyers then defeated Pittsburgh in seven games to make the Wales Conference Finals before bowing out to Montreal in six games.

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20.

Philadelphia Flyers only played in 36 games and as a result the Flyers missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year, finishing fifth in the Division and three points short of a playoff spot after a late-season collapse.

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21.

In June 1992, the Philadelphia Flyers persuaded Bobby Clarke to return to the team as senior vice president after Jay Snider won the hard-fought arbitration battle for 1991 first overall pick Eric Lindros against the Rangers.

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22.

The playoff drought came to an end as the Philadelphia Flyers won their first division title in eight years and clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

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23.

The Philadelphia Flyers said goodbye to the Spectrum and prepared to open a new arena – the CoreStates Center – for the next season.

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24.

Burke proved ineffective in net, as the Philadelphia Flyers were eliminated in the first round by Buffalo in five games.

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25.

Philadelphia Flyers played several games after the initial hit and afterwards criticized the team's training staff for failing to initially diagnose the concussion after it happened.

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26.

Brian Boucher, who as a rookie backstopped the Philadelphia Flyers' playoff run the previous season, could not duplicate his performance and lost the starting goaltending job to Roman Cechmanek, a former star in the Czech Republic.

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27.

The performance of Cechmanek, worthy of a Vezina nomination, along with Bill Barber winning the Jack Adams Award as head coach of the year, helped the Philadelphia Flyers stay afloat, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs to Buffalo in six games.

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28.

The Philadelphia Flyers hired a proven winner when they turned to former Dallas Stars and Stanley Cup-winning head coach Ken Hitchcock.

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29.

Consequently, the Philadelphia Flyers endured a long, brutal seven-game first-round match-up with Toronto that featured three multiple overtime games, all in Toronto.

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30.

Philadelphia Flyers's inconsistency showed through as he allowed ten goals in the final two games, and Ottawa advanced in six games.

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31.

Philadelphia Flyers was later traded to Los Angeles for a 2004 second-round draft pick during the off-season despite having the second-best GAA in the League over his three years in Philadelphia.

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32.

Esche entrenched himself as starter and remained in that position even after the Philadelphia Flyers re-acquired Sean Burke from the Phoenix Coyotes as the Philadelphia Flyers clinched the Atlantic Division title over New Jersey on the last day of the season.

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33.

The Philadelphia Flyers were one of the more active teams once the NHL lockout came to an end.

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34.

The Philadelphia Flyers had been first in the league prior to the Olympic break, where an injury to Forsberg occurred.

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35.

All told, the Philadelphia Flyers were third in the NHL with 388 man-games lost to injury, tops amongst playoff teams.

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36.

The Philadelphia Flyers fell short of an Atlantic Division title, finishing second by tie-breaker to New Jersey, drawing the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round match-up with fourth-seeded Buffalo.

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37.

The Philadelphia Flyers traded Michal Handzus to Chicago, lost Kim Johnsson to free agency and Eric Desjardins and team captain Keith Primeau retired in the off-season.

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38.

The Philadelphia Flyers lost the NHL draft lottery to the Chicago Blackhawks and received the second overall selection.

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39.

The Philadelphia Flyers acquired goaltender Martin Biron from Buffalo for a 2007 second-round pick.

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40.

The Philadelphia Flyers then drew a matchup with heavily favored Montreal in the second round.

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41.

The Philadelphia Flyers won Game 4 at home to stave off elimination, and although Timonen returned for Game 5, Pittsburgh finished off the Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

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42.

The Philadelphia Flyers led both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference for the majority of the season, and challenged Vancouver for the overall NHL lead.

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43.

Pronger returned to the lineup and Leighton started Game 6 but was replaced by Boucher after a poor first period, though nonetheless the Philadelphia Flyers went on to win in overtime and forced a Game 7, which Boucher started.

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44.

The Philadelphia Flyers then drew a rematch with the Boston Bruins in the second round.

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45.

The Philadelphia Flyers tied an NHL record with seven playoff in-game goalie changes, and were the only NHL team not to record a shutout in either the regular season or playoffs.

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46.

Philadelphia Flyers drew Pittsburgh in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, a series in which the two teams combined for an NHL-record 45 goals in the first four games and a total of 309 penalty minutes in an intense, fight-filled series.

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47.

The Philadelphia Flyers pulled off the upset in six games against a heavily favored Pittsburgh team.

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48.

The Philadelphia Flyers faced Washington in the first round, losing the first three games of the series.

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49.

The Philadelphia Flyers fell apart as the season went on, missing the playoffs.

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50.

The Philadelphia Flyers ended up with a nine-game winning streak, losing at home against the Boston Bruins, the NHL's points leader.

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51.

The Philadelphia Flyers were second in the Metropolitan Division, only 1 point behind the Capitals.

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52.

Philadelphia Flyers entered the postseason "bubble" in Toronto as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning they had clinched a playoff appearance and were to play in a seeding round-robin between the top 4 teams of the conference.

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53.

In January 2012, for their second Winter Classic appearance – this time against their arch-rivals the New York Rangers at Citizens Bank Park – the Philadelphia Flyers wore a traditional sweater design in orange with cream and black trim, featuring a cream nameplate with black lettering, as well as black numbers.

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54.

Philadelphia Flyers wore a black uniform for the 2017 NHL Stadium Series, featuring enlarged black numbers with white trim, orange striping on the sleeves and tail, and orange nameplate with black lettering.

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55.

Philadelphia Flyers debuted a short-lived skating mascot named "Slapshot" in 1976 but dropped the character by the next season.

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56.

Philadelphia Flyers has an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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57.

Philadelphia Flyers inductees include 13 former players and six builders of the sport.

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58.

In 1997, Gene Hart, a sports announcer for the Philadelphia Flyers, received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame for his contributions to hockey broadcasting.

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59.

Philadelphia Flyers have retired six of their jersey numbers and taken another number out of circulation.

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60.

The Philadelphia Flyers would go on to win over the Penguins again in the 2000 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, most remembered for Keith Primeau scoring the game winning goal in the fifth overtime period of game four, becoming the third longest playoff game in league history with a total game time of 152 minutes.

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61.

The Penguins first playoff victory against the Philadelphia Flyers came during the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals, winning the series in five games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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