50 Fun Facts About Philadelphia Flyers

In which NHL expansion year did the Flyers join the league?

They were the first post-Original Six expansion team to win the Stanley Cup.

Which earlier NHL team, playing only the 1930-31 season, was Philadelphia's first?

The Quakers went 4-36-4, still the fewest wins in an NHL season, and folded after one year.

Who suggested the name "Flyers", persuading Ed Snider to skip a planned name-the-team contest?

The name was announced on August 3, 1966.

What was Ed Snider's job when he got the idea for a Philadelphia hockey team in November 1964?

He was watching Bruins fans queue for tickets to see a last-place team at the Boston Garden.

Why did the Flyers play their last seven home games of the 1967-68 season on the road?

They still won the all-expansion West Division with a sub-.500 record.

Who was the first captain in Flyers history?

Angotti left after one season and Ed Van Impe took over the C.

At what overall pick did the Flyers select Bobby Clarke in the 1969 draft?

He fell to the second round partly because teams worried about his type 1 diabetes.

In which Manitoba mining town was Bobby Clarke born?

He learned he had type 1 diabetes at 12 or 13 and starred for the Flin Flon Bombers.

Whose recording of "God Bless America" did the Flyers begin playing before select games in December 1969?

Promotion director Lou Scheinfeld started it, and the team's record with the song became legendary.

Which newspaper's writers coined the nickname "Broad Street Bullies" in January 1973?

Jack Chevalier wrote the game story after a brawling win over Atlanta and Pete Cafone wrote the headline.

Who was the first Flyer to score 50 goals in a season?

He did it in 1972-73, the team's first winning season, and later scored the Cup-clinching goal in 1974.

Bobby Clarke was the first expansion-team player to win which NHL award, in 1973?

He won the league MVP award three times in all.

How many penalty minutes did Dave Schultz rack up in 1974-75, an NHL single-season record?

He had led the Bullies with 348 the season before.

How many games did Bernie Parent win in 1973-74, a record that stood for 33 years?

He shared the goaltending award with Chicago's Tony Esposito that season.

Which team did the Flyers beat in the 1974 Stanley Cup Final?

Bobby Orr's late penalty on Clarke in game six sealed the first Cup for an expansion team.

What did the "God Bless America" singer do after performing before game six of the 1974 Final?

The Flyers won 1-0 on a first-period goal, and Parent's shutout earned him the Conn Smythe.

Which team did the Flyers defeat in the 1975 Final, a series remembered for the Fog Game?

Buffalo's arena had no air conditioning, and a May heatwave left game three shrouded in fog.

Who scored the winner in game six of the 1975 Final as Parent posted a record fifth shutout?

Parent became the first player to win consecutive Conn Smythe Trophies.

Which Soviet team left the ice mid-period at the Spectrum in January 1976 after an Ed Van Impe hit?

The Soviets returned when told they would forfeit their pay, and the Flyers won 4-1.

Which three players made up the LCB line that set an NHL record with 141 goals in 1975-76?

Reggie Leach scored 61, Bill Barber 50 and Bobby Clarke 30.

How many playoff goals did Reggie Leach score to win the 1976 Conn Smythe despite the Flyers being swept?

He scored five in one game against Boston on the way to the Final against Montreal.

What was head coach Fred Shero's nickname?

He was known for disappearing from rooms unnoticed and leaving philosophical sayings on the chalkboard.

Which team did Fred Shero leave the Flyers to coach and manage in 1978?

The Flyers received the Rangers' 1978 first-round pick as compensation.

How long was the Flyers' 1979-80 unbeaten streak, still a North American pro sports record?

They went 25-0-10 before losing 7-1 to Minnesota on January 7, 1980.

Pelle Lindbergh, who led the NHL with 40 wins in 1984-85, was the first European to win which trophy?

He was killed in a car accident a month into the following season, and his number 31 was taken out of circulation.

Which Flyers goaltender was the first in NHL history to shoot the puck into an empty net, in 1987?

He repeated the trick in the 1989 playoffs, another first.

Which future Hall of Famer was among the players the Flyers sent to Quebec for Eric Lindros in 1992?

Mike Ricci, Steve Duchesne, Chris Simon, Kerry Huffman and a starting goaltender also went in the deal.

An arbitrator awarded Lindros to the Flyers in 1992 after which team also claimed a deal with Quebec?

It was ruled that Quebec had agreed the Flyers deal first.

Which two wingers flanked Eric Lindros on the Legion of Doom line?

All three stood at least six foot two and weighed over 230 pounds.

What was Lindros's earlier line with Recchi and Fedyk called, after their numbers 8, 88 and 18?

Renberg then arrived and the Legion of Doom formed in 1995.

Which junior team did Eric Lindros play for before Quebec drafted him first overall in 1991?

He refused to report to the Nordiques, forcing the trade to Philadelphia.

Whose fifth-overtime goal against Pittsburgh in 2000 turned that series for the Flyers?

The Flyers had come back from a 2-0 series deficit to win in six.

How many penalty minutes did the Flyers and Ottawa combine for in their NHL-record 2004 game?

The brawl-filled game came in a season when Roenick broke his jaw and Primeau suffered a concussion.

What series deficit did the 2010 Flyers overcome against Boston in the second round?

They then beat Montreal to reach the Final against Chicago for the first time since 1997.

Which team beat the Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final?

Michael Leighton became the first Flyers goalie with three shutouts in a series on the way there.

Which Flyer's number 4 was retired a few months after his death from leukemia?

The Flyers have retired six numbers: 1, 2, 4, 7, 16 and 88.

Which number did Bill Barber wear, retired after his Hall of Fame induction?

Mark Howe's 2 and Eric Lindros's 88 were also retired after their inductions.

What number is out of circulation but not officially retired in memory of Pelle Lindbergh?

He died on November 11, 1985, after a car accident.

In what year did the Flyers leave the Spectrum for the new CoreStates Center?

The new building has since carried several sponsor names, including Wells Fargo Center and, from 2025, Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Which two other Philadelphia teams share the Flyers' arena?

The 76ers play NBA basketball there and the Wings play National Lacrosse League games.

In what year did the Flyers unveil their mascot Gritty?

Before Gritty, the Flyers and Rangers were the only NHL teams without an official mascot.

Which mascot performer helped design Gritty?

Brian Allen of Flyland Designs in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, drew the seven-foot orange creature.

What was the name of the Flyers' first mascot, which lasted only the 1976-77 season?

The team then went four decades without a mascot.

Why was the statue of the "God Bless America" singer outside the Flyers' arena removed in April 2019?

The Yankees dropped her "God Bless America" recording the day before, and the Flyers followed suit.

Which grocery chain sponsored the Flyers' 1966 name-the-team contest, with a colour TV as top prize?

Names considered behind the scenes included Quakers, Ramblers and Liberty Bells before Ed Snider's sister suggested Flyers.

Bill Putnam's choice of orange for the Flyers was partly inspired by the colours of his alma mater, which school?

Putnam wanted 'hot' colours and also drew on the orange and black of the old Philadelphia Quakers.

Which full-length hockey pants did the Flyers pioneer in 1981-82 before the NHL banned them?

Only the Hartford Whalers joined them; the pants were banned for safety reasons and traditional shorts returned in 1983-84.

Who holds the Flyers' single-season points record with 123 in 1992-93?

Reggie Leach's 61 goals in 1975-76 remains the franchise's single-season goal record.

Who set an NHL record with 34 power-play goals for the Flyers in 1985-86?

Kerr was part of the new generation that took over from the Broad Street Bullies in the mid-1980s.

Which Flyer became the first former player to be named the club's head coach, replacing Mike Keenan in 1988?

Keenan was fired after the Flyers blew a 3-1 series lead and a 3-0 game-seven lead against Washington.