The Flyers play in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the NHL. They have a wonderful track record in their division and are able to win playoff berths regularly. One of the biggest names in the sport, the team’s current home is the famous Wells Fargo Center. From 1967-1996, however, they played at the Spectrum Arena.
History:
Upon hearing the NHL was expanding, Ed Snider, the then Vice President of the Philadelphia Eagles wanted to be a part of the NHL, and proposed that they grant him a franchise. The league chose the Philadelphia group over the Baltimore group and Snider got a Philadelphia franchise. A name-the-team contest was announced and the team name was announced on 3rd August 1966.
The team had a slow start which was understandable since they lacked the experience of the Original Six. But despite their initial problems, they still won the Division Championship in their debut season. Things went downhill the next few seasons as the team was constantly being physically out played. Ed Snider asked the coach to bring in more physical players and the team slowly began to move in the right direction.
The Flyers became a physically intimidating team and came to be known as the "Broad Street Bullies". They would intimidate teams by their aggressive playing styles and started winning more and matches. The Flyers went on to win the Stanley Cup back to back with that team, and achieved the biggest prize in the sport.
Since then, the team has performed really well, even though they have not been able to win the Championship. They still regularly make it to the play off stages and have won their division an amazing sixteen times.
Rivals:
The Flyers enjoy several interesting rivalries with different teams. Their biggest rivals, historically, have been the New York Rangers, with whom they have shared many intense games all the way back to the 1970’s. Even today this rivalry is apparent, as matches between the two teams are usually sold out.
Their second major rivals are the New Jersey Devils against whom the Flyers have fought fiercely for the Division Title. A testament to this is the fact that both teams traded the title alternately every season, from the 94-95 to the 06-07 season.
Achievements:
The Flyers are two time Stanley Cup winners, which they won back to back in the 73-74 and 74-75 seasons. The first expansion era team to do so, they broke the monopoly of the original six teams. The Flyers also have the most number of conference finals appearances (previously known as the league semifinals) among the expansion teams with sixteen appearances and eight wins. Furthermore, among expansion teams, they are only second behind the St. Louis Blues to have appeared in the playoffs the most number of times with thirty six appearances in forty five seasons.
As of the 2012-2013 season, the Flyers have the second highest points percentage in the NHL (.578) which is only second to the Montreal Canadians (.589). The Flyers have been crowned Division Champions sixteen times with their most recent Division title coming in the 2010-2011. To date twenty former officials and players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. So do not miss a chance to catch this legendary hockey team in action and buy Philadelphia Flyers tickets now.