The Philadelphia Flyers released their promotional scheduled today, and uh, well... they aren't really giving away much this year, are they? Not that the Flyers are a team that has always had a ton of giveaways every year anyway, but this year I've counted exactly two giveaway dates on the calendar.

On opening night, November 3 against the Vancouver Canucks, the Flyers will, as usual, hand out schedule magnets to each fan in attendance. Between that night and March 24 when the team holds Fan Appreciation Day against the Montreal Canadiens, there will be a number of promotional nights, but not one single giveaway item at the door.

A full rundown of the rest:

• October 24 vs Toronto: Cancer Awareness Night
• October 27 vs Winnipeg: Dollar Dog Night
• October 29 vs Carolina: Halloween Game
• November 3 vs New Jersey: Flyers Wives Carnival Kickoff
• November 5 vs Columbus: Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Night
• November 17 vs Phoenix: Dollar Pretzel Night
• November 25 vs Montreal: Black Friday Sale
• December 8 vs Pittsburgh: Flyers Charities Basket Auction
• December 17 vs Boston: Holiday Game
• January 7 vs Ottawa: Adolescent Awareness Night
• January 22 vs Boston: Season Ticket Holder Appreciation (again)
• February 2 vs Nashville: Dollar Dog Night
• February 11 vs NY Rangers: Kids Day
• February 16 vs Buffalo: Autism Awareness Night
• February 18 vs Pittsburgh: Season Ticket Holder Appreciation (again)
• February 19  -- Flyers Wives Fight For Lives Carnival

Then on March 24, the team holds the aforementioned annual Fan Appreciation Day, where there will be a poster giveaway. And on March 26, the final promotion of the year will come at a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Flyers Charities will hold a Stick Auction. 

Not to knock the team or anything, because there are obviously plenty of good causes and plenty of promotional nights on the schedule, but in all honesty, who gets excited for Adolescent Awareness Night or the Halloween Game? 

In '08-'09, the Flyers had five giveaway nights and a much lengthier promotional schedule. In '09-'10 there were seven giveaway nights on the schedule and I can't find the schedule online from last year, but there were at least six I can recall from memory. 

I took a quick glance around the league at other teams, just out of curiosity, and here's what I found. I didn't include Fan Appreciation Nights, since every team has one, unless there was an explicit giveaway that was listed (like the Flyers have). Most teams have yet to announce their schedules, unfortunately, so this isn't a complete list:

• Two or less: Philadelphia (2)
• Three to five: Anaheim (4), Ottawa (3), Montreal (3), Washington (3)
• Five to 10: St. Louis (5)
• 10 or more: Detroit (16), Pittsburgh (14), Minnesota (22!)

So, uh, yeah. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, I guess... but what gives, Flyers?