A lot of people in this town have the idea in their heads the Philadelphia Flyers are hated in the NHL. The League is out to get us, and they have been since the 1970s. And sure, there are probably quite a few people within the NHL that still hold disdain for the team.
But while we can point to any number of examples as to how Ed Snider and the Flyers' organization are big-time influencers in the sport and the League, this one note from Stu Hackel at SI might just sum it up best.
In a story on the upcoming negotiations between the NHL and NBC/Versus, Hackel wrote:
In addition, the source said, Flyers owner Ed Snider "won't let the NHL leave" Versus and NBC. "And I'd be very surprised if he would devalue the brand by letting ESPN have even a secondary national cable package." In addition to his position as a powerful NHL team owner and member of the league's Board of Governors Executive Committee, Snider is American Chairman of Comcast Spectacor.
So, there's that. More evidence that no, the Flyers aren't pushed around by the NHL. They actually kinda run this thing (to an extent, of course).