And now it’s time that we put a bow on this Rivalry Week series. We’ve gone around the league and picked on all of the other teams, but you know what, they’re not the only ones we hate. Sometimes, the ire hits close to home and there’s no one that we hate more than the Flyers. So we’re going to bring things full circle, in a way, and take the piss out of our own team. What better way to spend a Saturday, right?
Maddie: There are so many things that the Flyers have done to hurt me and make me hate them over the years, and we almost don’t have enough space to list it all here. I’m sure my pals will get into some of it in a bit. But I do have one thing that I need to get off my chest: I really don’t like the orange jerseys. Orange is a tough color in general, but the current iteration of the jerseys are just so LOUD. It’s too much, I would not want to wear them. Whew. I feel better now.
Kyle: I just really hate this team for basically wasting our time for the better part of an entire decade. I know it wasn’t all a waste because obviously the drafts are a huge part of why this team this year has been so good. But man all those years of Claude Giroux’s prime that went to waste stings, and I really hope he wins a Cup here before his career is over.
Ryan G.: They say that there’s a fine line between love and hate, right? We’re finally seeing this team become Good, but it was an infuriating decade of ups and downs to get here. Watching some of the players and lines the Flyers iced on a nightly basis during the mid-to-late 2010s was simply infuriating, but hopefully it’s all worth it here in the 2020s.
Drew: Though it was slightly before my time and then into the very early years of my hockey fandom, why oh why did the Flyers handle Eric Lindros the way they did at the end? It breaks my heart whenever I think about how his career ended in Philadelphia. Also, I’m forever grateful to Ron Hextall for what he did to rebuild the Flyers in terms of the draft and the salary cap, but his change to the hockey culture had a negative effect on the general atmosphere around the fanbase and I really miss what it used to be. In fairness however, that electric buzz around the Flyers is coming back thanks to the new regime, and they’re balancing between developing and acquiring talent.
Craig: I love this team, but I really wonder how many years have been taken off my life because of 2000, the end of the 2010 run, and the entire Dave Hakstol era. To Drew’s point I kind of want the Flyers to stop bringing in former Flyers so we get another chance to hate them. Ron Hextall and Craig Berube both had their flaws here as off-ice assets, but I really am tired of cycling through old Flyers to see if they happen to be good at management positions and fans hating them afterwards because they sucked.
Kelly: If I have to identify something I hate about this team, I guess it has to be that they’re always juuuuuust short of greatness. So close we can see it and smell it, but we never get to taste it. They always miss out on one move or choice or whatever; the one thing that would get them there. Or they are smote by fate. Also they traded Mike Richards, the dicks.
But we’re going to stick with our format and bring a bit of levity to balance things out. So, gang, before we go, have you got one nice thing to say about the Flyers?
Kyle: Even with all the pain this team causes me, they’re also a major source of joy in my life. I love this damn team no matter how many times they make me want to bang my head against a wall.
Maddie: I am a well known lover of chaos, and the Flyers sure do have a continued dedication to serving that up. Is it too much sometimes? Absolutely. But I appreciate their consistency, and that’s what matters.
Drew: Simply put, because they’re my team. I grew up a Flyers fan and I’ll always be a Flyers fan. Hockey is my favorite sport and with the amount of passion and sometimes angst I’ve put into supporting them, I don’t think I could ever walk away from the Flyers. I’m an Eagles fan as well, though not nearly as involved, but comparing how I felt when the Eagles won the Super Bowl versus how I’ll feel if the Flyers win a Stanley Cup in my lifetime, I can say for sure it’ll be unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
Craig: No matter what I’m going to love this team. It’s a been a lot of pain lately, but I remember the good times in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. It feels like they are starting to get their shit together again and I can’t wait for this city to be fully in love with the team again because they’re contenders. Even though they have caused me a lot of pain over the years they have also given me a lot good memories for the better part of 25 years. Also, eventually, this is all going to pay off when I’m drunk on Broad Street in a LeClair jersey sarcastically yelling about #1975 after the Flyers Do The Thing.
Kelly: I love this team with my life; the friends I have made, the fun I have had, the memories that come along with living and dying by a sports franchise… can’t beat it.
