WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 Apple podcast title the Broad Street Bullies 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.400 a deep dive into Philadelphia Flyers history 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.359 and NHL records Apple podcast description Unpack 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.619 the wild, gritty, and historic legacy of the 00:00:11.619 --> 00:00:14.220 Philadelphia Flyers in this custom deep dive. 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:18.280 From their origins as a 1967 NHL expansion team 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.300 to becoming the feared back -to -back Stanley 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:23.179 Cup champions, we explore the legendary Broad 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:26.440 Street Bullies era, the unmatched 35 -game undefeated 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.899 streak, and the unforgettable showdown against 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:32.140 the Soviet Red Army. Discover fascinating NHL 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:34.439 trivia, the story behind the iconic Kate Smith 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:37.219 God Bless America tradition, the dominance of 00:00:37.219 --> 00:00:39.539 Eric Lindros and the Legion of Doom, and the 00:00:39.539 --> 00:00:42.039 birth of Gritty. Whether you are a hardcore hockey 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:43.960 fan or just someone who loves a larger -than 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.140 -life narrative, this deep dive extracts the 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:48.420 ultimate insights from Flyers lore. Imagine for 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:50.560 a second that you are tasked with creating a 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.340 brand -new professional sports franchise from 00:00:52.340 --> 00:00:54.359 absolutely nothing. Right, a totally blank slate. 00:00:54.579 --> 00:00:56.659 Exactly. You have no players, you have no arena, 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:59.939 no history, and absolutely no fan base. Just 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:03.200 an idea, really. Yeah. Now, imagine that within 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:05.620 less than a decade, that team you created out 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:07.700 of thin air doesn't just, you know, win championships. 00:01:07.939 --> 00:01:10.700 They completely changed the physical and psychological 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:13.939 landscape of the entire sport. They broke the 00:01:13.939 --> 00:01:16.200 mold entirely. They did. You don't just play 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:18.519 the game. You break it. You reinvent it and you 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:22.420 terrify your opponents in the process. So welcome 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:26.000 to today's deep dive. We are exploring the complex, 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:31.420 fiercely unapologetic history. It is an incredible 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:33.760 thought experiment. And as we go through the 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.340 source material today, which covers... decades 00:01:36.340 --> 00:01:38.680 of this franchise's history, we are not just 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:40.840 looking at a list of hockey statistics. No, definitely 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:44.079 not. This is fundamentally a masterclass in brand 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.099 building, in psychological warfare, and really 00:01:47.099 --> 00:01:50.140 resilience. It's a case study in what happens 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:52.340 when an organization decides exactly who they're 00:01:52.340 --> 00:01:54.519 going to be and then commits to that identity 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:57.180 with absolute ferocity, even when the rest of 00:01:57.180 --> 00:01:59.480 the league absolutely despises them for it. OK, 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:01.659 let's unpack this, because to understand how 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:04.280 they built that feared reputation, we actually 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:06.260 have to start. in a completely different city 00:02:06.260 --> 00:02:08.900 with a totally different team. And a totally 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:13.039 different sport. Yes. The year is 1964. Ed Snyder, 00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:14.580 who was the vice president of the Philadelphia 00:02:14.580 --> 00:02:17.000 Eagles football team at the time, happens to 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.159 be at a basketball game. Up at the Boston Garden. 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:21.379 Right. And while he's there, he notices something 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:26.289 highly unusual. There is this massive wrapping 00:02:26.289 --> 00:02:29.349 around the block line of Boston Bruins fans waiting 00:02:29.349 --> 00:02:31.930 in the cold to buy tickets. For hockey? For hockey. 00:02:32.150 --> 00:02:35.469 And here's the detail that catches his eye. The 00:02:35.469 --> 00:02:37.990 Bruins were a last place hockey team at the time. 00:02:38.069 --> 00:02:40.330 They were terrible. They were historically bad, 00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:43.750 yet their fans were still lining up in droves. 00:02:43.930 --> 00:02:46.849 What's fascinating here is how that moment reveals 00:02:46.849 --> 00:02:51.280 Snyder's sharp business acumen. He didn't just 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:53.719 see a crowd of disappointed sports fans. He saw 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:57.099 a deeply loyal, completely untapped market. Yeah. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.879 He recognized the baseline passion that hockey 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:02.699 inspires completely, regardless of a team's win 00:03:02.699 --> 00:03:05.740 -loss record. And at the exact same time, the 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:08.520 NHL was quietly looking to expand beyond its 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:10.379 original six teams. They were feeling the pressure, 00:03:10.460 --> 00:03:13.139 right? Right. Absolutely. The league was terrified 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:15.860 of a competing hockey organization taking hold 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:18.340 on the West Coast, and they desperately needed 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:21.120 to secure a new lucrative television contract 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.460 in the United States. So Snyder puts the pieces 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:26.840 together. He does. He sees the fan passion in 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:29.199 Boston, recognizes the league's vulnerability, 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:32.240 and immediately begins making plans for a brand 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:35.659 new arena in Philadelphia. He pitched an ownership 00:03:35.659 --> 00:03:38.500 group to the NHL, and they successfully beat 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:40.419 out a competing group from Baltimore for the 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:43.300 franchise. So they secured the team in 1966, 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:46.719 but they still need an identity. The fun part. 00:03:46.819 --> 00:03:49.620 Right. They announced this massive name the team 00:03:49.620 --> 00:03:52.560 contest. Ballots are distributed at local Acme 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:54.680 markets, grocery stores all across the region. 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:56.860 Very grassroots. Extremely. And they get over 00:03:56.860 --> 00:04:00.120 11 ,000 entries. Fans are suggesting names like 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.039 the Bashers, the Blizzards, the Bruisers. Very 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:04.780 aggressive names right from the start. Which 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:07.080 is funny considering what they become. But the 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.699 top brass essentially bypassed all that grassroots 00:04:09.699 --> 00:04:12.810 effort anyway. Ed Snyder's sister, Phyllis, was 00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:15.330 traveling back from a Broadway play and she casually 00:04:15.330 --> 00:04:18.670 suggested the name Flyers. Just like that. Just 00:04:18.670 --> 00:04:21.839 like that. Ed knew instantly that was it. It 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:24.319 sounded fast. It had a great phonetic ring with 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.959 Philadelphia. But to honor the contest, they 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:28.699 randomly drew a winner from the folks who had 00:04:28.699 --> 00:04:31.319 submitted that specific name. And who was it? 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:34.199 It was a nine -year -old boy named Alex Stockard. 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:38.019 And he had actually spelled it F -L -I -E -R 00:04:38.019 --> 00:04:41.040 -S on his ballot. Oh, that's great. Yeah, but 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:43.899 they gave it to him anyway. And he won an RCA 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:47.139 color TV, which, you know, for a kid in 1966. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.889 It was a massive prize, a huge deal. But a name 00:04:50.889 --> 00:04:53.290 is just a word until you attach a visual identity 00:04:53.290 --> 00:04:56.629 to it. They hired an advertising firm and an 00:04:56.629 --> 00:04:59.430 artist named Sam Saccone designed the logo we 00:04:59.430 --> 00:05:02.050 still see today. The flying pea. Exactly. It's 00:05:02.050 --> 00:05:04.509 an iconic piece of sports branding. A flanted 00:05:04.509 --> 00:05:07.009 pea with four stylized wings attached to it and 00:05:07.009 --> 00:05:08.970 a burnt orange dot in the center representing 00:05:08.970 --> 00:05:11.939 a puck. The entire design, the aggressive slant, 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:14.000 the wings, it was meant to visually represent 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.560 pure speed. And then there are the colors, burnt 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:18.839 orange, black and white. Very distinct. You see 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:20.879 that specific shade of orange today and you immediately 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.779 think of the Flyers. But the inspiration was 00:05:23.779 --> 00:05:26.439 surprisingly disconnected from a winning tradition. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:29.500 How so? Well, one of the co -founders, Bill Putnam. 00:05:30.110 --> 00:05:32.329 wanted hot colors, and pulled the orange from 00:05:32.329 --> 00:05:34.629 his alma mater, the University of Texas. But 00:05:34.629 --> 00:05:37.750 it was also a direct nod to the old Philadelphia 00:05:37.750 --> 00:05:41.730 Quakers, which was a historically terrible NHL 00:05:41.730 --> 00:05:44.310 team from the 1930s that wore orange and black. 00:05:44.589 --> 00:05:47.689 Interesting. The Quakers set the all -time NHL 00:05:47.689 --> 00:05:50.790 record for futility. They won only four games 00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:53.310 in an entire season. It's a fascinating psychological 00:05:53.310 --> 00:05:55.889 choice, isn't it? They took the visual aesthetic 00:05:55.889 --> 00:05:59.500 of a colossal local failure and attached... it 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:02.220 to a logo built for speed. Like they were reclaiming 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.660 it. Precisely. It was about reclaiming the city's 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:08.240 flawed hockey history and rebranding it. And 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:10.800 in their early years, in the late 60s, they were 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.899 a perfectly fine, albeit unremarkable expansion 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:16.160 team. They weren't terrible, but they weren't 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.569 turning heads. Right. They had some skilled players, 00:06:18.709 --> 00:06:21.509 but they certainly weren't dominant. The true 00:06:21.509 --> 00:06:24.290 catalyst for the franchise, the moment the Flyers 00:06:24.290 --> 00:06:27.370 truly forged their modern identity, happened 00:06:27.370 --> 00:06:31.329 after the 1968 -1969 season. The playoffs against 00:06:31.329 --> 00:06:34.529 the Blues. Yes. They made the playoffs and faced 00:06:34.529 --> 00:06:36.470 the St. Louis Blues. And the Blues didn't just 00:06:36.470 --> 00:06:39.209 beat Philadelphia. They systematically and physically 00:06:39.209 --> 00:06:41.689 battered them. They bullied the Flyers right 00:06:41.689 --> 00:06:44.649 off the ice in a humiliating four -game sweep. 00:06:44.910 --> 00:06:47.129 Imagine being Ed Snyder. You're watching this 00:06:47.129 --> 00:06:49.230 massive investment you've built from the ground 00:06:49.230 --> 00:06:51.910 up just get entirely manhandled on national television. 00:06:52.170 --> 00:06:54.810 It had to sting. So he issues a mandate to his 00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:56.910 general manager right then and there. He basically 00:06:56.910 --> 00:07:00.629 said, we are never ever getting physically outmatched 00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:03.269 again. Go get me bigger, tougher players. And 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:06.370 that single mandate changed hockey history. It 00:07:06.370 --> 00:07:08.290 ushered in one of the most feared eras in the 00:07:08.290 --> 00:07:10.610 history of professional sports. They drafted 00:07:10.610 --> 00:07:12.889 a cast of characters who completely changed the 00:07:12.889 --> 00:07:18.420 game. First, you have Bobby Clark, a 19 -year 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:21.180 -old diabetic from Manitoba. Other teams actually 00:07:21.180 --> 00:07:22.759 passed on him because they were worried about 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:24.720 his health. Which is wild in hindsight. Totally 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.939 wild. The Flyers took a chance, and he became 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:30.759 the absolute heartbeat of the franchise. He eventually 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:33.279 became the youngest captain in NHL history at 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:35.639 the time. So Clark provided the immense skill 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.839 and the relentless work ethic. But Snyder's mandate 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.980 also brought in the pure muscle. They drafted 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:44.980 Dave Schultz. an enforcer who would go on to 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:47.899 set a single -season NHL record for penalty minutes. 00:07:48.430 --> 00:07:50.829 And this is a record that is hard to even comprehend 00:07:50.829 --> 00:07:53.490 today. It really is. To give you some context 00:07:53.490 --> 00:07:56.170 on how staggering this is, a typical NHL game 00:07:56.170 --> 00:07:59.110 today might see a highly penalized player sit 00:07:59.110 --> 00:08:02.490 in the box for maybe 15 to 20 minutes over an 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:04.410 entire season if they get into a few fights. 00:08:04.490 --> 00:08:07.310 Over a whole season. Yes. Dave Schultz racked 00:08:07.310 --> 00:08:11.850 up 472 penalty minutes in the 1974 -75 season 00:08:11.850 --> 00:08:15.600 alone. That is absurd. 472. It's a record that 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.139 still stands today. Yeah. And given how the sport 00:08:18.139 --> 00:08:20.600 has evolved regarding safety, it will likely 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:25.079 never be broken. By 1973, that mediocre expansion 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:29.139 team label was entirely gone. Jack Chevalier, 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.570 a writer for the Philadelphia Bulletin. watched 00:08:32.570 --> 00:08:35.669 them brawl their way to a 3 -1 victory over the 00:08:35.669 --> 00:08:38.250 Atlanta Flames. And he wrote an article that 00:08:38.250 --> 00:08:40.990 coined their legendary moniker. The Bullies. 00:08:41.090 --> 00:08:51.090 Yes. He wrote, quote, And just like that, the 00:08:51.090 --> 00:08:53.929 Broad Street Bullies were officially born. It 00:08:53.929 --> 00:08:56.129 stuck immediately. It was the perfect nickname. 00:08:57.250 --> 00:09:00.129 But I think it also overshadowed a critical point. 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:02.519 What often gets lost in the mythology of the 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:04.879 Bullies is that they were incredibly undeniably 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:07.299 skilled. You have to be to win. Exactly. You 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:09.419 don't win back -to -back Stanley Cups in 1974, 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:12.659 1975 just by throwing punches. They had Bernie 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:15.100 Parent in goal, who was phenomenal. He won the 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:17.039 Vizina Trophy as the league's top goaltender 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.220 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:24.330 in both championship years. The strategy behind 00:09:24.330 --> 00:09:26.490 the physical intimidation was highly calculated. 00:09:26.750 --> 00:09:30.029 It created open space on the ice for their immense 00:09:30.029 --> 00:09:32.950 talent to actually execute plays without being 00:09:32.950 --> 00:09:34.950 contested. Because everyone was terrified of 00:09:34.950 --> 00:09:37.490 getting hit. Precisely. And they had a fascinating 00:09:37.490 --> 00:09:41.200 psychological weapon off the ice, too. In 1969, 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:43.960 the team's promotion director started playing 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:46.700 a recording of Kate Smith singing God Bless America 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:49.779 instead of the traditional Star Spangled Banner 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:52.440 before important games. This is such a unique 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:55.019 piece of sports history. It really is. Initially, 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:57.019 this was just a crowd control tactic. They were 00:09:57.019 --> 00:09:59.299 trying to help calm the arena and defray political 00:09:59.299 --> 00:10:02.279 tensions during the Vietnam War because fans 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:04.340 would actually stand still and sing along to 00:10:04.340 --> 00:10:05.860 Kate Smith. It brought the temperature of the 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:08.600 building down. Exactly. Our sources note it was 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:10.500 a practical... move that just happened to work. 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:13.220 But it quickly evolved from a crowd control tactic 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:16.379 into a full blown organizational superstition. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.850 Because they kept winning. Right. The team simply 00:10:18.850 --> 00:10:21.529 started winning whenever they played it. By the 00:10:21.529 --> 00:10:26.250 end of the 2016 -2017 season, the Flyers had 00:10:26.250 --> 00:10:28.929 a staggering, almost statistically impossible 00:10:28.929 --> 00:10:33.750 record of 100 wins, 29 losses, and five ties 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:36.889 when God Bless America was sung before home games. 00:10:37.049 --> 00:10:39.929 That is wild. Kate Smith even performed it live 00:10:39.929 --> 00:10:43.909 in person before game steps of the 1974 Stanley 00:10:43.909 --> 00:10:46.850 Cup final against Boston. She was out there... 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:49.120 miming a knockout punch to the energized crowd, 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:52.019 and they won the cup that very day. You can't 00:10:52.019 --> 00:10:54.179 write a better script. You really can't. But 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:56.799 here's where it gets really interesting. That 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:59.320 intimidating reputation eventually spilled over 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:01.379 international borders. The Red Army game. The 00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:04.500 Red Army game. In 1976, the Flyers played an 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:07.399 exhibition game against the Soviet Union's Central 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:10.360 Red Army team. Now, according to the source material, 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:13.200 the Soviets were essentially a hockey machine. 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:16.700 They were. They were crisp. precise, totally 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:19.080 dominant on the world stage. They were accustomed 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.360 to simply outskating everyone they played. But 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:23.500 the Flyers decided to play their brand of hockey. 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.340 Midway through the first period, Flyers defenseman 00:11:27.340 --> 00:11:30.899 Ed Van Impe lays a massive, punishing hit. on 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:34.000 the Soviet star, Valery Karlymov. Just levels 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.340 him. Levels him. Put yourself in the skates of 00:11:36.340 --> 00:11:38.580 those Soviet players for a second. You've trained 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:40.879 your whole life for precision, and suddenly you 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:42.860 are facing a team that turns the ice into an 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:45.220 absolute war zone. They didn't know how to process 00:11:45.220 --> 00:11:47.740 it. They didn't. They were so shocked, they literally 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:51.320 skated off the ice in protest. They quit. They 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:53.740 completely refused to play against that level 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:56.450 of aggression. They only returned to the ice 00:11:56.450 --> 00:11:59.230 after being warned by NHL officials that they 00:11:59.230 --> 00:12:01.029 wouldn't get paid for their entire international 00:12:01.029 --> 00:12:03.970 tour if they didn't finish the game. Money talks. 00:12:04.389 --> 00:12:07.169 It does. And the Flyers ended up winning 4 -1. 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:10.210 They became the only NHL team to defeat the Red 00:12:10.210 --> 00:12:13.450 Army outright during that series. And the quote 00:12:13.450 --> 00:12:16.070 from the Flyers' head coach, Fred Shiro, after 00:12:16.070 --> 00:12:18.429 the game, captures their identity perfectly. 00:12:18.789 --> 00:12:21.450 What did he say? He said, yes, we are world champions. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:23.740 If they had won, they would have been world champions. 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:26.519 We beat the hell out of a machine. We beat the 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:29.799 hell out of a machine. That cemented their home 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:32.919 arena, the Spectrum, as the most terrifying building 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:36.200 for visiting teams to play in. Undeniably. But 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:38.700 as the league modernized its rules over the years 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:41.860 to combat that extreme physical style, the Flyers 00:12:41.860 --> 00:12:45.179 had to innovate. Think about the sheer physical 00:12:45.179 --> 00:12:47.840 and mental stamina required to simply endure 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:50.940 an 80 -game NHL season. It's a grind. It is a 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:54.580 massive grind. Yet during the 1979 -1980 season, 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:57.879 the Flyers went undefeated for 35 straight games. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:03.120 That's 25 wins, 0 losses, and 10 ties. A North 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.740 American professional sports record that 40 -plus 00:13:05.740 --> 00:13:08.500 years later, miraculously, still stands today. 00:13:08.899 --> 00:13:11.399 Maintaining peak focus and performance over 35 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:14.090 consecutive games. is a psychological anomaly. 00:13:14.429 --> 00:13:17.350 It requires an entire locker room to refuse complacency 00:13:17.350 --> 00:13:19.389 night after night after night. Yeah. But the 00:13:19.389 --> 00:13:22.009 1980s also brought a profound shift for the franchise. 00:13:22.370 --> 00:13:25.350 It was marked by deep tragedy that really tested 00:13:25.350 --> 00:13:27.490 that locker room's resilience. A really tough 00:13:27.490 --> 00:13:30.509 era. It was. They had transitioned into a new 00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:33.389 era, led largely by their brilliant Swedish goaltender, 00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:36.309 Pelle Lindberg. He had just won the Vizina trophy 00:13:36.309 --> 00:13:38.789 and led them to the absolute pinnacle of the 00:13:38.789 --> 00:13:42.409 league. But in November of 1985, Lindbergh was 00:13:42.409 --> 00:13:45.149 tragically killed in a car accident. Such a devastating 00:13:45.149 --> 00:13:47.929 blow. It brought a soaring franchise to an abrupt... 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.200 Heartbreaking halt. The team had to show immense 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.799 emotional perseverance just to keep going after 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.399 losing their star and, frankly, their friend. 00:13:56.820 --> 00:13:59.740 And a couple years later, the goaltending mantle 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:02.279 is taken up by a fiery rookie who brought that 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:04.899 old Broad Street intimidation right back to the 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:08.419 crease. Ron Hexdahl. Ron Hexdahl. He was unbelievably 00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:10.820 competitive. In his rookie year, he leads them 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:13.200 all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.019 against Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers. The 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:19.409 Dynasty Oilers. Right. lose the series. But Hextall's 00:14:19.409 --> 00:14:21.929 performance was so dominant that he won the consmith 00:14:21.929 --> 00:14:25.190 trophy for playoff MVP anyway. He became one 00:14:25.190 --> 00:14:27.470 of the very rare players to ever win it as a 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:30.190 member of the losing team. Hextall was a revolutionary 00:14:30.190 --> 00:14:33.570 player. He refused to stay in the crease. Before 00:14:33.570 --> 00:14:36.090 him, goalies were mostly passive participants 00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:38.809 when it came to handling the puck. They just 00:14:38.809 --> 00:14:41.210 stopped it. Yeah, they stayed put. Hextall acted 00:14:41.210 --> 00:14:43.990 almost like a third defenseman. He was aggressively 00:14:43.990 --> 00:14:47.149 clearing the puck. And his puck handling ability 00:14:47.149 --> 00:14:50.389 led to something completely unprecedented. Goal. 00:14:50.409 --> 00:14:53.929 The goal. In December of 1987 against the Boston 00:14:53.929 --> 00:14:56.970 Bruins, he fired the puck the entire length of 00:14:56.970 --> 00:14:59.470 the ice into an empty net. Incredible. He became 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:02.110 the first NHL goaltender to ever score a goal. 00:15:02.409 --> 00:15:04.970 And he later repeated the feat, becoming the 00:15:04.970 --> 00:15:07.330 first goalie to score in the playoffs, too. As 00:15:07.330 --> 00:15:09.950 we move into the 1990s, the Flyers pull off a 00:15:09.950 --> 00:15:12.710 move that literally alters the landscape of the 00:15:12.710 --> 00:15:16.490 entire NHL. The 1992 trade for Eric Lindros. 00:15:16.610 --> 00:15:19.090 Massive turning point. Massive. Lindros was a 00:15:19.090 --> 00:15:22.149 highly touted generational prospect who absolutely 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:24.529 refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques, which 00:15:24.529 --> 00:15:26.429 was the team that drafted him. The Flyers decided 00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:28.850 they had to have him no matter the cost. And 00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:32.250 the cost was astronomical. To acquire the rights 00:15:32.250 --> 00:15:34.850 to Lindros, the Flyers traded away six players, 00:15:35.029 --> 00:15:38.909 plus two first round draft picks and $15 million 00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:41.730 in cash. Wait, hold on. Let's look at the pieces 00:15:41.730 --> 00:15:44.309 they gave up. One of those six players was Peter 00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:46.389 Forsberg. Right. Who goes on to become a Hall 00:15:46.389 --> 00:15:48.649 of Famer and wins multiple Stanley Cups with 00:15:48.649 --> 00:15:50.610 the Colorado Avalanche, which is the team that 00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:53.909 Quebec eventually became. Considering the Avalanche 00:15:53.909 --> 00:15:56.590 built a literal dynasty off those traded players, 00:15:56.830 --> 00:15:59.490 doesn't that make this trade a massive historic 00:15:59.490 --> 00:16:02.970 failure for Philadelphia? That is a highly debated 00:16:02.970 --> 00:16:05.710 point among sports historians. And it's a great 00:16:05.710 --> 00:16:08.250 friction point in the source material. Objectively, 00:16:08.250 --> 00:16:11.009 yes, Colorado won the championships. But from 00:16:11.009 --> 00:16:13.269 a brand and market dominance perspective in the 00:16:13.269 --> 00:16:16.049 1990s, Lindros was precisely what Philadelphia 00:16:16.049 --> 00:16:18.710 needed. They needed a superstar. They did. And 00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:20.110 they built a forward line around him that was 00:16:20.110 --> 00:16:22.990 so dominant, so massive, and so physically punishing, 00:16:23.289 --> 00:16:26.250 he was dubbed the Legion of Doom. What a name. 00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:29.129 It consisted of Eric Lindros, John LeClaire, 00:16:29.149 --> 00:16:31.690 and Michael Renberg. Over their time together, 00:16:31.929 --> 00:16:35.529 those three players scored a combined 666 points. 00:16:35.850 --> 00:16:38.889 Six. You cannot write a more intimidating script 00:16:38.889 --> 00:16:41.169 than that. They didn't win a cup, but they brought 00:16:41.169 --> 00:16:44.129 the Flyers back to the Stanley Cup final in 1997. 00:16:44.909 --> 00:16:48.169 And they completely revitalize the franchise's 00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:51.350 fearsome identity for a new generation. That 00:16:51.350 --> 00:16:55.309 grit. That refusal to quietly fade away, it seems 00:16:55.309 --> 00:16:57.990 permanently embedded in the team's DNA. Just 00:16:57.990 --> 00:16:59.870 imagine you're watching your favorite team during 00:16:59.870 --> 00:17:03.169 the 2010 playoffs. The Boston series. Yes. You're 00:17:03.169 --> 00:17:04.869 in the second round playing the Bruins. You go 00:17:04.869 --> 00:17:08.549 down 3 -0 in the series. In hockey, coming back 00:17:08.549 --> 00:17:11.430 from a 3 -0 series deficit is almost statistically 00:17:11.430 --> 00:17:13.690 impossible. It never happened. But the Flyers 00:17:13.690 --> 00:17:16.109 win Game 4. They grind out a win in Game 5. They 00:17:16.109 --> 00:17:19.730 win Game 6. They force a Game 7 in Boston. And 00:17:19.730 --> 00:17:22.099 what happens? They immediately fall. behind 3 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:25.299 -0 in the first period of Game 7. That is crushing. 00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:28.119 If we connect this to the bigger picture, most 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:30.339 professional rosters would simply fold right 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:33.500 there. The psychological weight of fighting back 00:17:33.500 --> 00:17:36.640 for three exhausting games, only to get crushed 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.559 in the opening minutes of the deciding game. 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:41.690 It's too much. Yeah. But the Flyers pulled off 00:17:41.690 --> 00:17:43.650 the biggest comeback in franchise and league 00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:46.890 history. They rallied from that 3 -0 deficit 00:17:46.890 --> 00:17:50.049 in the game to win it 4 -3 on a late goal by 00:17:50.049 --> 00:17:53.029 Simon Gagne. Just an unbelievable display of 00:17:53.029 --> 00:17:55.710 locker room culture. They became only the third 00:17:55.710 --> 00:17:58.009 team in the long history of the NHL to win a 00:17:58.009 --> 00:18:00.710 series after trailing three games to none. And 00:18:00.710 --> 00:18:03.170 they rode that momentum all the way to the Stanley 00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:05.779 Cup final. Resilience is in their blood. It really 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:08.039 is. Now, looking through all these notes from 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:10.259 our sources, there is so much wild history with 00:18:10.259 --> 00:18:12.240 this team that we have to do a quick deep dive 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.740 trivia round. Let's do it. Let's start with the 00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:18.480 logistics of the infamous 1975 Fog Game. Oh, 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:20.829 the Fog Game. This happened during the Stanley 00:18:20.829 --> 00:18:23.470 Cup final against the Buffalo Sabres. There was 00:18:23.470 --> 00:18:26.369 an unusual May heat waves, and the Buffalo Arena 00:18:26.369 --> 00:18:28.529 did not have an air conditioning system. The 00:18:28.529 --> 00:18:30.630 massive temperature difference between the humid 00:18:30.630 --> 00:18:33.589 air in the building and the ice caused the rink 00:18:33.589 --> 00:18:37.009 to literally fill with a thick, heavy fog. You 00:18:37.009 --> 00:18:39.049 literally couldn't see. Players couldn't see 00:18:39.049 --> 00:18:41.329 the puck. They could barely see the players next 00:18:41.329 --> 00:18:44.450 to them. The referees had to keep pausing the 00:18:44.450 --> 00:18:47.269 game to have players skate in large circles just 00:18:47.269 --> 00:18:49.789 to wave the fog away. so the goalies could see. 00:18:49.950 --> 00:18:52.069 That sounds like an absolute logistical nightmare. 00:18:52.369 --> 00:18:57.049 It was chaos. Okay, next up. March 5th, 2004, 00:18:57.269 --> 00:19:00.609 against the Ottawa Senators. We talked earlier 00:19:00.609 --> 00:19:03.549 about Dave Schultz's penalty minutes. In this 00:19:03.549 --> 00:19:06.730 single game, the Flyers and Senators set an NHL 00:19:06.730 --> 00:19:08.950 record for most combined penalty minutes. It's 00:19:08.950 --> 00:19:11.769 a brawl. To put this into perspective, a normal 00:19:11.769 --> 00:19:14.210 game might see 15 to 20 penalty minutes total 00:19:14.210 --> 00:19:17.049 between both teams. In this game, they racked 00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:22.170 up 419 penalty minutes. 419. It was the physical 00:19:22.170 --> 00:19:25.150 manifestation of boiling tensions. The two teams 00:19:25.150 --> 00:19:27.109 had a history of bad blood leading up to that 00:19:27.109 --> 00:19:29.289 night. And with under two minutes left in the 00:19:29.289 --> 00:19:31.690 game, a massive brawl broke out. Just a free 00:19:31.690 --> 00:19:34.289 -for -all. But it wasn't just one fight. It was 00:19:34.289 --> 00:19:37.140 a systematic line brawl. As soon as one group 00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:39.460 of players was ejected and the next line stepped 00:19:39.460 --> 00:19:42.279 onto the ice, they instantly dropped their gloves 00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:44.180 and started fighting again. Even the goalies, 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:45.960 right? Even the goaltenders skated to the center 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:49.039 of the ice to fight. It was absolute pure chaos. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.740 Pure Broad Street DNA. Okay, how about a fashion 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:55.819 disaster? The Cooperalls. Ah, the early 1980s. 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:59.980 The Flyers were one of only two NHL teams to 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:02.859 experiment with cooperols. Instead of the traditional 00:20:02.859 --> 00:20:05.599 short hockey pants and high socks, cooperols 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:08.240 were long track pants that extended from the 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.460 waist all the way down to the ankles. They look 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:13.119 ridiculous. They really did. And they only wore 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.140 them for two seasons because the NHL literally 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:17.579 had to ban them for safety reasons. Wait, safety 00:20:17.579 --> 00:20:20.559 reasons? Yes. The synthetic fabric was significantly 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:23.680 more frictionless than normal hockey gear. If 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:26.039 a player lost their balance and fell, They would 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:28.940 slide across the ice dangerously fast and crash 00:20:28.940 --> 00:20:32.079 violently into the boards. Banned for being dangerously 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:34.460 slippery. That is incredible. You can't make 00:20:34.460 --> 00:20:38.140 it up. You can't. And finally, we have to talk 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:43.079 about 2018. The debut of a true cultural phenomenon. 00:20:43.980 --> 00:20:47.940 Gritty. Gritty. A seven -foot -tall, fuzzy, googly 00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:51.140 -eyed orange creature introduced as the team's 00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:53.900 new mascot. What's fascinating about Gritty is 00:20:53.900 --> 00:20:56.619 the public relations arc here. When he was first 00:20:56.619 --> 00:20:59.599 unveiled on social media, the Internet collectively 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:02.339 recoiled. People hated him. The initial reaction 00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:04.539 was widespread backlash. People thought he was 00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:07.539 terrifying and bizarre. But the Flyers marketing 00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:10.430 team made a brilliant pivot. When a rival team's 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:12.890 account insulted Gritty on Twitter, Gritty's 00:21:12.890 --> 00:21:14.930 account fired back with an unhinged aggressive 00:21:14.930 --> 00:21:17.190 threat. They leaned in. They completely leaned 00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:19.710 in. And within 48 hours, the city of Philadelphia 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:22.390 fiercely adopted him. The narrative shifted from 00:21:22.390 --> 00:21:25.069 he's a nightmare to he's our nightmare. I love 00:21:25.069 --> 00:21:27.250 that. It's a master class in leaning into your 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:30.390 weirdness. He is the aggressive, unapologetic 00:21:30.390 --> 00:21:32.650 spirit of the Broad Street bullies perfectly 00:21:32.650 --> 00:21:35.490 distilled into a mascot. So what does this all 00:21:35.490 --> 00:21:37.859 mean for you? Why does diving into the history 00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:40.779 of a hockey team matter to your daily life? I 00:21:40.779 --> 00:21:43.000 think the Flyers history is a massive testament 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:46.599 to the power of a clearly defined identity. Absolutely. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.900 Whether you are running a business, managing 00:21:48.900 --> 00:21:52.339 a team or just navigating your own career, knowing 00:21:52.339 --> 00:21:55.319 exactly who you are is half the battle. When 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:57.319 Ed Snyder realized his team was getting pushed 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:59.960 around in the late 60s, he didn't try to copy 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:02.140 the graceful skating styles of his competitors. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:04.880 He doubled down on toughness. He did. He said, 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:07.880 we are going to be the toughest, meanest group 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:10.859 in the room. They leaned into it unapologetically, 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.980 even if it made them the villain to everyone 00:22:12.980 --> 00:22:15.579 else. And that identity has sustained a global 00:22:15.579 --> 00:22:18.220 brand for over half a century. It's a vital lesson. 00:22:18.670 --> 00:22:20.849 The most successful entities don't just react 00:22:20.849 --> 00:22:22.869 to their environment. They actively shape it. 00:22:22.990 --> 00:22:25.609 The Flyers didn't adapt to the polite norms of 00:22:25.609 --> 00:22:28.609 the NHL. They forced the NHL to adapt to them. 00:22:28.849 --> 00:22:31.369 They dictated the terms of engagement on their 00:22:31.369 --> 00:22:34.309 own terms. And that leaves us with one final 00:22:34.309 --> 00:22:37.940 provocative thought to chew on today. We've talked 00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:40.039 extensively about how the Broad Street Bullies 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:42.779 used extreme physical intimidation to dominate 00:22:42.779 --> 00:22:46.279 their era. But with the modern NHL evolving into 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.599 a league that strictly prioritizes blinding speed, 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:51.420 advanced skill, and rigorous player safety rules 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:54.559 over brute strength, could a team like the 1970s 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:57.460 Flyers ever exist today? That's a great question. 00:22:57.660 --> 00:23:00.599 Or has the era of true physical intimidation 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:02.619 in professional sports been permanently left 00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:04.720 in the past? It's something to think about next 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.759 time you watch a game. Thank you so much for 00:23:06.759 --> 00:23:08.759 joining us on this deep dive into the legendary 00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:11.420 lore of the Philadelphia Flyers. Keep questioning, 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:13.920 keep unpacking the stories around you, and we 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:15.539 will catch you on the next deep dive.