As far back as I can remember, which is around 1996, the Flyers have always prided themselves on living up to those glory years in the mid ‘70’s and loved having players that lived up to the typical Flyer prototype. Hard hitting enforcers, slow lumbering defensemen who could knock you off of the puck, and a leader on offense that could not only score goals, but was physical enough to fight and get the team fired up if need be (Eric Lindros, Keith Primeau). This strategy kept them in contention for the majority of my childhood, even though they never won the cup, mostly due to relying on one line for offense and running into the Red Wings dynasty in the mid ‘90’s. It all worked out fine until the 2003-04 playoffs. That team was and still is my favorite Philadelphia sports team in my lifetime. Roenick, Primeau, Gagne, LeClair, we were meant to win the cup that year. After a hospital inducing seven game series against Toronto, which several of the games went to at least one overtime, things were looking good, until the next round when we ran into the Tampa Bay Lightening.

Although the series went to seven games, it should have been the first warning sign to the front office that the game was changing. They were outskated and outperformed by smaller, faster players like Vincent Lecavelier and Martin St. Louis. They frustrated the Flyers, which led to unnecessary penalties and eventually a downfall in game 7. A lockout happened the following season and the rules changed, opening up the game offensively and forcing the defensive players to use speed rather than force, resulting in the Flyers becoming irrelevant and bottoming out in last place two years after the lockout. Paul Holmgren replaced Bobby Clarke as GM and things got a little better, but the team still refused to realize that speed, roster depth and fundamental defense is the name of the game. My father has been repeating the same two phrases since the lockout ten years ago, “Get it out of the zone,” and “They look like they’re on the penalty kill all the time.” My patience as a fan has been growing thinner and thinner, especially seeing all of the young talent we have on the team and then watching them be thwarted by sloppy play year after year.

When Ron Hextall signed on as GM my first thought was, “Great, another former player in the Front Office here to continue an irrelevant style of play.” But then I did some research, and saw that he was the assistant GM who helped build the LA Kings and seemed to have a more modern philosophy. I was intrigued, but not entirely convinced of his ability. However, when his press conference ended, I had tears in my eyes. He used phrases like “More home grown players,” and “Our 5 on 5 play needs to improve,” something I had only heard come out of my own mouth during games (peppered with obscenities of course). I wasn’t sure how to react, having a GM that I trusted to not give overlong contracts and trade quality offenseman for enforcers halfway through the season.

The final thing that proved he was the GM I had always wanted was two of the first moves that he made. He traded Scott Hartnell, a fan favorite that had always represented the best and worst of the Flyers legacy, a fun character to watch, but slow and took too many bad penalties, and he didn’t re-sign Steve Downie, another fighter that had more concussions than goals last season. These two moves sent a clear message: the next few years the Flyers will be a different team than fans are used to seeing. One that is focused on players that play smart, fundamentally sound hockey. A more modern team that will be able to compete for years to come, rather than a patchwork group of players thrown together at the trade deadline. Sure the physicality and the fights are part of what makes hockey and the Flyers so fun to watch, but that’s not how the game is played now. The Flyers finally seem to understand this and are ready to move past the Broad Street Bully image to hopefully create a new dynasty. I sure hope so, because I don’t know how long they can keep rolling out Bernie Parent for alumni night.

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