(The 2014-15 NHL season is nearly upon us, and attempting to handicap the winners and losers can sometimes leave us speechless. So we decided to break down all 30 teams with the next best thing to words: Emojis!)

Last Season In Emojis

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Last Season, In Summary

Three games was enough for general manager Paul Holmgren. After owner Ed Snider criticized the team’s training camp, the Philadelphia Flyers got off to an 0-3-0 start, which led to Holmgren dismissing head coach Peter Laviolette. In stepped his assistant, Craig Berube, who had more than enough time to keep the ship from sinking and help them finish third in the Metropolitan Division.

A first round meeting with the New York Rangers saw the teams exchange wins until Philadelphia’s long-time division rivals won the seventh and deciding game 2-1 en route to a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Change would happen not only at the beginning of the Flyers’ season but also the end. Two days after being eliminated by New York, Holmgren stepped aside as GM to move into the role of team president, with Ron Hextall replacing him.

There were bright spots in the second half of the season, but a blow to the blue line and not many changes to the personnel in the summer leaves one to wonder what kind of Flyers team we'll see this year.

Last Season’s Definitive Highlight

Claude Giroux’s falling backhand top-shelf goal is so pretty you can’t watch it only once.

Off-Season Transactions

Hextall’s first big move was dealing fan favorite Scott Hartnell to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for R.J. Umberger, who played the first three years of his NHL career with the Flyers. Also saying goodbye was Steve Downie after the forward signed a one year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins and penalty killer extraordinaire Adam Hall, who signed to play in Switzerland.

The Flyers were able to talk Kimmo Timonen into returning for another season, but when the veteran defenseman suffered a blood clot and clouded his hockey future, it forced Hextall to go to market and bring in Rangers and Predators cast-off Michael Del Zotto on a one-year, $1.3 million deal.

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Goals weren’t hard to come by in Philly last season. The Flyers finished the year with 233 goals scored. Seven players reached the 20-goal mark, including Hart Trophy finalist Claude Giroux (28 goals, 86 points). Linemate Jakub Voracek had his best offensive season with the team (23 goals, 62 points), and now comes the competition to fill the void left by Hartnell’s absence on the top line.

Story continues