The Flyers were members of the first batch of expansion teams that joined the NHL when it doubled in size from six teams to twelve before 1967-68 season. Of those six new teams, the Flyers were the first to win the Stanley Cup.

The Flyers teams of the 1970s are best known by their nickname: The Broad Street Bullies. The Bullies were best known for their toughness—in that regard, they were led by Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, whose 472 penalty minutes in the 1974-75 season is still an NHL record. But you need to score goals and stop pucks to win hockey games, and Broad Street Bullies could do that too. Their best player was their captain, Bobby Clarke. Despite his obvious talent, Clarke slipped to the second round of the 1969 NHL Draft because he was a diabetic. He would go on to score 1210 points in 1144 career games with the Flyers. With Clarke as their captain, and with their legendary goalie Bernie Parent playing the best hockey of his career, the Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975. They returned to a third Stanley Cup Final in 1976 but were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens.

In 1976, still as the defending champions, the Flyers played an exhibition game against the Soviet Red Army team, which had badly beaten the Rangers and Bruins in similar games. After Flyers defenseman Ed Van Impe was not penalized for a hard hit on one of the Soviet players, the Soviet team left the ice in protest and only returned after they were warned they would not be paid if they didn’t finish the game. The Flyers won 4-1.

In the early 90s, the Flyers made one of the most significant trades in NHL history. They acquired Eric Lindros from the Quebec Nordiques for a bundle of players, draft picks, and cash. Lindros was one of the best players of his era and led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final in 1997. He was traded from the Flyers in 2001 amid controversy and conflict with Bob Clarke—who was then the Flyers GM

Since their championship winning seasons in the 70s, the Flyers have run into some bad luck and tough matchups in the Stanley Cup Final. They’ve faced the dynasty teams of the Canadiens, Islanders, Oilers, and Red Wings. In 2010, the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Final for the eighth time but lost in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks.