Philadelphia Flyers: What exactly is a Flyer?

Most NHL teams are named after something concrete, but not the Philadelphia Flyers. SO what exactly IS a Flyer anyway?

I freely admit to being Wayne Simmonds biggest fan. Discussions of late on Simmonds generally concern the fact that he has not been resigned as yet. I have advocated today in favor of getting Simmonds locked up for a long time and as soon as possible, the question arose, why?

My answer, point blank, was that Simmonds is a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Philadelphia Flyers…Fly?

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As this conversation advanced, I was asked what a Flyer was. If you look up and down the NHL, the teams are all named for something. For example, there are Penguins, Panthers, Predators, Jets, Capitals, and Canucks. It turns out a “Canuck” is a derogatory slang term for a Canadian. Who knew?

Turning again to the Google dictionary, a Flyer is defined as “one that flies”. This was not helpful for the purposes of my research, but I did like the idea of the hockey team I have watched for as long as I can remember being referred to as “one that flies”. Watching Claude Giroux fly on the ice is currently one of my favorite past times.

Flyers Beginnings

The Philadelphia Flyers were an original expansion team, joining the NHL in 1967. Philadelphia was a city without a Championship team. The Eagles might be the current Super Bowl Champs, but in 1966 they were 9-5-0 and were six years past a Championship win over the Green Bay Packers.

Meanwhile, the baseball Phillies had last been in the World Series in 1930, losing in a four-game sweep to the New York Yankees. The 76ers would win the NBA Title in 1967 but had not done so since 1954.

Enter the Flyers, a team that soon endeared itself to the blue-collar Philadelphia tri-state area. The Broad Street Bullies were soon adored by fans who had watched their city be viewed as second class.

Once the temporary capital of the United States, Philadelphia was replaced by Washington DC. New York was gifted the Statue Of Liberty, while Philadelphia was left with only the Liberty Bell. The Flyers would bring the city two Stanley Cup Parades in short order.

The Bullies rocked the NHL. Fast to fight, tough, hard working. Nary a superstar amongst them. Always underdogs and hated passionately by the players and fans of other franchises. That was true in 1967 and remains true in 2018.

A Different Definition

So what really IS a Flyer? It’s a diabetic who should not have taken the chance with his health, lifting the Stanley Cup. An undersized center who was told his entire life that he was too small to play hockey, leading the Stanley Cup Finals in points in 2010.

It’s an entire team fighting back after the death of their Vezina Trophy Winning goalie. A goaltender who won the Conn Smythe despite losing the Stanley Cup Finals, and openly wept after that loss. A winger who fought against racial slurs his entire career and won the NHL All-Star MVP. A young defenseman who played in a Stanley Cup playoff game with a shoulder injury so severe that he could barely move his arm.

I have never lived in another hockey city. I lived briefly in Milwaukee, WI, and that city does not have an NHL franchise.  I have spent my entire life as a Flyers fan, and while there is no cute cartoon type mascot for my team, I know what a Flyer is. Wayne Simmonds IS a Flyer.