The Flyers were not the first NHL team to have played in Philadelphia. In the early 30's the Pittsburgh Pirates were moved to Philadelphia and became the Philadelphia Quakers. Unfortunately the Quakers only lasted for a year. So the NHL was cautious about putting another team into Philadelphia for fear of failure.

Between the time of the Quakers and the Flyers hockey didn't die in Philadelphia and various minor league and pro leagues still played in the city of Brotherly Love. When the NHL was looking to expand Philadelphia now had plans for a major facility and so, the franchise was awarded to Bill Putnam and Jerry Wolman. After naming their new franchise the Flyers they immediately purchased the Quebec Aces of the AHL league which gave them the farm club strength that all teams need.

Within the first year, financial problems forced Wolman out and his 60% share was sold to Ed Snider, with Putman controlling 25% and Joe Scott had 15%. The Flyers selected Norman "Bud" Poile as their first general manager, and he picked Keith Allen as the first Flyer's coach. Both Poile and Allen had had success in the Western Hockey League and NHL respectively.

In the 1967 Expansion Draft the selected two goalies, Doug Favell and Bernie Parent. Their selections paid off early with the two led the league in the first half of the season and finished the season 3rd overall for the Vezina Trophy. They also picked up Ed Van Impe, John Miszuk, Lou Angotti, Pat Hannigan, Joe Watson, Gary Dornhoefer and Forbes Kennedy. Other teams yielded players like Jean Gauthier, Leon Rochefort, and Brit Selby. The Quebec farm club also contributed to the Flyers by sending up Claude Laforge, John Hanna and Jean-Guy Gendron. Other familiar names of the time were Simon Nolet and Andre Lacroix.

Following a 3-3-2 exhibition series, the Flyers opened their inaugural season at the Spectrum on October 19, 1967 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers first game had a few twists to it. First, the players almost never made into the rink because they had no tickets to get in. When they approached a guard, he would not let them in. Finally, the players found an unguarded entrance and made their way to their dressing room. Second, Putnam was led to believe that the game would attract approximately 12,000 fans and when only 7800 showed he became a little worried about the long term success of his team.

In the last month of their first season, more troubles plagued the team when the roof of the Spectrum was blown off in a freak spring storm, forcing the Flyers to play their home games in other rinks. In some rinks, like New York's MSG, the Flyers were booed, but in Toronto the fans were more supportive. However the Toronto management wasn't, charging the Flyers one-half of the gate as their rental fee for the Gardens.

It didn't take long for the city to approve the repairs to the Spectrum but it was not ready for the end of the season as promised. Although the Flyers finished first in the Western Division, they were eliminated by the St Louis Blues in a 7 game series.

The next few years proved uneventful for the Flyers until the final night of the 1971-72 season when they were eliminated from the playoffs. Owner Ed Snider then took it upon himself to bring in coach Fred "the Fog" Shero who supported a more physical style of play. And so emerged the "Broad Street Bullies" who made it their business to inflict pain on their opposition. Players like Dave "the Hammer" Schultz adopted the rough style of play which became known as the hit first, ask questions later philosophy.

The Flyers roster was now beginning to acquire players like Bill Barber and Rick MacLeish to help bolster their veterans like Ed Van Impe, Bobby Clarke and Barry Ashby who were all backstopped by goalie Bernie Parent. By the 1973-74 season the Flyers had emerged as the first expansion club who had the potential to capture the Stanley Cup. They finally proved their superiority by defeating the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup. They followed up their success the following year by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in the finals to capture their second straight Stanley Cup, and went on to their 3rd straight finals in 1975-76, losing out to the Montreal Canadiens.

The Flyers made the finals again in 1979-80, but were eliminated by another expansion club, the New York Islanders. This was the first of 4 consecutive Stanley Cups for the Islanders. Up to this point, Bobby Clarke had become one of the most visible players not only on the Flyers, but in the league itself. So when he retired from active play, it didn't take the Flyers long to appoint him their head office as vice president and general manager.

By the 1984 season, goalie Pelle Lindberg had emerged as a league leader in wins for that season. Despite the loss of Clarke the Flyers advanced to the finals, losing to Edmonton in 5 games. It appeared as if the Flyers had found their new long term net minder in Lindberg. But tragedy struck the following November when Lindberg was killed in an auto accident after a Flyers practice. He was replaced by Ron Hextall.

Mike Kennan was now behind the bench as coach and took the team to the finals again in 1987, but as in 1984, the Edmonton Oilers took the cup in 7 games, and Hextall's play earned him the Conn Smythe trophy. Keenan was replaced in 1988 with Paul Holmgren. Clarke left the Flyers in 1990 to become the general manager of the Minnesota North Stars, and his successor, Russ Farwell failed to perform in the manner expected of him, as the Flyers missed the playoffs for the next 5 years.

In 1992, the Flyers acquired Eric Lindros in a messy arrangement with the Quebec Nordiques. Lindros was drafted by the Nordiques but he refused to play for them. He had to take the year off and the following year at the draft the Flyers and Rangers were both vying for Eric's services. The Flyers eventually won the negotiations but had to give up Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Chris Simon, Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Mike Ricci, as well as first round draft picks in the 1993 and 1994 Entry Drafts and $15 million in cash. Along with the addition of Lindros, the Flyers were in the midst of designing a new stadium to replace the aging Spectrum.

Lindros was prone to injury and missed 46 games during his first 3 seasons due to injury, and the Flyers missed 2 playoff berths. The Flyers went through several coaching changes with Terry Murray being hired in 1994-95, and trading Mark Recchi to Montreal for Eric Desjardins and John Leclair. Leclair later would become the first Flyer to have 3 50 goal season since Tim Kerr did it in the early eighties. Hextall and Clarke returned for the lockout shortened season 1994-95 and the Flyers quickly turned into Division Champions, but were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils who went on to win the Stanley Cup that year.

The next few years saw the Flyers finishing first or second in their division but they could no longer make it past their conference championships. The bullying tactics were no longer a match for the speedier teams like the Oilers, and with the league cracking down on the clutch and grab tactics, the Flyers style had run its course. Clarke has his work cut out for him as he now tries to rebuild the Flyers once again.