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Philadelphia Flyers Team Formation
While attending a basketball game on November 29, 1964, at the Boston Garden, Ed Snider, the then vice-president of the Philadelphia Eagles, observed a crowd of Boston Bruins fans lining up to purchase tickets to see a last-place ice hockey team. He began making plans for a new arena upon hearing the NHL was looking to expand due to fears of a competing league taking hold on the West Coast and the desire for a new television contract in the United States. Snider made his proposal to the league, which chose the Philadelphia group including Snider, Bill Putnam, Jerome Schiff, and Eagles owner Jerry Wolman over the Baltimore group.
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Stanley Cup Winner 1974
The 1974 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers made their first Final appearance and the Bruins returned to the Finals after having won the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers won the best-of-seven series four games to two and became the first team from the 1967 Expansion to win the Stanley Cup.
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Stanley Cup Winner 1975
The 1975 Stanley Cup Final championship series was played by the Buffalo Sabres, making their first Finals appearance and the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers would win the best-of-seven series four games to two. This was the first Final to have two non-“Original Six” teams since the 1967 expansion. The 1975 Flyers are the last Stanley Cup championship team to be composed solely of Canadian born players.
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Wells Fargo Center Opens
The Flyers said goodbye to the Spectrum and prepared to open a new arena the CoreStates Center for the next season. The Wells Fargo Center (Spectrum II (prior to construction), formerly the CoreStates Center, First Union Center and Wachovia Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Wells Fargo Center lies at the southwest corner of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park, and Xfinity Live!.
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Part of the 1967 NHL Expansion, the Flyers were the first expansion team in the post-Original Six era to win the Stanley Cup, victorious in 1973 – 1974 and again in 1974 – 1975.
Established
1967
City
Philadelphia
League History
1967 – Present / National Hockey League
Team History
1967 – Present / Philadelphia Flyers
Nickname
Flyers – The team sponsored a name-the-team contest after Ed Snider, then-vice president of the Philadelphia Eagles, brought hockey back to the City of Brotherly Love in 1966.The grand prize was a 21-inch color television, which cost about $400 at the time; secondary prizes included season and single-game tickets. Snider’s sister, Phyllis, came up with the name “Flyers,” connoting speed, after a trip to Manhattan to see a Broadway show. The winner Alec Stockard, 9, of Narberth, Pennsylvania, won the contest.
Championship
Stanley Cup 2
1975, 1974
Arena
2011 – Present / Wells Fargo Center
2003 – 2010 / Wachovia Center
1998 – 2003 / First Union Center
1996 – 1998 / CoreStates Center
1967 – 1996 / Spectrum
Owner
1996 – Present / Comcast Spectacor and Ed Snider
1967 – 1996 / Ed Snider
Retired Number
1 / Bernie Parent
2 / Mark Howe
4 / Barry Ashbee
7 / Bill Barber
16 / Bobby Clarke
88 / Eric Lindros
99 / Wayne Gretzky
*Blue is this team’s history