The Philadelphia Flyers are still playing hockey. Yes, I know that surprises you.

They played again Wednesday and were promptly shut out by the New York Rangers 4-0. They did it with a lineup that consisted of five players who played in the AHL this season, three players who played in the NCAA this season, two players picked up off waivers, and a guy in Keith Yandle whose play had been so bad that the Flyers intentionally ended his NHL record consecutive games streak.

A loss was inevitable. That it was their 40th regulation loss of the season is something of note – as it is only the second time in franchise history (the first being 2006-07) that the Flyers lost so many games in a season, but who wants to continue to wallow in the pit of futility? Doing so will only make these final eight games and 15 days (but who’s counting) all the longer.

Instead, fans should take note of something the organization is doing – rebuilding.

No, not with the roster. That ongoing experiment will continue this spring and summer. Instead, I’m referring to the rebuild of the Flyers’ relationships with everyone from the fans, to the alumni, to the city and surrounding communities.


If, fans are asking for a rebuild, well, it has to start here.

The Flyers needed to recognize that what they were doing, how they were operating as a franchise, and how they were presenting themselves to the world was falling well-short of their brand’s iconic image.

There were a lot of factors that went into how they got to where they are today – some missteps along the way, some stubbornness, some bad luck and of course, a bad-on-ice product, but there were also a few things that didn’t help that were outside of their control. Yes, everyone was impacted greatly by the pandemic, but the Flyers suffered more slings and arrows than most because they were in the process of a a complete overhaul of their business leadership.

While Dave Scott was already in place as the face of the ownership group, serving as chairman of the team, Valerie Camillo has only been with the team for four seasons, with impacts from the pandemic felt in three of those seasons. Her right-hand man Mike Shane has been here for a year less. The heads of the communication, marketing, and game presentation departments all had been here for even less time.

And while all of these personnel changes have been recent and not tasked with playing with a full deck of cards because of the pandemic, there was a very pointed choice to bring in all of these new folks from outside the organization, which at the same time cut off all connections to the franchise’s past, its history and really, its institutional knowledge about how to operate a professional sports team in a city so unique as Philadelphia.

For awhile, it was an arrogant approach. It was one where people from outside Philadelphia thought they were just going to come into this city, put their stamp of newness on things and convert the unconvertable to a new way of thinking.

And while maybe things would have been a little different if the pandemic didn’t happen or if the team didn’t plummet to unexpected depths of on-ice entertainment value, the fact of the matter is, those things happened and in the process, exposed the warts of such a shallow plan that it was a guarantee never to work in a big league sports city like Philadelphia even if it might have been a sellable approach in more small market or minor league towns.

Things started to deteriorate. Fewer and fewer fans would come to games. Fewer season ticket holders were renewing because they felt betrayed by the organization, not just with poor play, but with poor business practices that were costing them money on the resale market all the while slowly taking away the perks of being the most fervent financial supporters of the fan base. There was a disconnect forming as the team chose more and more to focus on their mascot from a marketing perspective than they did to promote their own players. There was a feeling of separation and unwelcoming from a segment of Flyers alumni. There was a frothy relationship between the team and the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, the charitable legacy of the Flyers founder. On a national level, the Flyers were losing their cache, too.

Long considered the closest thing in the sport to the original six franchises, the Flyers had fallen so far off the radar that they were becoming irrelevant not only to the NHL, but to their own city.

However, something changed. A lightbulb went off somewhere, and all of the sudden, over the course of the past few months, the Flyers brass has made smart decisions on things that are important to the fans of their team and this town. It was as if, suddenly, the Flyers had an injection of that missing institutional knowledge and started doing things – little things – subtle things that would resonate.

Whether it was Scott doing a pseudo-rare, front-facing interview where he expressed disappointment in the organization, frustration in the outcomes, apologized to the fans and promised a blank checkbook to get it right, or it was the toning down of Gritty, or it was the recognition of important pieces of the franchise’s history – like a celebration of Lou Nolan’s 50 years with the organization – and letting him work from ice level for a game  and Scott proudly announcing he would pay the fine to the league – much in the way Snider would have done so publicly when he were alive.

Or, whether it was Camillo now being a more public-facing presence herself – first, making an effort to re-bond with Snider hockey and announcing the largest donation from the team to date in the effort to build a new outdoor rink in Kensington, to hosting special guests in her suite at the arena – such as 50-year employees and season ticket holders on the night they honored Nolan, or last night, welcoming back two of Snider’s daughters, Lindy and Sarena, to make their first appearance in the building in years – as the franchise paid homage to their late owner, who died six years ago this past Monday.

Getting members of the Snider family and members of Snider hockey together to enjoy a game with Camillo in her suite is no small thing. This isn’t just a “send out the invite and everyone will come running” type of situation. There is a history here that has some deep-seeded roots of anger and mistrust, so to see this happen is not just for optics. I’m told by folks on all sides there is real progress being made in repairing relationships – although there remains a lot of ground to cover.

As for the Snider tribute itself:

The Flyers wore an EMS decal on their helmets, they wore Snider Hockey swag into the arena. They did things really first class:

It’s a far cry from when they missed an opportunity to do the same thing at Snider’s birthday back in January. If you recall:

There was also the sensational tribute to Claude Giroux for his 1000th game last month, especially when compared to the debacle that was the Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Paul Holmgren and Rick Tocchet in which they basically made two franchise icons speak to an empty building, the Flyers responded to the criticism.

Do nights like Wednesday happen without being called on the carpet for missing the boat? Probably not. But, as I said, the criticism the organization received, and deserved, wasn’t the only driver. But it doesn’t matter what fueled this response to do things right. The point is, it’s been happening.

There is a renewed energy about the way things are being done to help make the experience of going to the game – aside from what you are actually seeing play out on the ice – as memorable as possible.

That’s where this rebuild needed to begin – long before any roster changes or coaching changes or, hell, management changes, the Flyers needed to self-assess as an organization and recognize that the path they were careening down was only going to end with a high-speed crash.

I have to admit, as recently as four months ago, I would have anticipated that crash far more than I would have this U-turn:

And although there is still a ways to go, and time will tell how this group handles whatever adversities that crop up in the future, there has been a definite change and effort. There has been a feeling that maybe a realization has been stumbled upon that when you have a brand as iconic as the Philadelphia Flyers, you don’t have to change anything. You are the Flyers, damnit. Be proud. Operate like that’s the case. Let other teams want to be you, not the other way around.

Do that, and get the team back to a competitive level, and this relatively new group of people running the Flyers will see just how good things can be.

Four months ago I would have championed an overhaul of the entire organization from top to bottom for letting it get as bad as it had gotten.

Now, I pump the brakes on that take. Is it possible that still happens? Sure. Has what has been wrought to this point been far more egregious than this last ditch effort to cover it up and start anew? Possibly.

But it would be disingenuous of me to not acknowledge Scott and Camillo for the part they have played in trying to fix this. They deserve credit. I keep hearing how much they care about getting it right, and since January, they have shown that they do. Did they wait too long to show how much they care? Maybe. But it needs to continue. Relentlessly. Even in the offseason. Do the right thing by your people. Your fans. Keep up the momentum, and maybe things will work out for everyone in the end.

Otherwise, any step backward and it could make all this work they have done in 2022 so far end up being just a “too little, too late” footnote on their own legacies with the franchise.

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