Flyers

I Don’t Know if the Flyers are Back, but the Vibes are

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 15th, 2023 · 10:12 AM EST

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I was in the city on Thursday night and figured I’d swing by the Flyers game, check out the scene and drop in on Russ, Ant, and Bundy up on the balcony. The last time I went to a game was in 2019, a few weeks before the pandemic hit, so obviously the place was rocking before everything went to shit a little less than a year later.

Walking over to the elevator, I see Pat Gallen getting ready for a 6 p.m. live shot, so I go over to say hello. He’s got Keith Jones on standby, and you would have thought Jonesy was Pope Francis. The man could not move an inch without a fan coming up to him to ask for a picture, or just to say hi. It was incredible. At one point I counted a line 14-people deep, standing there and waiting to talk to the guy who overnight went from doing fart jokes with Angelo Cataldi to becoming the Flyers’ President of Hockey Operations.

That’s not to diminish Jonesy’s playing and television resume, it’s more of a picture-painting, or a juxtaposition if you will. One day you’re yukking it up on the radio, the next you’re tasked with saving the Flyers. We all did the “good old boys network” joke when the team elevated Danny Briere and hired Jones, because it seemed like A New Era of Orange was simply the front office version of hiring a retread coach. The skepticism at the time was understood and expected.

But what I saw on Thursday night was a forward-facing figure who connects with the fan base. Even just being down on the concourse and hanging out spoke volumes to me. He wasn’t in any particular hurry to go anywhere. He wasn’t being whisked away by some PR handler, nor did he look bothered in the least bit. There are executives out there who wouldn’t be caught dead with the plebes, who just sit in their luxury boxes and do whatever they do. Jonesy gave off John Middleton vibes, like some everyman who is just like you or I, only with a much larger bank account.

I think Anthony sums it up here:

He knows exactly what needs to be fixed. The guy is so well liked by everyone in this city who supports the flyers. He’s also respected around the league. A great hire that shows this franchise cares.

— Anthony DiGrazio (@AntDiGrazio) December 15, 2023

And that’s all it really takes, right? Just re-connect with a fan base that was OUT on Dave Scott, Chuck Fletcher, and Comcast-Spectacor. Get back to the basics, re-establish that link to your supporters, and do every fucking media session you can. Go on the Taylor Swift Eras tour of PR and marketing.

It’s really hard to convey in writing, but just walking around the Wells Fargo Center, it felt like there was a lot of energy in the building. Was it full? No, but the vibes were good. The enthusiasm seemed palpable. It felt like everybody is on the same page, like fans understand the plan in place and are supportive. When the Flyers swapped out the “aggressive retool” and officially entered “rebuild” phase, it was an admission that they were starting over, and even if that’s where fans didn’t necessarily want to be, at least there was a common acceptance of where the franchise currently stood, and what was required to advance beyond that. No obfuscation or cloudy bullshit language. The fence straddling of 2022-2023 has been swapped out for a clear vision. The Flyers hit the reset button and the regime change has obviously resonated within the fanbase.

We can argue for days about whether the team is executing this thing correctly, i.e. are they winning too many games, should they continue to sell, etc. You don’t want to become the 2007 to 2012 Sixers, where you aren’t good enough to win playoff games, but you also don’t suck enough to get a decent draft pick. Purgatory is not ideal, but that’s on-ice stuff that Ant and Russ and Bundy can litigate on Snow the Goalie. Off the ice, it really does feel like the energy has returned and that the outlook is positive.

I don’t know if the Flyers are back, but the vibes are.