All-Time Favorite Teams: #24

Philadelphia Flyers
NHL
1979-1987

As a die-hard Pittsburgh Penguins fan I am truly embarrassed to admit that yes, at one time, I did follow the arch-enemy, hated, Philadelphia Flyers. As a kid you root for teams for different reasons. The only reason I was a fan of the black and orange? My brother cheered for the New York Islanders. I chose the other side. Simple enough, no? The '79-'80 NHL season saw the Flyers go on a unbelievable record undefeated streak of 35 straight games (25-0-10) and were favorites heading into the playoffs. As fate would have it, they matched up against the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals and yes, lost 4 games to 2. And so began the dynasty on the Island.

I followed the Flyers for 7 more seasons and hoped that although their loss in the '80 Cup Finals kick-started one dynasty, they might be able to slow another fledgling dynasty down. It wasn't to be though as the powerful Edmonton Oilers won 4 out of 5 Cups between '84 and '88 defeating Philadelphia twice in '85 and '87.

My favorite Flyers during this period in no particular order were Peter Zezel, Rick Tocchet, Dave Brown, Murray Craven, Tim Kerr, Ken Linesman, Pete Peeters, Dave Poulin, Brian Propp, Pelle Eklund, Ron Hextall, Ilkka Sinisalo, Ron Flockhart and Mark Howe.

My all-time favorite Flyer is Pelle Lindbergh, #31. Lindbergh played in goal for Philadelphia from the '81-'82 season until his tragic death in a car accident in 1985. I was 15 and yes, I cried. I still have a scrap book with his pictures and the article in it. Lindbergh was a member of the '82-'83 NHL All-Rookie team, was named 1st team All-Star in '84-'85 and won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender that same year. Lindbergh topped the fan balloting for the '86 NHL All-Star game which marked the first time a player was chosen posthumously an All-Star in American sport. The Swedish-born goalie had loads of talent and I believe would have led the Flyers to a Stanley Cup at some point in his career. Great article here. (Hope you don't mind the link.) Other Lindbergh sites here, Flyers history here, and a push for #31 to be retired by the Flyers here. Also, huge database of Pelle photos here.

I didn't follow the Flyers much after their Cup Final loss to the Oilers in '87. I began to really HATE the Flyers after they beat the Penguins in 7 games in the division finals in '89. I'll always look back on the 8 years I did like the Flyers with great fondness, full of colorful characters, playoff disappointments and Pelle Lindbergh.

It felt great when the Penguins swept the season series in '06-'07 but it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders when we beat them in the Conference Finals this past year. May the rivalry continue to grow! Nice article here about the Penguins/Flyers all-time series.

Favorite Team Profile
Years: 8
Record: 372-185-83
Playoffs: 8
Division Champions: 5
Conference Finals: 3
Stanley Cup Finals: 3
Stanley Cups: 0
Fan Rating: 5/10
Notes: One of the worst inventions in hockey history, the Flyers first wore Cooperalls in the '81-'82 season followed by the Whalers in '82-'83. Thankfully they were banned by the NHL shortly thereafter.