1. Philadelphia Gets a NHL Expansion Team
It would be 35 years and lots of waiting before the City of Brotherly Love would have a hockey team again. It was lucky enough to be rewarded the chance to have a NHL team. Baltimore and San Francisco had been favored to receive a team over Philly but it was meant to be. It is because of Ed Snider that Philadelphia has a hockey team. He pushed for the team to restore its glory in ice hockey and that it would be a great benefit to the city. There was a contest to name the new team and on February 9th, 1966 it was announced that Philadelphia would have a hockey team again.
There was immediately a need to name the new team. Several names came forward- Bashers, Blizzards, Knights, Lancers- but none seemed to fit the new team. The current name Flyers came from Ed Snider’s sister Phyllis, who suggested the name. It was phonetically great with the city’s name and the team kept the old Quakers colors of orange and back, just adding the white to the mix. The team name was announced to the public on August 3, 1966. The winged design of the letter “P” was custom made for the team and would become an iconic symbol of a storied franchise in Philadelphia.