Just Once, I Want The Flyers To Win It All

After the Tampa Bay Lightning won their second consecutive Stanley Cup on Wednesday night, the whole scene on television struck me for a second. The rambunctious crowd cheered on their blue-clad team as they claimed hockey’s Holy Grail once again. The emotion and excitement in Kenny Albert’s voice as he called the final seconds of the Lightning’s shining moment captured the sheer joy of the crowd as the team poured onto the ice and celebrated another championship. But the Philadelphia Flyers weren’t there.

That hasn’t taken place for the Flyers in 46 years, when the Spectrum wasn’t even a decade old and there were only 18 teams in the league. My dad was only five years old when that last championship was brought home to Broad Street. They’ve advanced back to the Stanley Cup Final six times since but have never been able to take back the throne as the NHL’s best.

Look, this team is my whole life. I live and breathe Flyers hockey 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They’re the most important thing in the world to me, and I just want to see them win once. Other fanbases have had the privilege of seeing their teams hoist the Stanley Cup, some even on multiple occasions, and I’m only asking for one. It would mean so much to me, to the rest of the fanbase, and to the city of Philadelphia.

I want to be there when the final horn sounds and the Flyers rush the ice in pandemonium after ending their agonizing drought. Just the thought of the team rushing goalie Carter Hart’s crease and soaking in the victory in a big group hug gives me goosebumps. I daydream about captain Claude Giroux lifting up the trophy that he deserves so much, and then the team passing it around as the Wells Fargo Center crowd goes into hysterics as the wait is finally over. I imagine the team gathering for the traditional picture with the Cup at center ice, basking in the glory of the moment after the grueling journey it took to win it all.

I constantly think of the team’s parade down Broad Street. Everything about it is something I want to experience: seeing the players and their families ride down through the city of Philadelphia as millions of people celebrate the Flyers’ crowning achievement, the unfiltered emotions of the people cheering them on, the speeches that will be given at the end of the parade route.

I was only 11 years old when the Flyers lost the 2010 Stanley Cup Final to the Chicago Blackhawks. Like everyone else, I was incredibly confused when Patrick Kane started celebrating the goal that no one saw go in. Even after they showed the overhead replay and the officials signaled a good goal, I was still in shock. It wasn’t the ending to that magical postseason that I had hoped for, but I believed they’d be back again soon. It seems as if my naivety clouded my young judgement. Here we are 11 years after their last appearance in the Final, and it’s been a long run of false hope and unbridled pain watching other teams win the Stanley Cup.

At the time, I didn’t fully understand what it meant to be a part of a long championship drought. I was just a kid who rooted for the Flyers because my father did too. I never fully realized the agony that can come with watching them and rooting for them. It’s like a really bad roller coaster, you never want to ride it again but also don’t want to get off at the same time.

We have waited so long for the Flyers to win again. Some people have come and gone without seeing them win a championship. I try to remain optimistic and hopeful that the 2021-22 season is finally the year the Flyers win it all again, because I just want that dream to turn into a reality more than anything in the world. I’d give up anything to see them win one Stanley Cup.

As fans, we deserve it. As an organization, it’s been a long time coming. Plenty of storied names have passed through this franchise without winning, and that needs to change soon. Just once, I want to experience the emotions and soak in all the excitement and joy of victory that I’ve dreamed about for years.

Just once, I want the Flyers to win it all.