The Philadelphia Flyers are giving their fans everything they want this season

It's been a long time coming but it looks like the Philadelphia Flyers may finally be having an ultimately satisfying season setting the stage for bigger things in the years to come.

While there is only about a 0.001% chance of a Stanley Cup parade down Broad Street this June, everyone knows that wasn't part of the deal this season.

And though many snickered at the Flyers rolling out the whole 'New Era of Orange' branding before the year and asked us to put trust in Danny Briere, Keith Jones, and a revamped leadership, objective observers can see how the tide has shifted. The arrow is pointing up in Philadelphia thanks to this change in mentality.

There have been some bold and shrewd moves that have netted the Flyers some valuable draft capital and seem to have them well-positioned for when Matvei Michkov arrives in a few years.

The Philadelphia Flyers are giving their fans everything they want this season

The results on the ice this season have far surpassed the expectations of even the most optimistic Flyers fans in the bunch. For once, doing things 'the right way' off the ice seems to be going hand-in-hand with on-ice performance with the team rocketing towards a surprise playoff berth.

Look no further than Thursday's victory over the league-leading Florida Panthers to show you just what this Flyers team is made of.

The Flyers hung tough with an outstanding team, got the timely saves they needed from their rookie goaltender, and then received an unlikely goal in the dying seconds to secure two vital points.

They didn't wilt in the final minutes or meekly take their point and lose in overtime. It was the second time in a month that the Flyers have beaten the Panthers in their barn, with Florida going 12-1 between the two setbacks to the Flyers.

Garnet Hathaway and the rest of the club are playing hard and they are being rewarded. Even when they lose games, and they have had some skids this year, the important thing is that they have not let their efforts lag.

John Tortorella is the right voice for the team at this time. Even though you can't extend that guarantee too far into the future based on his track record, the players under him now should reap the benefits for years to come.

Even in the face of mounting injuries and uncertainty about who would still be here after the trade deadline, these players haven't let anything derail their efforts which is a real testament to them and the coaching staff.

It would be a crying shame if all of this does not result in at least a playoff berth for the club because they've truly earned it.

After that, it's house money but they have shown that they won't be intimated by the Carolina Hurricanes or any of their likely postseason opponents.

The Flyers will be big underdogs and they probably won't emerge victorious but they can still be a source of pride for the local fans who have just gone through seeing the Phillies forget how to hit in the NLCS after taking a stranglehold on the series, the Eagles forget how to play football entirely after starting the season 10-1, and the 76ers turn into a trainwreck after the loss of Joel Embiid.

Even if this Flyers season ultimately ends with them coming short to some degree, it will be a breath of fresh air that a Philadelphia team maximized their talent and potential and gave the fans what they were so badly craving.

One can only hope that this 2023-24 Flyers campaign will be the springboard to great things, with young stars coming up through the system and a major free agent addition or two that will put them solidly into 'contender' status for several years.

As the club's 1991-92 VHS video yearbook said, "The excitement is building...and so are the Flyers". It's a super old reference but one that seems pertinent today as the team glimpses the opportunity before it for the foreseeable future.

We'll get to the pressure cooker soon enough; for now, let's just salute this current iteration of the Flyers and cheer them on for their fantastic effort.