The Flyers uniform hasn't seen many significant changes throughout the team's history. While jersey styles have evolved, the logo and orange-and-black color scheme have largely remained the same. That made one of the team's boldest uniform changes all the more memorable.
Starting in the 1981-82 season, the team traded their traditional hockey pants for full-length Cooperalls. The first version of the pants was covered with black nylon and featured the Flyers' signature orange down each side. The following season, the pants were solid black with the team's logo on each ankle.
Cooper Canada designed full-length hockey pants in the 1970s. One of their initial selling points was that they made putting on equipment easier. There was no need to wrestle with pulling socks over shin guards. They featured an elastic girdle that stretched from the rib cage to the knees, with foam pads sewn in.
It was a unique style, and the concept itself made sense. The players looked taller and sleeker, and why wouldn't they want full-length pants while playing on ice? They were designed to weigh less than traditional equipment. It was also believed that the material would hold the pads tighter to the skin, making them a safer option. The Flyers were the first NHL team to adopt the design, later being joined by the Hartford Whalers in the 1982-83 season.
The Cooperall era didn't last long for the Flyers
On paper, the idea sounded like a good one. But it didn't take long for players to realize the flaws in the pants. For Bill Barber, his main complaint was the restrictive fit. His solution was to cut into the girdle and the inside of the pants, allowing him to get a better stride. Doing so may have come at the expense of protection, though.
But an even more dangerous consequence came whenever a player would hit the ice.
"If you ever fell, you gained speed with the nylon long pants," Barber said. "You didn't have any grab on the ice. You picked up speed, not slowed down."
The Cooperalls didn't provide an adequate amount of support in certain areas, namely the back and tailbone. And because of the slick material, it made the act of blocking shots even harder.
"Not like we blocked shots like players do today, but if you went down to slide to block a shot wearing those things, you slid a lot further. You'd slide yourself right out of position. So there was some getting used to it in that regard." Paul Holmgren said.
The NHL would ban the pants following the 1982-83 season, citing the safety concerns that came with wearing them. The idea was short-lived, but for longtime fans, they are certainly impossible to forget.
Four decades later, the Cooperalls briefly returned when the Flyers debuted their Reverse Retro jerseys for the 2022-23 season. They were a slightly modernized version, while still paying homage to the original.
The Cooperalls never became the future of hockey equipment and disappeared as quickly as they began. They remain as one of the franchise's most recognizable experiments and many longtime Flyers fans won't forget their rather brief existence.
Although the Flyers only wore the original pants for two seasons, they became a permanent part of the team's history. It showed a willingness to stray from tradition, and even though it didn't work, the organization was willing to try it in an effort to find a performance advantage.
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