If you were to ask most Flyers' fans right now, they'd probably say that the team they despise the most would be the Pittsburgh Penguins. After all, the Pens are interstate rivals, have had more success lately, and have a star player (Sidney Crosby) that, we'd hate to say, does kinda remind us of one of a Flyers legend.
Of course, there are those who'd say that the NY Rangers are one of the biggest rivals. Any team from New York City is an instant target for the ire of Philly fans. Much like the Pens, they are close by and are in the same division. There is a history there.
Let's not forget the New Jersey Devils. How many times did the Flyers seem destined for a Stanley Cup run only to run headfirst into Martin Brodeur and Co.? Too many!
With that in mind, what teams did the Flyers have a "history" with that have kind of evaporated over the years?
Buffalo Sabres
Considering that this team is the epitome of losing in the NHL, this may come as a surprise. However, back in the 1990s, the Sabres came up with a new logo (the Angry Bison) and a feisty attitude. They weren't great, but they could play a super physical brand of hockey in front of one of the greatest goalies of all time, Dominik Hasek.
From 1994-95 to 2005-06, the Flyers and Sabres met six times in the postseason. In those matchups, they split the series 3-3. The intensity grew so much that almost every game had an opportunity for a fight. My all-time Flyers favorite Flyers fight was the great line brawl between Garth Snow and Matt Barnaby.
You also had the famous "Phantom Goal" by John LeClair. You may have forgotten this one, but LeClair fired off a shot that was so strong, that it went through the side of the net. The Buffalo goalie never saw it...because it never came at it. I remember watching this with a buddy of mine, Joe, at college. He was a huge Sabres fan and walked out of my room during the aftermath of this goal. Good times!
However, the good times didn't last. Buffalo went into an era of just playing pathetic hockey. And while the Flyers, also, have descended into the lower depths on the NHL, it hasn't been a constant that has transgressed presidential administrations. A once vibrant, physical, nasty rivalry has since cooled off. It's a shame. It was a spicy one.
New York Islanders
In the 1980s, the Isles were the first non-Original Six team to become a dynasty. It happened all when they dropped the 1980 Flyers in the Stanley Cup in six games. This was the team that had a 35 game streak where they didn't lose (25 wins and 10 ties), yet they couldn't win four friggin games against the upstart Islanders.
Now, the Islanders only faced Philly three more times in the postseason. The teams are even at two games each, with the Isles taking the last set in a game seven heartbreaker during the COVID bubble postseason.
Still, the 1980 Cup should have been the Flyers. It lead to a bad taste in their mouth. That loss pretty much signaled the end of the Bully Era of the Flyers and would lead to what they would become in the 1980s later on. Still, no matter what, they were chasing the Isles constantly. And when they could get by them, they would run into either the Canadiens or Oilers in the postseason.
The Isles reign of terror ended in the mid 1980s. Much like the Sabres, they have pretty much become a joke since then. In the 1980s, this was such a great battle between two equally matched, equally talented teams. Now, their games are two teams trying to recapture what they once were. Because the Islanders have been so bad, we kind of forget how much these teams and fan bases hated each other.
Boston Bruins
When the Flyers were part of the Expansion Six, those teams had to bump up against the Original Six teams. In the early and mid 70s, the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens were the two elite teams of the NHL. Then came the Flyers; a brash, physical team that bullied their way to the top. On the way, they captured two Stanley Cup Championships while falling just short in two others from 1974 to 1980.
In three years in the 70s, the Flyers and Bruins clashed in the postseason. To capture their first Stanley Cup, they had to knock the Bruins out. This would create a history between the two teams throughout the 1970s as both teams were among the best.
Six times these two have met in the postseason. Four of those matchups occured during the heat of this rivalry in the 1970s with both teams winning a pair. It wasn't until the magical year of 2010 when the Flyers pulled out an unexpected 0-3 comeback to find themselves in the Stanley Cup that this was revived. Beantown got them back in the following season.
With the multitude of realignments and how the postseason plays out, a once tense rivalry is just a shadow of what it once was. We still don't like the Bruins and I'm sure their fans aren't crazy about us either. However, the fire that was once there back in the day isn't as hot as it was.