The buzzword that has been thrown around a lot since Daniel Brière took over as interim general manager is “change”.
In with the new and out with the old, as Chuck Fletcher was not only relieved of his duties as general manager but also as President of Hockey Operations. Comcast Spectacor Chairman and Flyers Governor, Dave Scott, followed suit with his retirement announcement with Comcast Spectacor CEO Dan Hilferty set to take over.
The senior advisors seem to be next in line for the clean sweep with the likes of Bobby Clarke, Paul Holmgren, and Bill Barber having caused more harm than good.
Another big change was going to be the influence that John Tortorella had within the organization. He was already the spokesman, taking on all media presence since his arrival, but it was said that he would be side-by-side with Daniel Brière when it came to the make-up of the team heading into next season. We saw that firsthand last night against the Ottawa Senators with Tortorella up in the press box rather than behind the bench.
With the front office foundation rocked to its core and the eventual player personnel turnover that should take place in the summer, another change in the wind will be the jerseys that the Flyers will reportedly wear starting in 2023-24.
For the first time since 2010, Philadelphia will be wearing new uniforms, and they will be paying homage to their great teams from 1982-2007.
According to Chris Creamer from SportsLogos.net, the Flyers will be ditching their current uniforms from 2010-present, changing the shade of orange, and will be discarding the alternate jerseys. No more will we see the black jerseys, or the Reverse Retros either, as they will be carrying just the usual home and away uniforms.
They are going back to the cleaner, slightly-less vibrant but original orange that jumpstarted this organization. They are throwing it back to the likes of Eric Lindros, Ron Hextall, Mark Recchi and the teams of the 90s and early 2000s. The jerseys will also carry a large and wide stripe down each arm compared to the half-and-half they currently have.
The Flyers logo has been untouched since its inception and their jerseys have been relatively the same as well. Not much has changed over the years, with the exception of wider or narrower stripes in and around the neckline and down the arms. The colour schemes have remained the same, the logo is iconic at this point, but the removal of alternate jerseys is also not a bad call. They could never seem to get it right with their third jerseys and the ones that did work or that the fans actually liked, they were worn for a limited time and haven’t been used since.
Changes are coming in all aspects of Philadelphia hockey, and a new jersey will go hand in hand with what should be a new team.
