50th Anniversary: Franchise Adopts Flyers as Team Name
Fifty years ago today, an outdoor press conference was held at the construction site at Broad St. and Pattison Ave. that became the Spectrum. At the press conference, it was announced that the new Philadelphia NHL team would be called the Flyers.
The story of how the Flyers got their name is an interesting and humorous one; first told in full detail in Jay Greenberg's landmark Full Spectrum book.
Today on the Flyers' website, there will be a commemorative article with some additional details, on the naming of the Flyers back in 1966, along with how the now-iconic logo and orange, black and white color scheme came to be.
By way of preview, if club management had chosen to go in a different direction among the many different names they initially considered and rejected before Ed Snider's sister suggested Flyers, the Philadelphia hockey team could have become the NHL franchise known as the Sabers. It would be several more years before the 1970 expansion addition Buffalo team adopted the name Sabres.
To read the article,
click here.
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Quick Hits: August 3, 2016
1) As part of the Flyers' series of Heritage Nights for their 50th Anniversary season, Tough Guys night will be held on November 17 when the Flyers host the Winnipeg Jets. On the Flyers' official site, Flyers fan can
vote on which three tough-guy players of the past they would like to see attend to be honored; subject to their availability. Voting closes on August 5 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
2) Today at the World Junior Championships evaluation camp in Plymouth, Michigan, Team Canada (featuring Travis Konecny, Carter Hart and the rehabbing Philippe Myers on the roster) will take on Finland at 1 p.m. EDT. Team USA (featuring Tanner Laczynski) will take on Sweden (featuring Felix Sandström and David Berhard) at 4 p.m. EDT. Both games will be televised on TSN.
3) Over on ESPN.com, Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere
discusses the upcoming World Cup of Hockey and his Calder Trophy finalist season.
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Today in Flyers History: August 3
1993: The Flyers sign free agent forward Claude Vilgrain and release Wes Walz from his contract, making him a free agent.
1995: The Flyers sign left winger Shjon Podein to a multi-year contract extension.
1998: The Flyers sign Phantoms players Mike Maneluk (one year), John Stevens (two years) and Dave MacIssac (one year) to contract extensions.
1999: Based on a recommendation from scout Chris Pryor, the Flyers sign undrafted Ukrainian forward Ruslan Fedotenko as a rookie free agent. On the same day, the team signs Sean O'Brien to a one-year deal.
2005: The Flyers make major news as they sign unrestricted free agent center Peter Forsberg to a two-year, $11.5 million contract.
Flyers Alum Birthday: Checking center Mark Lamb was born August 3, 1964 in Ponteix, Saskatchewan. Acquired by the Flyers in the March 1994 deal that sent former first-round pick Claude Boivin to the Ottawa Senators, Lamb dressed in 19 games for Terry Simpson's Flyers late in the 1993-94 season (one goal, seven points). The next season, he played eight games (two assists) under new head coach Terry Murray before the Flyers sold his contract to the Montreal Canadiens.
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2016 Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp
The 2nd annual Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp is now completely sold out.
The camp will be held Aug. 19 -22, 2016 in Atlantic City. The Alumni have assembled an excellent group of instructor/coaches this year, including Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie Parent and Mark Howe, along with the likes of Danny Briere and Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere.
The official Flyers Alumni website will soon have a camp preview and exclusive photos afterwards of the various on-ice activities, end-of-camp tourney and off-ice festivities.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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