Orange and Black
Philadelphia's original orange-and-black ice warriors.
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1967 as part of the NHL's expansion. Known for their orange and black colors, they are famously nicknamed the "Broad Street Bullies" for their physical style of play in the 1970s, winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975.
- Franchise founded
- 1967 (NHL expansion)
- Primary colors
- Orange and Black
- Stanley Cup titles (70s dynasty)
- 1974, 1975
- Original home arena
- The Spectrum (1967–1996)
- Later home arena
- Wells Fargo Center (from 1996)
- Iconic nickname
- Broad Street Bullies
- Core 70s captains/leaders
- Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bernie Parent, Dave Schultz
Lore & Background
The Philadelphia Flyers burst onto the NHL scene in 1967, quickly establishing a reputation for toughness and tenacity. Under the leadership of captain Bobby Clarke and the goaltending of Bernie Parent, the team captured the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975, becoming the first expansion team to win the championship. Their aggressive, hard-hitting style earned them the nickname "Broad Street Bullies," and they played their home games at the Spectrum until moving to the Wells Fargo Center in 1996.
In Their Own Story
It is a Tuesday in November, and the ice at the Citizens Bank Center has that particular sheen you only get after the Zamboni has made its third pass. The arena is not yet full, but the lower bowl is a slow tide of orange flooding in from the parking lot, from the trolleys, from the back streets. A kid maybe twelve years old stands in the concourse, wearing a jersey two sizes too big, the number 18 on the back—Clarke, though he will never know the name. His father has the same jersey, thinner now, the orange faded to something closer to rust. They do not talk much. They don't need to. The sound is building: the thump of the organ, the crack of a stick on the boards during warmups, the first wave of the crowd chanting a name that is not a player's name but the city's own. The kid presses his palm flat against the glass barrier, feeling the vibration travel up through his wrist, and for a moment the whole arena is just orange and black and the low hum of ten thousand people breathing in the same rhythm. Then the puck drops, and the noise swallows everything else.
Reader's Guide
The Orange and Black won Delaware County Titles in 1922 and 1923.
Did You Know?
- The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975, becoming the first NHL expansion team to do so.
- The team's 'Broad Street Bullies' nickname comes from their physical play and the location of their original arena on Broad Street.
- Bobby Clarke, the Flyers' Hall of Fame captain, led the team to both Stanley Cup victories.
More in Broad Street Culture & Identity
Elsewhere in the Philadelphia Flyers universe
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