It’s been quite the past year for Philadelphia sports. The Phillies won the pennant. The Eagles went to the Super Bowl. The Union competed for the MLS championship. The Sixers are set for an entertaining postseason run. Lastly, there’s the Flyers. The Flyers, well, haven’t had the same success that their fellow Philly teams have had. In a year that much of the city has been witnessing great achievements, the Flyers find themselves on thin ice. 

The Flyers currently stand as the third-worst team in the Eastern Conference, losing more than half of their games this season. Hockey fans in Philadelphia have been waiting for years now to witness the success their team had in the 2020 campaign. With a year where their neighbors have given the city great seasons, many frustrations have arised for the Flyers fanbase. 

Since the 2013 season, the Flyers have only won one playoff series. They have missed the postseason in six out of their last ten seasons, and are on track to be watching the postseason from home yet again. Making some progress towards being a contender again has been a struggle, and fans are becoming a little restless with the constant lack of accomplishment over the past decade.

“You wish that they were to do well. Obviously they aren’t, but you wish that they’d take the right steps and rebuild instead of ‘retooling’ for the past ten years,” said North Penn senior Dylan Sisian. “It’s frustrating to know they are on the doorstep of being a good team, but need a few more things and management continues to not acknowledge that and just tries to muscle it through.”

While the lack of success for the Flyers has thwarted supporters from enjoying the year, some fans believe that this year’s performance might not necessarily be the worst case scenario for the Flyers and the Philadelphia fanbase. 

“I think it’s great that they are doing well and I even think it’s good that the Flyers are doing so bad,” said North Penn student Ted Bachman. “Many people are bonding over the fact that the Eagles, Union, and Phillies went to their respective championships, and just how good Joel Embiid is. People can get together, watch these games, and just have a good time. And with the Flyers doing so bad, it makes tickets cheap so it’s easier for many people to go to their first Philly sporting event. Granted everyone wants to see them do better, but there’s always an opportunity.”

With only a few more weeks to go in the NHL season, there is very little hope for anything promising to come for the Philadelphia Flyers. With not much to play for now, the best option for the franchise may be to tank for the worst possible record to earn the highest possible draft pick. For a team that needs to add more young talent to the roster, losing much of the remaining games wouldn’t be a bad idea. While it may not be what the fans of Philly want to see, it could provide them with more to be happy about in the years to come.