The club, garbed in orange and black like today's Flyers, was coached by J. Cooper Smeaton, who was to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame 30 years later, for his far more notable role as an NHL referee.

[16] He began making plans for a new arena upon hearing the NHL was looking to expand due to fears of a competing league taking hold on the West Coast and the desire for a new television contract in the United States.

Among the Flyers' 20 selections were Bernie Parent, Doug Favell, Bill Sutherland, Ed Van Impe, Joe Watson, Lou Angotti, Leon Rochefort and Gary Dornhoefer.

Having purchased the minor-league Quebec Aces, the team had a distinctly francophone flavor in its early years, with Parent, Rochefort, Andre Lacroix, Serge Bernier, Jean-Guy Gendron, Simon Nolet and Rosaire Paiement among others.

On December 11, 1969, the Flyers introduced what became one of the team's best-known traditions: playing a recording of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" instead of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before important games.

Bobby Clarke continued to progress as he led the team in scoring in 1971–72 and became the first Flyer to win an NHL award, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

As the Bullies had put intimidation to good use the past three years, the Flyers' rugged style of play led the Soviets to leave the ice midway through the first period, protesting a hit on Valeri Kharlamov, whom Clarke had slashed on the ankle in the famous Summit Series '72, by Ed Van Impe.

Bob McCammon, who had just coached the Flyers' first year American Hockey League (AHL) Maine Mariners farm club to a Calder Cup title, replaced Fred Shero behind the bench.

Their regular season success continued into the playoffs, as the Flyers swept a young Wayne Gretzky and his Edmonton Oilers in the first round, then went on to get revenge against Fred "The Fog" Shero and his Rangers by beating them in five before disposing of Minnesota in five to lock up a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Gone were the likes of Leach, MacLeish, Dupont, Kelly, Jimmy Watson and finally Barber and Clarke in 1984, and taking their spots over the next few seasons were young talent such as Brian Propp, Tim Kerr, Dave Poulin, Pelle Lindbergh and Mark Howe, who upon arrival instantly became the Flyers' top defenseman for the next decade.

Hextall missed all but eight games due to suspension for attacking Chris Chelios at the end of the Montreal playoff series the previous spring, contract holdout issues, and injury.

In June 1992, the Flyers persuaded Bobby Clarke to return to the team as senior vice president after Jay Snider won the hard-fought arbitration battle for 1991 first overall pick Eric Lindros against the Rangers.

While Lindros became a preeminent star in Philadelphia, the trade proved heavily lopsided in favor of the Nordiques – soon to become the Colorado Avalanche – providing the core of their two Stanley Cup teams and an unprecedented eight-straight division championships, with Forsberg becoming a franchise player.

In order to shore up the defense, Ron Hextall was re-acquired from the Islanders and high-scoring winger Recchi was traded to Montreal for Eric Desjardins, Gilbert Dionne and John LeClair early in the abbreviated season.

The 1996–97 season started off slowly, as Lindros missed 30 games, but LeClair still managed to score 50 goals for the second consecutive year, while the mid-season acquisition of defenseman Paul Coffey gave the Flyers a veteran presence.

[32] Despite finishing just one point shy of a third straight Atlantic Division title, the Flyers blitzed their way through the first three rounds of the playoffs, dominating Pittsburgh, Buffalo and the Rangers all in five games apiece to win the Eastern Conference championship, and clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1986–87.

In the span of a few days in July, longtime broadcaster Gene Hart died due to illness and defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny, coming off his rookie season, was fatally injured in a freak boating accident.

In January, longtime Flyer and fan-favorite Rod Brind'Amour was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Keith Primeau, with the intention of acquiring a big center to complement Lindros.

Brian Boucher, who as a rookie backstopped the Flyers' playoff run the previous season, could not duplicate his performance and lost the starting goaltending job to Roman Cechmanek, a former star in the Czech Republic.

The performance of Cechmanek, worthy of a Vezina nomination, along with Bill Barber winning the Jack Adams Award as head coach of the year, helped the Flyers stay afloat, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs to Buffalo in six games.

In the off-season, the Flyers re-vamped their lineup by signing Jeremy Roenick and finally trading Eric Lindros to the Rangers for Kim Johnsson, Jan Hlavac, Pavel Brendl and a 2003 third-round draft pick (Stefan Ruzicka).

In 2002–03, Roman Cechmanek had a 1.83 goals against average (GAA) and the Flyers acquired Sami Kapanen and Tony Amonte prior to the trade deadline; however, they fell one point short of a second straight Atlantic Division title.

Free-agent goaltender Jeff Hackett was signed from Boston to replace Cechmanek and challenge backup Robert Esche for the starter's spot in 2003–04, but he was forced to retire in February due to vertigo.

Replacing the high-profile names of Amonte, LeClair and Roenick were superstar Peter Forsberg, along with defensemen Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje, as well as several players from the Calder Cup-winning Philadelphia Phantoms.

The Flyers traded Michal Handzus to Chicago, lost Kim Johnsson to free agency and Eric Desjardins and team captain Keith Primeau retired in the off-season.

An 8–3–4 run in March, coupled with two huge wins over New Jersey and Pittsburgh over the final weekend of the regular season, put the Flyers back in the 2008 playoffs as the sixth seed, setting up a first-round matchup with Washington.

Two pleasant surprises were the emergence of rookie center Claude Giroux and defenseman Luca Sbisa, who was drafted by the Flyers in June with the 19th overall pick acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for R. J. Umberger, a victim of team salary cap constraints.

Boucher remained as the team's backup goaltender, while Leighton played one game in December after recovering from a back injury before being demoted to Adirondack in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Bryzgalov's play ranged from spectacular to sub-par, including being benched in favor of Sergei Bobrovsky for the Flyers' 3–2 loss to the New York Rangers in the 2012 Winter Classic, but also being named NHL First Star for the month of March.

[46][47] Due to racial controversy involving vocalist Kate Smith, at the end of the 2018–19 season, the Flyers removed her statue from outside the stadium and stopped playing her version of "God Bless America".