Lou Angotti was selected by the Flyers in the expansion draft and led the team that first season as the team captain. He was a bright spot on the roster, but his departure that first offseason signaled the team’s descent.

The rest of the ‘80s saw the beginning of Mike Keenan’s coaching career and switch to Dave Poulin, Tim Kerr, and Brad McCrimmon on the ice and Pelle Lindbergh and Bob Froese in front of the net. The Flyers reemerged as a force in the Patrick division and the Wales Conference. Philadelphia made deep playoff runs that ended in Stanley Cup or Conference Finals losses.

The two draftees became key players on the Flyers as they developed into perennial Stanley Cup contender in the ‘70s. The talent and the stars aligned in the 1973-74 and 1974-75 season as Philadelphia repeated as Stanley Cup champions. Those teams became known as the Broad Street Bullies for their rough play.

The net was manned by Bernie Parent, an original Flyer who returned to the team in the 1973 offseason. His incredible season with 47 wins and Clarke’s MVP season took the Flyers to the Stanley Cup in just their seventh year in existence against the Boston Bruins. The Stanley Cup victory proved that the Stanley Cup was not only for the “Original Six”.

After following Stanley Cup with another the next season, the Flyers made the playoffs for 14 straight seasons, losing in the Stanley Cup four times. The club went through several roster changes, trading away Dave Schultz, but kept Clarke until his retirement in 1984.

The rest of the ‘80s saw the beginning of Mike Keenan’s coaching career and switch to Dave Poulin, Tim Kerr, and Brad McCrimmon on the ice and Pelle Linfbergh and Bob Froese in front of the net. The Flyers reemerged as a force in the Patrick division and the Wales Conference. Philadelphia made deep playoff runs that ended in Stanley Cup or Conference Finals losses.

Coach Keenan left the team after the 1987-88 season and the Flyers began a downturn that traded away the roster and landed the club in last or second to last place in the Patrick division for five years from the 1989-90 season to the 1993-94 season.

The return of Bobby Clarke as general manager before the 1994-95 season produced immediate results. The change from Kevin Dineen as team captain to Terry Murray, the re-acquisitions of Ron Hextall and Mark Recchi, and the trade for John LeClair, Eric Desjardins, and Gilbert Dionne bolstered the roster around young star Eric Lindros.

That season the Flyers won the Atlantic division and made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals. The loss to the New Jersey Devils started a rivalry saw the Devils and the Flyers play tug of war with the Atlantic Division title from the 1994-95 season to the 2005-06 season. Despite the incredible regular season success of Philadelphia, the club could not capture another Stanley Cup Trophy, only returning to the series once.

The canceled 2004-05 season set the Flyers back, as the season after they finished second in the Atlantic Division, but lost in the first round of the playoffs and the team failed to make the playoffs in 2006-07.