Editing Philadelphia Flyers (section)

===Early years (1967–1971)===
[[File:The Spectrum Philadelphia PA.jpg|thumb|210x210px|The [[Spectrum (arena)|Spectrum]] was the home arena for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1967 to 1996.]]
The new teams were hampered by restrictive rules that kept all major talent with the "[[Original Six]]" teams. In the [[1967 NHL expansion draft]], most of the players available were either aging veterans or career minor-leaguers before expansion occurred. Among the Flyers' 20 selections were [[Bernie Parent]], [[Doug Favell]], [[Bill Sutherland (ice hockey)|Bill Sutherland]], [[Ed Van Impe]], [[Joe Watson (ice hockey)|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, [[André Lacroix (ice hockey)|Andre Lacroix]], [[Serge Bernier]], [[Jean-Guy Gendron]], [[Simon Nolet]] and [[Rosaire Paiement]] among others. Beginning play in [[1967–68 NHL season|1967–68]], the Philadelphia Flyers made their debut on October 11, 1967, losing 5–1 on the road to the [[California Seals]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/hm.cgi?001hm|title=Flyers First Ever Game|access-date=November 10, 2013|work=P. Anson|publisher=Flyers History}}</ref> They won their first game a week later, defeating the [[St. Louis Blues]] on the road, 2–1.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/hm.cgi?002hm|title=Flyers First Ever Win|access-date=November 10, 2013|work=P. Anson|publisher=Flyers History}}</ref> The Flyers made their home debut in front of a crowd of 7,812, shutting-out their intrastate rivals, the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]], 1–0 on October 19.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/hm.cgi?003hm|title=Flyers First Home Game|access-date=November 10, 2013|work=P. Anson|publisher=Flyers History}}</ref> Lou Angotti was named the first [[Captain (ice hockey)|captain]] in Flyers history, while Rochefort was the Flyers' top goal scorer after netting a total of 21 goals. With all six expansion teams grouped into the same division, the Flyers were able to win the division with a sub-.500 record despite being forced to play their last seven home games on the road due to a storm blowing parts of the [[Spectrum (arena)|Spectrum]]'s roof off.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=434641|title=This Date in Flyers History...March 1|date=March 1, 2005|access-date=December 20, 2012|publisher=PhiladelphiaFlyers.com}}</ref> However, playoff success did not come so quickly, as the Flyers were upset by St. Louis in a first-round, seven-game series.

Angotti left the team in the off-season, being replaced by Van Impe as team captain. Led by Van Impe and the team-leading 24 goals of Andre Lacroix, the Flyers struggled during their sophomore season by finishing 15 games under .500. Despite their poor regular season showing in [[1968–69 NHL season|1968–69]], they made the [[1969 Stanley Cup playoffs|playoffs]]. They again lost to St. Louis, this time being dispatched in a four-game sweep. Not wanting his team to be physically outmatched again, majority owner Ed Snider instructed general manager [[Bud Poile]] to acquire bigger, tougher players.<ref name="Snider" /> While [[Coach (ice hockey)|head coach]] [[Keith Allen (ice hockey)|Keith Allen]] soon after replaced Poile as general manager, this mandate eventually led to one of the most feared teams to ever take the ice in the NHL. The keystone of those teams was acquired when the Flyers took a chance on a 19-year-old diabetic from [[Flin Flon, Manitoba]], [[Bobby Clarke]], with their second draft pick, 17th overall, in the [[1969 NHL amateur draft]]. Keeping to Snider's mandate, the team also drafted future enforcer [[Dave Schultz (ice hockey)|Dave Schultz]] 52nd overall.

[[File:Ed Snider by Michael Alan Goldberg.jpg|thumb|210x210px|[[Ed Snider]], the team's initial co-owner]]
By the time training camp came around, it was clear that Clarke was the team's best player, and he quickly became a fan favorite. His 15 goals and 31 assists in his rookie season earned him a trip to the [[National Hockey League All-Star Game|NHL All-Star Game]]. Despite his arrival, the team struggled in [[1969–70 NHL season|1969–70]], recording only 17 wins – the fewest in franchise history and set the NHL team record for most ties in a season (24). They lost the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot to the [[California Golden Seals|Oakland Seals]], missing the playoffs for the first time.

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. The perception was that the team was more successful on these occasions, so the tradition grew. The move was initially done by Flyers Promotion Director Lou Scheinfeld as a way to defray national tensions at the time of the [[Vietnam War]]: Scheinfeld noticed that people regularly left their seats and walked around during the anthem, but showed more respect and often sang along to "God Bless America". As of the close of the 2016–17 season, the Flyers have a record of 100–29–5 when "God Bless America" was sung prior to Flyers home games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/kate.cgi|title=FlyersHistory.com webpage with complete Kate Smith record|access-date=August 28, 2022|archive-date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420014311/https://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/kate.cgi|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In [[1970–71 NHL season|1970–71]], the Flyers had bounced back from the previous season and returned to the playoffs, but were swept by the [[Chicago Blackhawks]] in the first round. Even though the team had improved their record in his second season behind the bench, head coach [[Vic Stasiuk]] was replaced by [[Fred Shero]] in the off-season. The team was involved in a three-way trade that sent Bernie Parent to the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] while receiving [[Rick MacLeish]] from the Boston Bruins.