How Danny Brière and the Flyers’ new front office are rebuilding trust with an aching fan base

The smiles were everywhere.

They were on the kids’ faces, eyes wide when Gritty sped by on a hoverboard. The older kids had smiles too, playing Skee-Ball or riding the carousel just an inch above the ice. And Flyers players, coaches, and brass were grinning as they faced off against fans in games, signed autographs, and chatted with the faithful.

The vibes were immaculate at the Flyers Charities Carnival last Sunday. Held at the Wells Fargo Center, the 45th annual event, which started in 1977 and returned last year after a two-season absence due to COVID-19, drew thousands to hang with the Orange and Black.

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“It was great. ... You get to see some of the same faces that are coming in, being at my seventh or eighth carnival,” center Scott Laughton said. “It’s great to see the kids and how much fun they have and everyone involved. And they get to meet the new guys and the new guys get to see how passionate our fan base is. So, I think it’s a really special event, and not only the money that it raises but everything that goes into it. It’s a great, great event.”

The carnival isn’t new but the feel-good mood that swept through the concourses and onto the rink may have been. Head coach John Tortorella noted that “people were enthused.” It’s only fitting with the blue-collar Flyers in playoff position and new management not only putting its stamp on the team but rebuilding a heavily damaged bridge with the fan base.

“The people are great. The people have been, no matter how we’re playing, [at] the two carnivals I’ve gone to, they were all positive,” Tortorella said on Monday after practice. “Some questions were asked about certain things that we do and certain players you scratch and I think at that time, I think you give them an answer.

“I think you have those conversations, where we’re trying to build our team to the city, how the city is, and join in with them. I think in those situations, you converse with them and just be honest with them.”

For the most part, Tortorella has been honest with the fans this season, and not just in person but via snail mail. The 65-year-old reads the letters he gets and will answer them — as long as the sender isn’t too aggressive.

It’s part of a larger theme with the new regime. Honesty and transparency are embraced by the Flyers’ top guys like Philly native and Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dan Hilferty, and former Flyers turned executives, president Keith Jones, and general manager Danny Brière. While other former Flyers have previously held leadership roles, the new group is actively taking steps to prove to fans that this will not be a rinse-and-repeat.

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One of the first hint of change was finally acknowledging a “rebuild” — a word that could not be uttered for fear of retribution with previous regimes. Brière set that tone early, that this was indeed a “New Era of Orange” when he said the forbidden word last March at his introductory press conference as interim GM.

“Yeah, there’s always something, there’s always marketing, there’s always a catchphrase. Let’s be hopeful. Maybe it is a new era,” said Jim Maratea, a season ticketholder from Croydon. “I’m impressed with seeing Danny Brière and Keith Jones, who I’ve watched over the years as a broadcaster and seen him as a Flyer and always [want to be] part of the organization. So it really looks like they’ve got a good team together in them, so I’m very hopeful.”

Previous regimes kept things close to the vest, almost too close, as fans wondered the direction of the team. But the new front office has boldly stepped into the foreground. Hilferty can often be seen on the road and at team practices shaking hands and chatting with the faithful in Voorhees.

“They’re very appreciative,” Hilferty said of the fans. “And I always make it clear that I play a role, but you’ve got Keith Jones, Danny Brière and John Tortorella, and all the people that work with each of us that are coming together, and I try to say that to folks.”

Coming together and showing a united front has been key as the front office shapes the team in their vision. Brière and Co. quickly changed the culture in the room by moving out Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, and Tony DeAngelo over the summer before making a strong statement by cutting ties with a talented player who did not want to be a Flyer in Cutter Gauthier. They also swung big by drafting Matvei Michkov at No. 7 overall. The Russia-based Michkov has an extremely high ceiling and could be a franchise cornerstone but he won’t play in the NHL for another two seasons.

“We have the same vision. Our goal is to build a team that’s going to be competitive and hopefully build into a Stanley Cup contender for years to come,” Brière told The Inquirer earlier this season. “We want to try to get out of the one year making the playoffs, the following year maybe missing.”

And while the future looks bright, they are not forgetting their past. Aside from Brière and Jones, other former Flyers like John LeClair and Patrick Sharp are back in the fold as special advisors. The team finally righted a wrong by inducting Mark Recchi — a guy whose name is all over the team’s record book, — into the Flyers Hall of Fame. The Flyers also paid homage to the organization’s founding father , holding the first Ed Snider Legacy Game on what would have been his 91st birthday.

In addition to recognizing and embracing the Flyers’ alumni, the organization has made small branding touches that have been well-received by fans. Snider’s patented double logos at center ice returned this season, as did the burnt orange color of the beloved teams of old. Fans have long clamored for these changes, and the organization is listening.

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“It feels like it’s new and very much reenergized,” said David Silverman of South Jersey, who was at the carnival with his son Josh. “There’s been such a turnover on the roster that I think back to those that we’ve known, and we’re a 13-year season ticketholder. So many are gone. Coots is still here, Scotty is still here which is great because I think they’re part of that [theme of] you can take what’s old and make it new again.”

Not everyone has been easily won over. It will take some time to get everyone back and believing that the team has turned a corner, from the front office to the on-ice product.

“I don’t know, yet,” said Kathy Wible from Northeast Philly who has been a fan since the Stanley Cup years in 1974 and 1975. “I like the old Flyers [but] I have watched a few games and I have seen that [return to the old style of play].”

Ken Hoshauer has been a Flyers fan since 1970 but gave up his season tickets two years ago due to the team’s poor performance. But he has seen improvement and enjoys the competitiveness they have been bringing this season. It’s why he traveled down from Lancaster on Thursday, sporting a Sean Couturier jersey, to see the Flyers play the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C.

“A lot of trust in Danny Brière and Keith Jones and I believe the rest of the league has a lot of respect for their background,” Hoshauer said.

Does he trust them more because they’re former Flyers? “No, we’ve had a lot of former Flyers [in the front office] and some of them messed up,” he said. “These guys know what they’re talking about.”

After years of building a wall between the fans and the team, of forgetting the past, they Flyers’ leaders are rebuilding it all piece by piece.