Do the constant rebuilds make it hard for you to stay interested?

[lvphantoms]

I know the old cliche "I root for the logo on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back," but I think it's pretty human to have favorite players despite what everyone claims.

 

So it's still pretty early in the season and people are already dropping rumors about Flyers making some huge trades. I have no idea whether they're credible or if people are just throwing nonsense out their for views.

 

For me the history of the organization is what makes me a fan, but it's the current players that keep me watching every game, and over the last few seasons I've grown pretty much indifferent towards the players on the team (knowing that they could be traded at any point). Unsurprisingly the few players I have started to root for are involved in most recent trade speculation (Voracek, Simmonds, Grossmann, Read, etc.). I was a pretty big fan of Richards, Carter and Lupul, loved Gagne as much as anyone else, and wasn't happy about people getting down on Van Riemsdyk every year. I wasn't thrilled about losing Briere this offseason either, but at least in his case I understood that his price was way higher than what he brought to the team.

 

So how attached do you get to Flyers players, and does the fact that we're non-stop blowing the team up make it harder to get invested in the team?

Edited October 19, 2013 by hf101
added poll

[Samifan]

I have always and will always bleed Flyers a Orange until the day I die. Whether they are raising the cup or finishing dead last I am following every game along the way. The frustrating part for me is the fact the Flyers have always had a must win now attitude and refuse to have patience when it comes to allowing players to develop. That leads to "what if". What if the flyers gave Richards and Carter another year? What if they did not give up on Patrick Sharp, Justin Williams, Sergi Bobrovsky, or insert player name here_________.

Good night, Good Hockey

Edited October 19, 2013 by Samifan

[ruxpin]

For me it really is the Logo. I think some of that comes from nearly 40 years of being a fan. Players come and go. And frankly, not one name you mentioned is worth missing.

What makes watching difficult is an astoundingly bad product

[Jam1986]

For me it really is the Logo. I think some of that comes from nearly 40 years of being a fan. Players come and go. And frankly, not one name you mentioned is worth missing.

What makes watching difficult is an astoundingly bad product

Me too 40 yrs a fan logo 

1 

ed has given us a good team most years and is willing to try. This is diffrent let kids play  bring Alt. Manning and Ollie. Let Akerson play. No more NMC and NMT 

[doom88]

For me it really is the Logo. I think some of that comes from nearly 40 years of being a fan. Players come and go. And frankly, not one name you mentioned is worth missing.

What makes watching difficult is an astoundingly bad product

15ish years for me, but I'm the same otherwise. Nothing was as painful as the year the Flyers ended up drafting JVR (fun fact, I refer to that as the season that shall not be mentioned, to my wife). I haven't missed watching a game in years thanks to NHL Gamecenter and alternative means.

[Poulin20]

I don't think that the constant rebuilds are unique to the Flyers. It is more a sign of the times in the salary cap NHL. IMHO Richards and Carter were traded partially to make room for Bryzaster. We knew that Carter was going to go but Richards was a bit of a surprise to me. But there was a lot of $$$ tied up in those 2 for a lot of years and due to the cap they had to go.

If you are asking if I like the constant turnover of players, no I do not because I do always have favorite players(Richards was one recently). I do accept it as reality in this day and age. With that being said, I will always be a Fan of the Flyers first and the players 2nd.

[blocker]

What if they did not give up on Patrick Sharp, Justin Williams, Sergi Bobrovsky, or insert player name here_________.

 

The  undervalue of Sharp is an example of the ineptitude of Flyers' staff.  Hitchcock, for sure had a hand in that stupidity, but somebody in Flyer management shoud have had enough sense to prevent that loss to the organization. 

[pilldoc]

Agree with the rest....I root for the logo not for the players names...although there will always be players that you will associate with a particular team. (example...I will always a Lindros fan despite him finishing his career in a different city.  same with Brind a' mour.  Loved the guy...hated to see him get traded.  Was happy when he won the cup with Carolina..you get the point)

 

Been a fan for 30+ yrs and will always bleed orange and black.  Is it maddenig and frustrating to what has happened to this team, but I do not cheer any less.

 

Someone made a very good point in regard to the salary cap era.  you will always have turnover.  Hopefully the core will remain the same, but some of the role players will alwys be in constant flux.

[wcflyer]

I'm a Flyer fan because of Bobby Clarke, I became a fan 41 years ago, loved his work ethic. The love for the Flyers will always be there, I couldn't see myself cheering for another team the way I cheer for the Flyers, St. Louis has always been a distant 2nd favorite team, since I'm in Canuckville land(ferry ride away), I get exposed to a lot of Canucks games and fans, but I can't cheer for them. Last two times they went to the finals, I went for the NYR and Bruins.

 

The interest will always be there, wether Ed says he retools the culture or not. I can live with another down year, I wouldn't want to blow up the team just for the sake of it. Wait until summer see if the Sedins and/or Vanek are available when the cap goes up a bit and we shed 12 million or so $$.

 

Watching the Canucks game this morning against the Pens, the Sedins have some skill, and thats what we need, someone to play with Giroux or Lecalvier. Top notch talent. vanek would look onthe top line too. If they reach UFA status, I would join the line up to sign them.

[doom88]

I'd rather test Raffl, McGinn, or even Couturier on Giroux's wing before even thinking about adding Vanek or BOTH Sedins. Even at 6mil each, that's 12 mil of the cap gone.

[sarsippius]

I really haven't had a favorite Flyer since Hextall. My original favorite was Clarke back in the day. So the constant rebuilds are discouraging from a "does anyone here have a clue" standpoint. But not from a "my favorite player just got traded" standpoint.

[doom88]

I had a few favorites in my relatively shorter fan period: Lindros, Gagne, Kapanen, Richards, and Lappy. Current favorite: Rinaldo.

[ruxpin]

You know, I guess I haven't actually had a favorite player in years. Don't get me wrong, there are players I have liked but none that I would say, "that guy's my favorite."

I think because no matter who it is I recognize that their time here is fleeting, so I don't get that emotionally attached. I actually don't get get emotionally attached to people in general. Not sure what that says about me.

[radoran]

You know, I guess I haven't actually had a favorite player in years. Don't get me wrong, there are players I have liked but none that I would say, "that guy's my favorite."

I think because no matter who it is I recognize that their time here is fleeting, so I don't get that emotionally attached. I actually don't get get emotionally attached to people in general. Not sure what that says about me.

 

There has generally been a Vermont Catamount and/or Finn on the team, and those always get my "player" allegiance.

 

Other than that, it's the crest on the front first, last and always. And the name "Philadelphia."

[ruxpin]

And the name "Philadelphia.

 

Yep.  I wrote on another thread somewhere that the second they would move from Philadelphia it would void my side of the fan-team contract.

[King Knut]

Management mistakes like losing gagne, jagr and

Carle upset me far worse than missing those players does.

The pathetic cap management that makes not resigning guys like that automatic and whiffing on the big swings for weber, Suter & Parise cause us to lose key players that hold things together and leaves the team with the right pieces but without the glue to keep the ship from sinking.

I miss Richards and carter, yeah... But I'm happy for them at the same time.

What makes this so hard is not that they're not here anymore because I could give a crap about it if we were winning.

It's the losing that sucks. Maybe we'd win more if homer would give some guys more of a chance to stick around and get through rough spots, Only casual fans who say to me, "I don't recognize anyone on the lineup" and who probably weren't following closely anyway probably care about the constant changes.

I know the old cliche "I root for the logo on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back," but I think it's pretty human to have favorite players despite what everyone claims.

So it's still pretty early in the season and people are already dropping rumors about Flyers making some huge trades. I have no idea whether they're credible or if people are just throwing nonsense out their for views.

For me the history of the organization is what makes me a fan, but it's the current players that keep me watching every game, and over the last few seasons I've grown pretty much indifferent towards the players on the team (knowing that they could be traded at any point). Unsurprisingly the few players I have started to root for are involved in most recent trade speculation (Voracek, Simmonds, Grossmann, Read, etc.). I was a pretty big fan of Richards, Carter and Lupul, loved Gagne as much as anyone else, and wasn't happy about people getting down on Van Riemsdyk every year. I wasn't thrilled about losing Briere this offseason either, but at least in his case I understood that his price was way higher than what he brought to the team.

So how attached do you get to Flyers players, and does the fact that we're non-stop blowing the team up make it harder to get invested in the team?

[Lindbergh31]

I've been a fan since '73 and no doubt this team has frustrated the hell out of me but I continue to be a fan thru good and bad. I was hoping last year they would have lost their last 7 games to get a higher draft pick but they didn't accomplish that. Maybe this year they'll get it right and finish dead last, get the first pick overall since the draft is in Philly next summer and do the rebuild right. Holmgren or Hextall has to pick their core guys going forward and build the team that way. Mason has looked very good so far this year and hopefully he keeps it up.

[murraycraven]

This is a great topic...

 

I dont find that the "constant rebuilds" hinder my affection for the Flyers.  If anything it keeps me interested b/c you never know what they are going to do.   I think Polaris hit it on the head in earlier post saying that all of the moves are not a rebuild.  I think you have to expect a lot of movement in the current salary cap world.   Players come and players go but you hope somewhere in between you have a real franchise player that will be here for the long term and produce as such.  

 

Personally, I have not had a favortie player in a very long time.  Growing up I loved Tocchet, Poulin, Craven and the last player that was a Flyer that I really appreciated was Recchi.  

 

Like my wife... I am w/ the Flyers for better or worse... 

[JackStraw]

I'm a logo guy too... except I root for the logo on the back of the jersey. The one above the name plate.

[fan4ever]

It doesn't make it harder for me to stay interested, I'll always be a Flyers fan. I do miss the days of the "lifetime Flyer', retired numbers, etc. I like watching the team grow together and hopefully win the ultimate prize together but I think those days are long gone, to me that's a little sad.