Flyers fans have their say about management, the team, prices, loud music, Gritty, and more

In response to a story I wrote recently about the Philadelphia Flyers sending a questionnaire to season-ticket holders, Facebook bulged with comments. Lots and lots of comments. Five-hundred and eighty-four, to be exact, the last time I looked.

The survey was trying to find out how the Flyers could improve fans’ Wells Fargo Center experience.

The questionnaire was more about the spectators’ comfort level with several aspects of the arena, and not about the struggling and injury-ravaged hockey team.

Here’s a sampling of responses received, and I omitted the ones filled with venom or personally attacking anyone in the organization — and there were plenty of them. (Some responses were edited for clarity or space.)

Scott Warner: “If you can’t afford to take your kids, you are no longer a sport now; just a business.”

Whitney Danielle: “Just taking a stab in the dark, but, I dunno, maybe win some games?”

Stone Gahagan: “The biggest eyesore in the arena is the ‘Welcome to Comcast Country’ marquee. In Chicago, they have a “Madhouse on Madison” marquee that’s super cool. Change that marquee to something that is quintessentially Philly. Welcome to Broad St. Welcome to the Electric Factory. Anything than what it is now.”

Mike Muscato: “The Flyers have not been an affordable night out since they played in the Spectrum except for the one year they really sucked and they were giving away upstairs tickets to kids with college IDs. The product sucks and is overpriced. The concessions are overpriced. The City doesn’t help either with its draconian COVID protocols and high taxes. The Flyers are in a position for which they could legitimately threaten to move outside of the city either to South Jersey or a suburban area with lower taxes and no draconian measures. They ought to, and maybe, just maybe, it would scare the city enough to end draconian measures.”

Neal Cassidy: “Clean up the top two lines besides Cam Atkinson. Clean up the whole coaching staff and the owners. The fans have more drive, and we have to pay to see you. It’s been 40 years. Excuses are done.”

Matthew Waltz: “Just one: A front office that actually knows how to put a winning team on the ice.”

Joe Barnes : “1) Get rid of Gritty. 2) Put a product on the ice that is actually watchable. 3) Lower prices. 4) Get rid of Gritty.”

Brad Brooks: “Put a better product on the ice. None of their questions matter at all. This team is painful to watch. Put a good team on the ice that skates hard and you will fill the seats.”

Ralph Deneumoustier: “Perhaps I’m just too old school, but is music necessary during every stoppage of play? Also, the music is too loud. I’ve seen parents with children who actually put ear coverings over their children’s ears at games.”

Clyde Thomas Pettit: “It’s no longer a hockey game; it’s a circus show with loud music, flames shooting out of the scoreboard, annoying carnival barkers screaming into the mic over some game of chance. It’s all a smoke show to have you forget about the poor product that’s on the ice! After all, we are there to see a hockey game… I’m a 27-year season- ticket holder who doesn’t enjoy the ‘experience’ any longer.”

Emily Gonzalez: “I was happy to go to my first-ever Flyers game, but that is only because my husband got free tickets from his job and it was a pretty full house. I understand that you are the NHL, but for two hot dogs, a Twisted Tea and a medium soda for over $50 was too much. The players where good years ago, but what happened to this season?”

Howard Silvers: “The fact that ownership thinks it’s a good idea to send out a survey like this is part of the problem. They’re so out of touch that they think they need a survey to connect with the fans. They are nothing but a marketing and entertainment conglomerate; they know nothing about hockey or who the hockey fans are. How disgraceful that they have killed a once proud professional hockey franchise. Do the city and the fans a favor and sell the team to someone who will run it with a hockey focus and not a marketing focus. Become a contender and the fans will return. Get rid of the pathetic attempts as marketing and the fans will return. Remember what kind of city Philadelphia is and the fans will return. Right now, the Flyers are a place where careers go to die.”

Kevin Welsh: “Instead of improving the experience of the stadium, how about get an owner who cares about hockey! Then fire all of the management of the organization and hire people who aren’t yes men! Last thing: Start a total rebuild from the ground up!!!”

Sean Steinbacher: “It’s a bad team to watch. There is zero excitement anymore. You overcharge people for your tickets and pay way too much to park a car. Way overpriced sodas and beers. I wish the fans would stop spending their hard-earned money on this garbage. I don’t even watch it anymore. Waste of time.”

Robert Kozakiewicz: “How about putting as much effort into getting good players, coaches, as they did into a mascot that can’t make a hills worth of beans into winning a game?”

Mike Clepper: “You want me to blow several hundred dollars for one game on a team that I can’t watch at home because for some reason I’m blacked out this year. I live three hours away. Not going to happen. Why would I spend that kind of money on a horrible team that I can’t watch at home?”

Gerald Dunleavy: “Get a better team for starters. You keep getting rid of coaches and your player’s stink! I am really surprised that fans even go to these games; the product is complete garbage!”

Andre Englehart: “The audience isn’t there for a “Wells Fargo Center Experience.” They are there for good hockey. They have hopes to see a win; they want to see a home win. When the hockey is bad, the experience is bad. Corporation greed won’t understand that. I remember when the Philly owners cared about quality hockey instead of the “corporation experience.” I’d pay $10 or whatever you want for a 25-cent pretzel if I could watch a good team.”

Russ Love: “Get a team that can score, can get the puck out of their own zone, and can win. Flyers are approaching the Rangers’ record of 54 years between Cup wins Flyers are a very unmotivated and untalented team.”

Ken Dischert Jr.: “The only sport I can afford to take my kids is baseball. Lower the prices.”

Bill Bley: “How about putting a decent, hard-working team on the ice that plays for 60 minutes, not 20?”

Jim DiLeo: “Don’t worry about improving the venue; worry about improving the team. Fans pay good money to watch a team lose.”

Alec Bailey: “Win games? Sell the team?”

Joe Sull: “Lower the roof 20 feet so it sounds like the Spectrum, like there’s people there actually engaged on the game.”

Paul Stossel: “Being owned by a giant corporation is definitely part of the problem. Playing solid hockey is the other. Injuries, COVID, blah blah, blah. Everyone is a professional hockey player, put on the big-boy pants and play straight-forward, simple hockey and it will at least be better to watch than two guys trying to do everything.”

Harry Slater: “My experience would be better if the team didn’t lose 10 and 13 straight games. I wouldn’t care if they were playing in a parking lot if they were winning. When will the out of touch corporate ownership realize this about the fans?”

William Nunlist III: “Bring back the Broad Street Bullies…Stick-checking is boring to watch! No passion…no leadership…no blood… no guts, no glory.”

Rand Kehler: “Put a competitive product on the ice for each game! Start holding the players accountable both on and off the ice! Stop the placating, get angry, and show it when a player is not giving 110%. Ed Snider never held back on that; you and everyone else knew when you were in the dog house!”

Christopher Grady: “Better drafting, better farm system, better scouting, better NHL product. Nobody would care (about the Wells Fargo Center experience) if they won championships. I’ve been a fan since I was 5, (almost) 50 years and haven’t seen a championship since. Asking questions about service at the rink tells me these owners have no clue.”