Mr. Snider, Give Us Back Our Hockey Team

Leave. Go away. Give us back our hockey team, Mr. Snider.

The Chairman is free to sit in his plush luxury box and play Flyers games from the 1970s on loop, just don’t try to re-create those teams on the ice below your moth-eaten gaze.

No disrespect, of course. We are thankful for everything Ed Snider has done for the Flyers’ organization. If it wasn’t for a young, forward-thinking businessman back in the 1960s, the city of Philadelphia probably wouldn’t even have a hockey team. Problem is, he is holding on to the past the same way a pre-pubescent teen hangs on to his first crush. At first, it’s cute. After 38 seasons — and no championships — it’s annoying, borderline creepy.

Look, I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Mariah Carey, but times have changed. I’m not afraid to admit I sided with Nicki Minaj on “American Idol.”

As entertaining as Friday night’s fight was, it was Flyers hockey at its absolute worst. Embarrassing is the first word that comes to mind. It’s one thing to drop the gloves and get the crowd going — Scott Hartnell’s epic Hulk Hogan impression is the first thing that dances in my mind — as long as it makes sense. It doesn’t make sense if you are down by seven goals. That’s poor sportsmanship, a mark of a desperate team trapped in a culture of bullying.

When Ron Hextall skated across the pond to attack Chris Chelios in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was in retaliation for a hit on Brian Propp. Hextall sought out one of the best and most skilled fighters in the NHL. He was sending a message.

When Ray Emery recklessly flew down the ice and bashed Capitals goalie Braden Holtby into oblivion, it was out of frustration, not retaliation. Emery provoked a player who didn’t want to fight and had no history of troublemaking in the league.

“He didn’t want to fight and I basically said, ‘Protect yourself,'” Emery said. “He didn’t really have much of a choice.”

Holtby braced for impact. Emery unloaded. What unfolded should have taken place inside Eastern State Penitentiary, not in a NHL rink. Surprisingly, Emery didn’t receive a suspension. Hextall earned a 12-game penalty for his actions in 1989.

It’s not 1989 anymore. And it’s certainly not 1975. While we’ll always keep those Broad Street Bullies high on a pedestal, that’s exactly where they should stay. “Win today and we walk together forever,” is the famous rallying cry from their coach, Fred Shero. The Flyers of the past few seasons seem to have new rallying cry,” Win yesterday and we can watch the highlights forever.”

Snider angrily snarled at reporters on the day he fired then-coach Peter Laviolette. This is Flyers hockey. We make the playoffs every year. We don’t need a stinkin’ new perspective. This is our culture.

In order … This isn’t Flyers hockey. You don’t make the playoffs every year. New perspective is good (ask the owners of that franchise you sold). And, your culture stinks.

It’s time to end the madness and restore a once-proud franchise to past glory. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to erase the ghosts of past glory. That begins with firing Ed Snider, the biggest specter haunting the Flyers.