page_title: Philadelphia Flyers
section_title: Multiple makeovers (2007–2017)
hierarchical_section_title: Philadelphia Flyers / History / Multiple makeovers (2007–2017)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Philadelphia Flyers celebrate Claude Giroux's overtime goal in Game 3 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals.
context_page_description: The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. They compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. Part of the 1967 NHL Expansion, the Flyers were the first expansion team in the post–Original Six era to win the Stanley Cup, victorious in 1973–74 and again in 1974–75.
  The Flyers' all-time points percentage of 57.5% is the third-best in the NHL, behind only the Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens. Additionally, the Flyers have the most appearances in the conference finals of all 24 expansion teams, and they are second behind the St. Louis Blues for the most playoff appearances out of all expansion teams.
  The Flyers have played their home games on Broad Street since their inception, first at the Spectrum from 1967 until 1996, and then at the Wells Fargo Center since 1996.
  The Flyers have had rivalries with several teams over the years. Historically, their biggest adversaries have been the New York Rangers, with an intense rivalry stretching back to the 1970s.
context_section_description: The Flyers began the 2007–08 season with the intention of putting the disaster of the previous season behind them. In June, the Flyers made a trade that sent the first-round draft pick they had acquired in the Forsberg trade (23rd overall) back to Nashville in exchange for the rights to negotiate with impending unrestricted free agents Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. Both were subsequently signed to six-year contracts. After much speculation about whether the Flyers would keep or trade the second overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the Flyers opted to keep it, using it to select New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk.
  The Flyers wasted no time in addressing their free agent needs. On July 1, the Flyers signed Buffalo co-captain Daniel Briere to an eight-year, $52 million contract. Continuing to revamp their defensive core, Joni Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson were traded to Edmonton in exchange for Oilers captain Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul. Smith was later named Flyers captain on October 1.
  The season began in the image of the Broad Street Bullies era, with multiple-game suspensions handed out to five separate players, the most serious being 25-game suspensions to both Steve Downie and Jesse Boulerice for two separate incidents. A 7–3 start in October and a 9–3–1 January run had the Flyers near the top of both the Division and Conference standings. However, a disastrous ten-game losing streak in February, reminiscent of such a streak the previous season, nearly derailed the Flyers' year. An 8–3–4 run in March, coupled with two huge wins over New Jersey and Pittsburgh over the final weekend of the regular season, put the Flyers back in the 2008 playoffs as the sixth seed, setting up a first-round matchup with Washington. After taking a three games to one lead over the Capitals, Washington then won Games 5 and 6 to force a deciding Game 7 in Washington. After an evenly fought game, the Flyers ultimately won the series in overtime via a Joffrey Lupul powerplay goal. The Flyers then drew a matchup with heavily favored Montreal in the second round. Despite being outshot a majority of the series, the Flyers upset the Canadiens in five games, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2003–04 to face Pittsburgh. Before the start of the series, the Flyers suffered a fatal blow when it was learned that Kimmo Timonen was out with a blood clot in his ankle. Coupled with a gruesome facial injury to Braydon Coburn in Game 2, Pittsburgh ran roughshod over the Flyers' depleted defense and jumped out to a 3–0 series lead. The Flyers won Game 4 at home to stave off elimination, and although Timonen returned for Game 5, Pittsburgh finished off the Flyers in five games.
  
  The Flyers began the 2008–09 season by naming Mike Richards the 17th captain in team history on September 17, with Jason Smith having departed to Ottawa as a free agent. The Flyers were looking to build on the success of the previous season, but instead got off to an 0–3–3 start. However, despite a solid December and January and finishing with four points more than the year before, for the most part the 2008–09 Flyers played inconsistently and looked like different teams, playing at the top of their ability one night and a sub-par performance the next. Derian Hatcher missed the entire regular season and playoffs with a knee injury, and Steve Downie was traded to Tampa Bay with Steve Eminger, whom they had previously acquired in a trade with Washington prior to the season for defenseman Matt Carle. Two pleasant surprises were the emergence of rookie center Claude Giroux and defenseman Luca Sbisa, who was drafted by the Flyers in June with the 19th overall pick acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for R. J. Umberger, a victim of team salary cap constraints. Scottie Upshall also found himself the victim of such a crunch; he was traded to Phoenix in exchange for Daniel Carcillo at the NHL trade deadline.
  Despite holding on to the fourth seed in the East for much of the season, thanks to a 4–5–1 finish to the season, highlighted by 
caption: The Flyers celebrate Claude Giroux's overtime goal in game three of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals.
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