One of the first franchises to play in the Expansion Era, the Philadelphia Flyers were named in an effort to identify the team with speed, as the logo attests. Since the beginning, the team's logo and colors have remained the same and the jerseys have largely maintained a certain status quo about it. The team's real identity was discovered in its Stanley Cup years in the mid-70's, when the team earned the nickname the "Broad Street Bullies," so called for the style of play they employed.
In the Flyers' history, they have had sixteen captains, all of which have given off the identity that the Flyers have been known for, with their own unique abilities. The team's first captain was Lou Angotti, who only served the first year as captain. He was replaced by Ed Van Impe, who would go on to serve as captain until 1973, when Bobby Clarke would take over. The quintessential Flyer, Clarke would go on to wear the C in the Flyers' heyday and would be captain until 1979, when the role of Assistant Coach was added to his title and he had to give up the captaincy. He would also later serve as the team GM in the 1990's and is still working in the Flyers' front office as Senior Vice President. Mel Bridgman would replace Clarke in 1979 and would serve until 1981. A year of Bill Barber would follow before Clarke would wear the C again from 1982 until 1984. 1984 until 1989 was the captaincy of Dave Poulin, which was followed by two years of Ron Sutter and a year of Rick Tocchet before the team went without a captain in the 1992-93 season. The 1993-94 season had Kevin Dineen serve as captain before Eric Lindros would take over following that season. His time as captain would be known as much for his dominance of the game on the ice as it would the bickering with the front office off it. He was stripped of the C in 2000 and in a rather public manner, the C was sewn onto the jersey of Eric Desjardins, who would wear it for a year. Keith Primeau would assume captain duties from 2001 until a concussion ended his career in 2006, and the C was given to Derian Hatcher to finish the 2005-06 season. Peter Forsberg (who was included in the Lindros trade of 1992) and Jason Smith would serve a season each before Mike Richards would be named captain in 2008, signifying the team's commitment to youth.
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