“When you’re in a situation where you don’t have a whole bunch of respect in this league, you’ve got to eat that s—,” Flyers head coach John Tortorella said.
The Flyers' ownership, Comcast Spectacor, named Daniel Hilferty its new CEO on Tuesday.
He'll team up with Dave Scott, the chairman of Spectacor and governor of the Flyers, and Valerie Camillo, the president and CEO of Spectacor sports and entertainment. Scott had previously also had CEO in his title.
"Dan is one of the most dynamic and well-respected business leaders in Philadelphia, across the region, and in many industries," Scott said in a statement released by the Flyers. "Comcast Spectacor has grown to become a premier sports and entertainment company, and Dan is ideally suited to take it to further heights. He is an outstanding Philadelphia-bred executive with deep experience leading multifaceted organizations. I'm thrilled he has joined us, and he will be a great complement to Valerie and her leadership."
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Hilferty, a 1978 graduate of Saint Joseph's, has held leadership roles with Independence Blue Cross, AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies and Mercy Health Corporation. Last summer, Philadelphia was named a host city for the 2026 World FIFA World Cup, a bid that was led by Hilferty.
"It’s an honor to have this opportunity to be a part of Comcast Spectacor," Hilferty said in a statement released by the Flyers. "As a longtime Philadelphian who has admired the company for decades and is a tenacious Flyers fan, I'm excited about Comcast Spectacor and its future. I look forward to working with Dave and Valerie and the many other talented leaders of this storied organization."
Chuck Fletcher is in his fourth full season running the Flyers' hockey operations as general manager. In Year 1 under Fletcher, the Flyers won their first playoff series since 2012 and fell a win short of the Eastern Conference Final. But the following two seasons, the Flyers missed the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94.
In January 2022, when Scott last spoke to the media in a press conference setting, he expressed faith in Fletcher and the Flyers' management group.
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"He deserves a shot to really right this thing," Scott said. "I'm going to give him a blank check, we’re going to get this right. Whatever we need to do. I don’t want to wait, I want to deal with it now."
The Flyers are in a major transitional season under first-year head coach John Tortorella, who has been honest about the organization's timeline toward relevancy.
"This team needs to be built and it needs to be built from the footers," Tortorella said Dec. 1. "We're not even in the foundation. We're in the footer position as far as I'm concerned, just to try to build this foundation the proper way."
Fletcher was confident the Flyers would be more competitive in this building type of season. After going 25-46-11 last season, the Flyers are 22-23-10 through 55 games this season, despite not having Sean Couturier or Cam Atkinson.
The March 3 trade deadline and summer will be critical periods for Fletcher and company.
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