At Wednesday presser, Dan Hilferty and Keith Jones focused on keeping the newly positive Flyers vibes going

The atmosphere in the media room on Wednesday morning at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, New Jersey was about as loose and light-hearted as it gets.

At least, as light as it could have been during a press conference featuring the two highest-ranking members (at least on paper) in the Philadelphia Flyers organization.

President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones casually called Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dan Hilferty “Hilf.” Hilferty cracked a joke about PHLY Flyers’ “F-around Friday” summer show, inquiring with a smirk what word the “F” stood for in the title. And when asked how often he checks with Jones for updates on top prospect Matvei Michkov and whether he may come to North America earlier than expected, Hilferty’s laughing response of “three times a day” was met with a deadpan “I don’t answer his calls” rejoinder from Jones.

It was, more than anything else, a “fun” press conference.

Some of that is a natural by-product of the personalities of the two men at the top of the Flyers’ organizational food chain. Jonesy in particular is well-known for being a wise-cracking jokester, and Hilferty’s success in business came in no small part due to his extroverted nature and knack for building connections. But there was intent here as well, intent that both Jones and Hilferty spoke to directly on Wednesday, at the end-of-season presser that Hilferty confirmed will become a yearly tradition for the two men, held after “the dust settles” on each campaign.

The “New Era of Orange” isn’t just about winning a few more games every year, Hilferty and Jones made clear. It’s about changing the perception of the Philadelphia Flyers brand. Last year, that brand was in shambles, both nationally and (especially) locally. The Hilferty/Jones duo believe that after a year under the new organizational structure, that’s changed.

And they wanted to make sure that everyone in the Philadelphia area knows it.

“We wanted it to be an environment where people felt good about what we were doing and where we were headed,” Jones said. “And I do think that’s something has occurred over the last year.”

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It’s easy to forget where things stood in Flyers world at the start of June in 2023, when the team was fresh off a season that was, in short, a nightmare.

“We saw a dip in attendance. We saw on social media or wherever you run into people – just not an excitement about the team,” Hilferty acknowledged.

The Flyers weren’t good on the ice, finishing with the seventh-worst record in hockey. They didn’t play a fun style. But despite their obvious badness, they weren’t bad enough to be in position to pick at the very top of a loaded 2023 NHL Draft, because despite their obvious roster limitations, they had made a heavily-criticized decision to avoid bottoming out the way that other rebuilding clubs like Chicago had done, in anticipation of franchise-changing talent.

In fact, the organization as a whole refused to even utter the word “rebuild,” a taboo that was finally, fully lifted in March after the ouster of Chuck Fletcher as general manager and president. That obstinance put the focus solely on the present, which consisted of embarrassing invasions of the Wells Fargo Center by traveling New York Rangers fans, to (ultimately justified) worries about whether starting goalie Carter Hart was involved in an alleged sexual assault, to the full-fledged organizational shake-up that came with Fletcher’s exit and the retirement of former Comcast Spectacor CEO Dave Scott.

Oh, and while this was kept behind closed doors, by the end of May, the newly-restructured hockey operations department had received the bombshell that their top prospect at the time was refusing to play for them.

Things were bad.

“When (Comcast Corporation CEO) Brian Roberts and I agreed that I would take this role (in late 2022), it was, ‘Oh by the way… oh by the way,’ and you can name the things that we’re facing, as they kind of unearthed themselves as the season went on,” Hilferty acknowledged.

So what changed for the Flyers over the next 12 months?

Well, the on-ice team obviously played better. Fan interest was revitalized to a degree in late June 2023 when general manager Daniel Briere nabbed Michkov — one of those potential stars that most thought would require a season-long tank to secure — with the No. 7 pick. Then, when the team proved surprisingly competitive during the entirety of the 2023-24, that burgeoning optimism was allowed to keep growing. It’s much easier for a fan to get angry and stay angry when said fan is watching terrible hockey on a nightly basis; that just wasn’t the case anymore.

But it went beyond on-ice success. The new regime — likely realizing that it would take years for the Flyers to have any real chance of winning a Stanley Cup given the state of their roster — prioritized in the short-term an attempt to change the perception of the club by the outside world.

“We needed to change the discussion around, “Oh, here they go again. It’s a losing environment,'” Hilferty said. “To ‘what are they up to?’ They’re not overpromising, but they’re looking us in the eye and having a conversation about where we’re headed.”

Wednesday was, in large part, about furthering the narrative that they’ve succeeded in that regard.

“I feel that – although there (are) critical folks out there – the truth of the matter is, across the board, people feel better about where we are,” Hilferty added.

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Some of the changes that the Flyers made over the past 12 months are concrete and undeniable.

They are a faster-paced, more attacking team now, which their 50.3 percent controlled entry rate at 5-on-5 (compared to their 42.2 percent rate in 2022-23) proves. It was a stylistic shift that most hockey fans would agree made the team much more enjoyable to watch on a nightly basis.

The home attendance was up, by 4.6 percent per the Sports Business Journal.

And there were internal structural changes meant to increase the feeling of organizational unity — a big change from the previous era when hockey operations and the business side of Comcast Spectacor might as well have been on different planets, despite being a mere 20-minute car ride away geographically.

“What this guy has brought to this is – what Jonesy has done, with my support and help, is really break down walls that weren’t built for malicious reasons, but just happened between hockey and the business side,” Hilferty said. “We’re welcome over here (in Voorhees). And the hockey side is certainly welcome in the business offices (in Philadelphia).”

But just as important of a focus for the “new” regime has been the attempt to rehabilitate the vibes surrounding the franchise — and presenting them as improved was a huge part of Wednesday’s end-of-season presser.

“People stop me on the street now. They say, “Dan, I want to say thank you. You’ve got a long way to go, but I’m back on board,'” Hilferty said.

Now, surely, not EVERY Flyers fan is back on board. But Hilferty and Jones have a vested interest in making it appear that they are. Because perception can then become reality — if fans still on the fence think that the general consensus is that the Flyers are on the way back, they’re more likely to join in as well.

That’s where little, seemingly inconsequential-to-winning actions like Hilferty showing up in person to nearly 60 games (home and away) this season helps. No, he’s never going to be Ed Snider. But the increased effort and level of investment on his part (especially compared to his predecessor) has been noted and appreciated.

As is the dramatically increased level of direct fan interactions. Hilferty regularly mingles with the crowd during games, and plans to do the same at July’s development camp. Jones regularly gives 1-on-1 interviews with local publications and shows. It’s a noticeable change.

The goal here is clearly to try and get back on the good side of the fanbase, one disgruntled Flyers diehard at a time.

“It’s really important for us to get that message out,” Jones confirmed. “It’s important for us to continue to communicate with our fans, it’s important for us to show off our fan base. Players say, ‘Yeah, man, I watched the Phillies in the playoffs last night, that crowd was incredible. I’d like to experience that playing for a hockey team, like the Philadelphia Flyers.’ All of those things are part of our thinking and we’re going to have to execute.”

So all of this outreach and legwork and at times outright pandering isn’t just about ticket sales? It has something to do with team-building, too?

“When we’re in a position to go out and go out and get a premier player through free agency, this is going to be a destination that they want to come to,” Jones assured.

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That’s not to say Hilferty and Jones promised a rapid return to prominence on Wednesday.

Jones made it clear that, due to the team’s tight cap situation (as a result of using that cap space to stockpile assets to further the rebuild), they don’t plan to be aggressive players in free agency. Neither Jones nor Hilferty made any Michkov-is-coming promises or hints, despite having multiple opportunities to do so. Hilferty reiterated his commitment to a patient team-building plan, anticipating the doubt in some corners of the fanbase that Comcast lacks the stomach for a long-term rebuild. Hilferty even straight up said that a playoff berth in 2024-25 isn’t even how they plan to determine whether the season is a success, noting that talented teams like the New Jersey Devils look poised for bounceback seasons that could keep the Flyers out of the top-8 in the Eastern Conference even if their on-ice results remain solid.

“Yes, you want to be respectable. You want to be in a playoff hunt,” Hilferty said. “But I’m not going to worry (that) it’s got to be this coming year that we make the playoffs. I just want to see continued progress.”

And it was the furthering of the narrative of “continued progress” that was the primary focus on Wednesday. In fact, it played as something of a victory lap — a message that might have fallen flat had it come a few days after the Flyers fell short of the playoffs, but should be well-received now that emotions aren’t running quite as high.

“There’s valuable lessons in (the late-season collapse),” Jones said. “Does it diminish what our guys accomplished throughout the year? I don’t think it does. Does having the 12th pick overall help us in this draft? It does. Is it something that we were hoping for as our guys were battling for the playoffs? No, but we have to make good on it now.”

Hilferty and Jones, above all else, painted the picture of a now-healthy Flyers organization. With hockey and business ops working in lockstep. With the hockey triumvirate of Jones, Briere and Tortorella on the same page. And with the organization as a whole now at least back on the “right” track, even if it still has a ways to go to return to past heights.

“Heck, I long for a day – and I’m not knocking the New York Rangers – but I long for a day that people are so excited that not a (single) Ranger fan can get a ticket for a home game at the Wells Fargo Center,” Hilferty said. “We’re not there yet. But we are seeing more enthusiasm when we talk to people.”

So on Wednesday, they did their best to help fuel continued growth of that enthusiasm.

One joke at a time.