As a Gen-X native of Northeast Philly whose life-long love for the Flyers started in the Broad Street Bullies era but became an all-consuming passion as a teenager in the 1980s, the teams and players of the 1980s are forever the ones closest to my own heart. 

It’s a shame that the Flyers ran into two different dynasties — the New York Islanders of the early 1980s and Edmonton Oilers of the mid-to-late 80s — in their three trips to the Stanley Cup Finals during that decade. But as time has passed, I don’t think I could possibly have been any prouder to cast my rooting loyalty on any club — especially the “Keenan’s Kids” era of 1984-85 to 1986-87 — than I was to be a Flyers fan.

I wasn’t alone. An entire generation of Flyers fans felt the same way. 

In the early 80s, some of the top figures from the Bullies teams were still central parts of the club; Clarke, Barber, Leach, MacLeish, Jimmy Watson, Kelly and Dupont were all important to the “Streak” team that went 35 games without a single loss and made a run to an overtime Game 6 of the Cup Final. But with a few years, a new generation of stars, team leaders and fan favorites emerged. The Flyers became the NHL’s youngest team yet a perennial top contender.  

You know were a Flyers diehard in the 80s if many of these relics of the era trigger memories.

1. If you shopped at a Spectrum Showcase store, you were probably an ’80s Flyers diehard. 

It was during the 1980s that replica NHL hockey jerseys, with names and numbers…