Liftoff Recap: Hilferty's Vision for a Winning Formula

As the debut episode opens in the Flyers' new offseason YouTube docuseries, Liftoff, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek discuss the ascension of Dan Hilferty to take over for the retiring Dave Scott as chairman & CEO of Comcast Spectacor, and the governor of the Flyers. Other changes will be forthcoming, too, including the anticipated removal of the "interim" tag from Danny Briere's general manager position and the hiring of a president of hockey operations.

"What's that all going to mean?" Friedman rhetorically asks.

Viewers are then introduced to Hilferty himself. He discusses how he came to work for the Flyers after many years as an executive in the health insurance industry and a campaign leader in bringing soccer's iconic World Cup tourney to Philadelphia. Hilferty talks about how he became an avid Flyers fan as a college student, attending with school buddies the 1975 Stanley Cup parade down Broad Street to JFK Stadium (on the site where the Wells Fargo Center now stands).

Hilferty says that, in his mind, the key to turning around a franchise that has seen more on-ice struggle than success since 2014, is to build "collaborative teams" within the organization. He fundamentally believes that cohesion between Hockey Operations and the business side of management must be central to everything the organization does in moving forward.

"Collaborative teams win, whatever the venture is," Hilferty says

For example, Irrespective of wins and losses on the ice, one of the most notable organizational strengths of the Flyers organization -- both historically and currently -- is its dedication to giving back to the Delaware Valley community. It was a tradition started by Ed Snider, subsequently embodied by Flyers Charities, the Flyers Community department and paralleled by the charitable and community service endeavors of the Flyers Alumni Association. Hilferty believes

On the hockey side, Hilferty said the "triumvirate" of general manager Briere, head coach John Tortorella and the president of hockey operations would collectively be in charge of talent assessment, roster building and getting the team to play to an identity (Tortorella prefers the term "standard").

"We as a company have a responsibility to return the team to that [historical] level of competing every single year and getting the region excited," Hilferty says. "Let's take a pause. It's been a difficult couple of years. What we're about now, we're going to take a deliberate approach to building this team the right way. Right now, we're putting those foundational pieces in place."

"We're going to set realistic expectations for next year. We're going to endure some ups and downs next year. But we're going to take the next step toward building a culture of winning. To capturing that brand that we had. but a new version of that brand. ...I think if you look at [the 2022-23 season], there's a lot of promising things. Players are playing hard. Players are buying in. Young players are getting a chance to develop. Who are the players we want for the long haul? That process is already beginning."

Hilferty is a strong believer in Briere's potential as a National Hockey League general manager. Briere, he predicts, will bring to management the same combination of skill, savvy and competitive drive that fueled him to defy the naysayers and achieve a successful playing career. Briere's offensive hockey sense and work ethic made up for whatever he lacked in size.

"He's taken that same attitude and skillset to learning what it takes to be a general manager," Hilferty says.

HIlferty said that. as he envions the the president of hockey operations role. it will have a job description that is "complementary to the head coach and the general manager" and is steeped in three-way mutual trust and whose collective personalities and communication styles "mesh in a way that the three of them create a winning environment and winning culture for many years to come."

Most of the footage captured in Episode 1 of "Liftoff" was filmed before the Flyers hired longtime hockey broadcaster and Flyers Alum player Keith Jones to become the new president of hockey operations.

"Jonesy" makes a cameo at the end of the episode. It's a pretty safe prediction that he'll be the main focus of the next installment of the docuseries.