WATCH: Flyers open 50th anniversary season at home, raise Ed Snider banner to rafters

Thursday night isn’t just any home opener for the Flyers, as the team is celebrating its 50th anniversary season while also beginning its first campaign without , the iconic figure who brought them to Philly in the first place.

Before the Orange and Black dropped the puck against the Anaheim Ducks, a pregame tribute video commemorating the franchise’s golden anniversary played on the jumbotron, narrated by Philadelphia mayor :

Each fan received a bracelet before the game, which again played a role in lighting up the pregame festivities:

"I guess it's up to us to give them reasons to keep them on their wrists," quipped before the game, alluding to BRACELETGATE 2016.

After the 2016-17 Flyers were introduced, an in memoriam video that honored key past members of the franchise aired on the jumbotron:



Snider of course received “the hammer” in that tribute, and after it ended, members of his family helped raise his banner to its rightful place next to the franchise’s five retired numbers:



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Author: Rich Hofmann


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