The Flyers' annual Military Appreciation Game presented by Toyota will take place on Veterans Day before the team takes on the San Jose Sharks at Wells Fargo Center. As with previous years, there are a host of events planned around the special night before and during the game, as well as behind the scenes. Both the Flyers organization itself and the Flyers Alumni Association have made supporting military service and veterans causes prime year-round focuses.
Recently, at the Flyers' Nov. 1 practice at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhes, the team and Toyota partnered for the third straight year with the United Service Organizations (USO) to host nearly 30 active-duty service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and U.S. Marine Corps. After practice, the Flyers players held a special on-ice skate with the service members. Each participant received a military-themed Flyers jersey featuring words of valor on the nameplate. After the skate, the group was treated to a tour of the Flyers' locker room and received tickets to the Military Appreciation Game.
Flyers captain Sean Couturier said the annual USO visit and skate with the players is something that he and his teammates look forward to in their own right.
"They do so much for our country and for freedom," said Couturier, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, "To get to meet them, and get to know a few Flyers fans among them, it's pretty special. They all come from different backgrounds, some of them are from military families. There was another guy who said he played in a semi-professional hockey league. It's cool to see all these people from different backgrounds come together."
Interacting with Flyers players and staff is also an integral part of the yearly Military Appreciation Night event itself.
“We hope that honoring them and hosting them for these special experiences including our upcoming Military Appreciation Game demonstrates our team and organization’s gratitude for the sacrifices they have made for our country," said Flyers defenseman Erik Johnson, a Minnesota native who has represented Team USA with pride in various international hockey tournaments.
During pregame warmups on Monday, service members from the Task Force Paxton 2-112 Infantry will watch from the bench. The men and women from the task force have returned home from an 11-month deployment to the Horn of Africa region.
The Flyers and Toyota teamed up to provide game tickets to each of the following local military organizations through the club’s Community Ticket Grant program: USO, Team Foster, Veterans Multi-Service Center, The Mission Continues, Team RWB, the Wounded Warrior Project, the VA Hospital of Philadelphia, American Warrior Outdoors, Gold Star Games and the members of the Flyers Warriors hockey program.
Before the game gets underway, the Flyers will host a special ceremonial puck drop featuring Veteran Combat Engineer and Flyers Warrior Sergeant Josh Chilcote, accompanied by his service dog, Turbo. They will be joined by SEAC John Wayne Troxell, U.S. Army (Ret.), the 3rd Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Hiring Our Heroes and Toyota Ambassador, and Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, U.S. Army (Ret.), Medal of Honor recipient and Hiring Our Heroes Toyota Ambassador.
Although the Military Appreciation Game itself is a once-per-year event, the interactions between the Flyers family and active duty/veterans service related organizations have taken place for years on a regular basis.
For example, in previous years, the Flyers and Flyers Alumni have hosted a hockey clinic for the United Heroes League and the Alumni donated to the United Heroes League as part of the annual "12 Days of Christmas" giving program during the holiday season. Last year, one of the 12 Days was devoted to supporting Team Foster.
Back in 2019, the Flyers became one of the first NHL organizations to formally adopt a disabled veterans hockey program, the Flyers Warriors as an official affiliate. The program has grown exponentially over its existence.
In the last five years, the Flyers Warriors teams have won various national championships at different tiers of the annual USA Hockey Warrior Classic. More importantly, the program has helped change lives by providing social and community service outlets to veterans as well as access to playing ice hockey. There are direct support services to veterans and family members in need.
The Flyers Warriors have an internal management structure, but they work side-by-side with the Flyers Alumni, the Flyers' youth and amateur hockey programs, Flyers Charities and Community on a year-round basis; so much so, in fact that Flyers Alumni President/ Flyers VP of Community Brad Marsh and Rob Baer, the Flyers Senior Director of Community Relations and Hockey Development, also serve as the Flyers Warriors head and assistant coaches.
