On This Date in Sports March 1, 1968: Roof Pains
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The Philadelphia Flyers are forced to flee to Canada as a winter storm damages the Philadelphia Spectrum. The Flyers are one of six NHL expansion teams and started the season with a new arena in South Philly. The storm tore apart the rough, rendering the Spectrum unuseable. The 76ers were able to play games at Convention Hall while the arena was repaired, but no arena in the area had an NHL-level ice surface, forcing the first-year Flyers to finish the regular season with home games in Quebec City.
After nearly 40 years of planning, the City of Philadelphia finally had a state-of-the-art indoor arena. Philadelphia had planned to build an arena for the Philadelphia Quakers in 1930, but the project was canceled by the stock market crash and the ensuing great depression. The Quakers would cease operations after one season in Philadelphia, as the NHL was also affected by the great depression and World War II, shrinking to six teams. The NHL decided on expansion for the 1967/68 season with the Philadelphia Flyers one of six expansion teams.
The creation of the Flyers was possible due to the new arena in Philadelphia. The NBA had been a success in Philadephia, with the Warriors winning two titles before moving to San Francisco, while the 76ers took over and won the 1967 NBA Championship. The Spectrum opened just in time for the Sixers banner raising and the Flyers' first season. Construction began on the Spectrum on June 1, 1966. Spectrum's name was an acronym of sorts, South Philly Entertainment Circuses Theatrics and Recreational, with the UM added as an expression towards a lovely building.
The expansion Flyers were among the top teams in the Western Divisions, with the six new teams. The 76ers again were battling the Boston Celtics for supremacy in the East when the early March storm came through, proving that March does indeed come in like Lion. The solution was easy for the Sixers to return to Convention Hall while the roof was repaired. However, with no ice-making ability at the Convention Hall, the Flyers were forced to play home games at Madison Square Garden and Maple Leaf Gardnes before settling in at Le Colisee in Quebec.
Despite some squabbling between government officials, the Spectrum was repaired in time to host Flyers and Sixers playoff games. The Flyers were bounced by the St. Louis Blues in the first round in seven games, while the Sixers lost in the Eastern Finales, blowing a 3-1 series lead.