Arena: Wells Fargo Center (1996; remodeled 2020-2023)

Location: South Philadelphia Sports Complex

Game Attended: March 7, 2025 vs New Jersey Devils

Game Result: Devils 3, Flyers 1

Seat Location: Downstairs Shoot 1x Corner

Overall Impression: A New, but Rebuilding, Era of Orange

The Jetro lot is truly a magical place on this Earth. Like many of its counterparts in South Philly, it’s just a simple parking lot nestled between industrial warehouses in the shadows of the stadiums. Jetro is a popular spot for tailgating before games, with plenty of lively fans and even more lively beverages. 

I’d been here before, of course. I remember tailgating before many a Phillies game during the summer months, and once or twice before a Flyers game with Dad. But something about this visit to Jetro was special. 

Craig and I arrived early, a few hours before the puck dropped. We fired up his Blackstone grill, unpacked the food, cracked open a “cold one”, as my Pop Pop would call it. And between flipping sausages and stirring up the peppers and onions on the grill, I found myself thinking a lot. Thinking about being back here in South Philly. Being back to see my beloved Flyers at long last. 

You see, seven years ago to the day, I left Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia for the last time. My “Tour de NHL” hadn’t even been born yet. At the time, I was home in Philadelphia, but I still longed for “home” in North Carolina. A few month later, my wish came true and I moved to Charlotte to be closer to my family. The Tour began that October, and I began the hockey journey of a lifetime. 

In all that time, I never made it back to Philly to see my beloved Flyers play. Back to the place where I spent three seasons as a weekend season ticket holder. Back to the place where I spent a summer interning in Comcast Specator’s sports marketing division. Back to a place I called home. 

Don’t get me wrong: I saw more than my fair share of hockey games in the seven years between my Wells Fargo Center visits. I ventured to 24 new cities and traveled over 34,000 miles to see hockey games. I found, signed up for, and made three summer trips to play in the 11 Day Power Play. I wrote and published my first book, Putting Cancer on Ice, raised over $18,000 for cancer research, and made a lifetime of memories along the way. 

But for seven long years I thought about going back to Wells Fargo Center to see the Flyers play. I was now “home”, but still longing for “home”. 

March 7, 2025 cured all that.

At the time of my initial analysis of Wells Fargo Center back in 2018, I noted that it wasn’t the best arena in the world, but it’s OUR arena. It didn’t have the most luxurious seats or fanciest scoreboards or light shows or anything like that, but it had OUR traditions. OUR national anthems with Lauren Hill. OUR dance contests with “Dancing” Shawny Hill. I realzed throughout my journey that there were many better buildings, but this was OURS.

Now, seven years later, Wells Fargo Center still isn’t the best venue in the hockey world, but it’s much improved. Comcast Spectacor, who owns the arena, announced a multi-year, $400 million renovation of the building in 2019. The money appears to have been well spent: the building now appears much more modern and luxurious than its 90s-esque counterpart I was used to. 

They jazzed up the entrances to the building with new high-tech security scanners and new overhangs with built-in heaters. Boy, could I have used those heaters during my many winters attending Flyers games after college. 

Inside, older banner advertisements were replaced with vibrant LED boards, and windows to the outside world were expanded. Both gave the atrium of the building a much brighter and friendlier vibe, which I appreciated. 

The downstairs concourse of the building was fairly unchanged, though I did note darker tones of paint throughout. The Flyers old hat trick display was still in its old spot, albeit with a fresh new display and video screens to replay those games. 

But Comcast also added a nice local touch to the building. On the outer wall of the concourse, the team listed out dozens of local neighborhoods and towns throughout the Delaware Valley, along with some black-and-white images of each. I was thrilled to discover that our small hometown of Yardley even made it up on the wall!

The arena’s interior had many of the same upgrades as the concourses did. New seating was installed throughout the building, and a large curved LED scoreboard was installed over center ice. Both helped improve the arena’s “tired” image, and made it seem like a modern place to see a game. And of course, the Flyers added a new, hilarious mascot to the fold; how could anybody forget Gritty?

But the game itself lacked any sort of panache or exhilaration. Both teams struggled to maintain any semblance of sustained offense. The Devils scored a goal in each of the game’s first two periods, both coming off blocked shots that trickled out to an opportunistic forward’s stick. The Flyers struggled to get any strong scoring chances until late in the 3rd period, when defenseman Jamie Drysdale scored during a Devils line change. 

More than that, the typically passionate Philadelphia crowd lacked a lot of energy. “Let’s Go Flyers” chants never really caught hold throughout the building. There were no fights or Peco Power Plays to get the crowd going. Much like the Flyers’ rather pedantic play on the ice, the crowd just wasn’t that into the game. Even Gritty’s spirited drumming couldn’t light enough of a spark in the Flyers crowd to get the building rocking.

I get it: the Flyers are in the midst of a long rebuild. In fact, only three players on the team from my last game in Philadelphia were still on the ice in 2025 (captain Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim). Two days earlier at the trade deadline, the Flyers were bonafide sellers, trading away three valuable players for future draft picks. The team really hasn’t been good since 2020, and hasn’t consistently found success since the early 2010s. 

The organization has dubbed this period in Flyers history, “A New Era of Orange”. New leadership in the front office, and a new crop of young players on the ice. It will likely be a long slog of an era, and I don’t see my beloved Orange and Black contending for a championship in the next five years. But I believe in the front office, and I believe in the coaching staff. Perhaps in another seven years, I can return to Wells Fargo Center and feel those goosebumps again. See the Flyers buzz around on the ice, scoring goals and throwing hits and igniting passion in all 19,500 fans in attendance. But for now, I will wait out the rebuild. 

The final game of the Tour in Toronto in April 2023 was one of the happiest and finest days of my life. Super Bowl Sunday in 2018 with Craig and Pop Pop and Aunt Kathy was too, as was Super Bowl Sunday this past February with Dominic. My annual summer golf trips with Doug and Aubrey are always exceptional. Sunday, March 7, 2025 ranks right up there on my list of happiest days. 

It was just like your first time back home after an extended absence. The sausage and pepper sandwiches on the Blackstone grill in the Jetro lot rivaled Mom’s home cooking. Hanging out with my best friend reminded me of those childhood days on Friar Drive in Yardley. Going to the game was just as thrilling to me as an adult as it was when I was growing up. 

And I did it all with my best friend who introduced me to this wonderful sport in the first place. Craig and I first took to the rink in Northampton Township in the early 2000s, and we’ve been fans of this game ever since. Craig joined me on six different episodes of the Tour de NHL, traveling over 5,000 miles to help me accomplish my dream. Everywhere from New Jersey to Long Island, to Seattle and Vancouver. He’s been in my corner since day one, and I’m thrilled and grateful he was there to help welcome me back to South Philly at long last. Even if he did root for the wrong team…

As Ice Cube said, “today was a great day”. 

Because at long last, I was home. 

Building: 4.5 / 5 (up from 3 / 5)

Atmosphere: 3.5 / 5 (down from 5 / 5)

Neighborhood: 2 / 5 (unchanged)

Overall: 19th / 32 (up 1 spot)