If any Flyers fan hears the word "humongous," they instantly think of Ilya Bryzgalov. By think, I of course mean we are thrown into a brief moment of existential crisis at possibly the oddest 99-game stretch in Flyers history.
It started in June 2011, when the Flyers acquired the rights to negotiate with Bryzgalov, sending left wing Matt Clackson, a third-round draft pick in 2012, plus another conditional pick to Phoenix. If you're thinking, wait, where, it's where the Mammoth used to say they were from.
Negotiations were intense, and the Flyers made a flurry of other moves, including trading homegrown stalwarts Mike Richards and Jeff Carter away, bringing in players like Wayne Simmons, Brayden Schenn, and Jakub Voracek, who would become familiar faces for the next decade or so.