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Philadelphia Flyers President Keith Jones Sparks Meltdown With Comment About Lying To Fans

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Philadelphia Flyers fans have been through a lot in recent years.

Their No. 2 overall pick in the NHL Draft was out of the league within five years due to concussions. Their rising star winger was diagnosed with cancer and was never the same player afterward, and their young, emerging goaltender was charged with sexual assault by Canadian police in connection with a 2018 incident.

So you could understand if they’re a little on edge. But Flyers fans went completely over the edge on Thursday, and they did so for the most ridiculous reason imaginable.

Philadelphia Flyers President Keith Jones Sends Fans Into Meltdown Mode

The Flyers were, and still are, in stark need of a complete rebuild.

They’ve been mired in mediocrity for over a decade and badly lack the type of top-end talent needed to compete for a Stanley Cup.

The organization signaled a start to that rebuild when it completely revamped the front office, including a change to the CEO of the company that owns the team, Comcast Spectacor.

New CEO Dan Hilfterty hired former player Daniel Briere as the team’s general manager and fellow former player Keith Jones as president of hockey operations.

Jones and Briere showed they were serious about a rebuild when they traded former All-Star defenseman Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

They then drafted Russian star Matvei Michkov with No. 7 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Michkov was considered one of the draft’s top talents but fell due to concerns he may never make it to the NHL thanks the ongoing conflict between the US and Russia.

Philadelphia was, again, expected to be one of the NHL’s worst teams in 2023-24. But that hasn’t been the case. Instead, the Flyers currently occupy a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 75 percent of the regular season complete.

Despite that, and with the trade deadline fast approaching, Jones, Briere and head coach John Tortorella have remained adamant that the team is focused on a long-term rebuild.

Flyers President Says He’s Lying To Fans About Rebuild

But on Thursday, Jones went on local radio station 94WIP and proclaimed otherwise.

Jones told the morning show that he told fans that the organization was rebuilding, but that he and Briere told individual players that that’s “BS.”

Now, this is where it’s important to note that Jones A) used to work in TV and radio and B) is considered a jokester among league circles.

Anybody with an ounce of critical thinking would know that Jones was just trolling the audience.

Alas, Flyers fans did not do that much thinking. Instead, they immediately went into meltdown mode.

This is just a guess, but I imagine the media-savvy president of the organization is not going to go on live radio and say out loud that he is lying to fans.

But hey, what do I know?!