Is that the Flyers … wearing Cooperalls? ‘It's part of us, let's own it'

VOORHEES, N.J. — A picture of Mark Howe rocking Cooperalls was the perfect sales pitch.

When the Flyers' head equipment manager Rick Bronwell mentioned the old-school look to the team's senior vice president of marketing Mark Zarthar, he showed him a shot of the Hockey Hall of Famer.

There was Howe, sporting those long-black, baggy pants, with an orange stripe down the side.

"He goes, 'Oh, man, can we do that?'" Bronwell said.

Zarthar was fully on board. Bronwell loved it.

The Flyers, who wore the Cooperalls for two seasons during the early 1980s, are bringing them back in warmups for eight games this season. The reason for the throwback style is for it to go along with the club's 2022-23 Reverse Retro adidas jersey.

"It's part of us," Bronwell said Monday, "let's own it."

The team will feature the Cooperalls and new sweater for the first time Tuesday when it hosts the Blues (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

Cooperalls have been history for a while now. Players would slide more dangerously in them when they hit the ice.

They also didn't have the neatest look, almost like sweatpants, and weren't ideal for a goalie if the other team was wearing black.

In Philadelphia, though, they're treated like a badge of honor.

Can't forget 'em.

"I'm fascinated with them because as cool as they are, they're stupid," Bronwell said with a laugh. "They make no sense whatsoever, like nobody should wear these.

"You fall down at one end, you're going full speed, you're not stopping. You're running into the boards unless you get up to stop yourself."

To pay homage to the team's history, the organization is excited to see the Cooperalls on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Bronwell said players were pumped about the idea of wearing them when word spread during the summer. He asked Philly Express to make them in all nylon. Bronwell also wanted to make sure they were as convenient as possible for the players. They'll feature a 30-inch zipper that goes up to the knee, making them easy to shed before the game.

"I need something that'll go over the current socks, pants, shin pads situation," Bronwell said of his request to Philly Express. "So the guys will get dressed normal, put their game socks on, put their hockey pants on and just pull them over.

"As long as we're in the room ready to help pull them off after warmups, I don't think it affects the day-to-day operations of anything. They're just getting dressed like normal."

And throwin' it back in pretty cool fashion.

"Philly Express knocked it out of the park," Bronwell said.

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