After his team knocked off the Capitals Wednesday night, Dave Hakstol received a special phone call.
It was from the man that started it all — Flyers chairman Ed Snider.
"It was tremendous to have a chance to talk with him," Hakstol said following the team's picture day on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center. "He wants to congratulate us, yet really it's the other way around. Everything that our team is doing right now, I believe goes back to Mr. Snider."
Snider missed the picture while dealing with health issues at his home in Southern California.
"It was tremendous to know that he's watching our games," Hakstol said. "Certainly we want him to know what we're doing is based on playing for him and the organization that he's built."
Wayne Simmonds said Hakstol told him Snider "was all pumped up for the win."
To the Flyers, that meant everything.
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"This is the least we could do for Mr. Snider, he is the Flyers organization," Simmonds said. "He's the one that started all this — if it wasn't for Mr. Snider, we wouldn't be in this position today."
The Flyers missed him on Thursday.
"He's been the face of this franchise since the beginning," Mason said. "For him not being there for this one, it's definitely a sad feeling."
With six games remaining, the Flyers enter Friday two points ahead of the Red Wings for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot. And as the pictures snapped on home ice Thursday, the Flyers still felt their leader.
"Maybe he wasn't there physically in the photo, but he was there with us," Hakstol said. "Believe me, he was there."