Flyers Owner Ed Snider Used 1976 Soviet Exhibition to Publicize Jewish Refugees

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Soviet Red Army 4-1 in a 1976 exhibition game at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

The contest marked the end of a series dominated by the visiting Russian teams, which included the Soviet Wings.

Ed Snider, chairman of the company that owned the Flyers, arranged for signs regarding the plight of Soviet Jews to be posted throughout the arena.

These banners remained visible during pregame warmups but were removed before the opening faceoff at the request of the Soviet delegation.

The documentary "Cold War in Philly," released in May, details this event and the political tensions surrounding it.

The film was screened last week at the Betty and Milton Katz JCC in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Lindy Snider, daughter of the late owner, stated that the episode remained fresh in her father's mind until his death in 2016.

She noted that the event gave him a shot of adrenaline and underscored his feelings about global oppression.

Flyers players from that era attended the screening, with five members of the 1976 roster present.

Jimmy Watson, a defenseman on that team, confirmed the players saw the banners during warmups and were aware of the politics involved.

Larry Goodenough, who scored the final goal in the 4-1 victory, recalled seeing the signs but said the team did not fully understand the context at the time.

He described the players as blue-collar guys in a blue-collar town who were not asking many questions about the political displays outside their immediate duties on the ice. Bob Kelly, a forward known as The Hound, said the signage was not part of his job description and that he did not notice the banners up in the stands. Orest Kindrachuk, a center who was Ukrainian, said he shared Snider's antipathy toward the Soviet team during the Cold War era. Snider's actions were driven by his own experiences with antisemitism and his support for refuseniks, Jews in Russia who were prevented from leaving. The Flyers, often called the Broad Street Bullies for their physical style, won the game to protect the league's reputation against the aggressive Russian teams. After Flyers defenseman Ed Van Impe delivered a hard check to Soviet star Valeri Kharlamov, the Red Army team pulled off the ice. Snider warned the Russian players they would not be paid unless they returned to the ice, prompting their return. Director Joe Amodei stated he focused on the game itself and did not explicitly mention the removal of the signs before the game started. Lindy Snider said her father supported the message on the signs and was not bothered by the controversy their removal caused. She believes her father would have been angered by the level of antisemitism following the October 7, 2023 Hamas raids in Israel. She stated that her family is acting as stewards of his legacy by continuing to support similar causes today.