For the past 40 seasons, few NHL franchises have rivaled the consistent regular season success enjoyed by the Philadelphia Flyers. They have missed the postseason only eight times (including five consecutive misses between 1989-90 and 1993-94, the franchise’s one truly dry spell), but have otherwise demonstrated a blueprint for prosperity. Yet, after winning the Stanley Cup in their seventh and eighth seasons of existence (in 1974 and 1975), the Flyers haven’t managed to do so again. It leads one to wonder whether perhaps the long history of on-ice bloodshed they wrought — and the reputation that has preceded them ever since — might be the culprit.

During the mid-1970s, captain Bobby Clarke and the Flyers took the “Big Bad” Boston Bruins’ example to a whole new level, employing a viciously physical style that earned them the nickname “Broad Street Bullies.” And though subsequent editions didn’t always resemble the vintage team of the mid-1970s, the moniker stuck, perhaps as much because of the tough Philadelphia neighborhood it embodied as for anything that took place on the ice.

There were fleeting moments when the nickname did seem appropriate, when the Flyers came close to living up to the standard set by Clarke and company in the 1970s. Eric Lindros led the Flyers out of their dry spell in the mid-1990s, winning the Hart Trophy in 1995 and carrying the team all the way to the Cup Finals in 1997, and Keith Primeau demonstrated tremendous heart in leading the injury-ravaged Flyers to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004. But by and large, the team often seemed lacking in moxie without the presence of an aggressive, vocal captain leading the charge.

This season, things took a turn for the better in that regard, as veteran defenseman Jason Smith has done a very capable job in the captaincy. Meanwhile, young forward Mike Richards has emerged as the Flyers’ most important player, and the most likely candidate to succeed Smith. Compared often to Clarke, Richards has enjoyed a breakout season, tallying 75 points in 73 games while taking comfortably to his new role as assistant captain. And in 14 playoff games, he’s tallied 14 points (including seven goals), proving that he’s quite capable of delivering when the stakes are at their highest.

It’s far too early to say that Richards will be the long-awaited successor to Clarke and lead the Flyers to a Cup victory, but team management saw enough from the energetic young forward to ink him to a 12-year, $69 million contract extension earlier this season that ensures he’ll be a fixture in the City of Brotherly Love for the foreseeable future.

Though Richards has the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals (currently down 2-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins), the team’s Cup hopes have been damaged considerably by yet another bout of the injury bug. First, power-play quarterback Kimmo Timonen was knocked out of the lineup (blood clot in his foot).

Then in Sunday night’s Game 2, emerging star Braydon Coburn was struck in the face with a puck (shot by the Pens’ Sergei Gonchar and deflected by Evgeni Malkin). The circular cut around his left eye required more than 50 stitches to close, and though Coburn is not believed to have suffered a concussion, he is still listed as doubtful for tonight’s Game 3, unequivocally a must-win situation for the Flyers.

It’s more than a little ironic that the team known best for bullying has been so consistently victimized by injuries. Some of that is due to their consistently physical style of play, much of the initiated contact affecting the aggressors as well as the victims. Of course, playing the “Bullies” brings out the best and worst in their opponents, Lindros being the most notable example of a Flyer playing with a proverbial bull’s-eye tattooed on his forehead.

However, there’s probably also a bit of karma at play, with the Flyers’ reckless style yielding some inevitably undesirable returns. Five times during the regular season, Flyers were suspended for vicious on-ice attacks, including a 25-game suspension to Jesse Boulerice and a 20-game suspension to Steve Downie. If there is a balance of fairness in the NHL, it appears that the Flyers get their karmic paybacks in the form of ill-timed injuries.

It’s been 25 years since Julius Erving and the 76ers won the NBA championship, the last time that city celebrated a championship in any of the major sports. Philadelphians embraced the “Broad Street Bullies,” booed Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, and necessitated the addition of a jail to incarcerate rowdy fans (at the now-demolished Veterans Stadium). They jeered as former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin lay on the field for 20 minutes suffering from the neck injury that ended his NFL career. They hurled D batteries at St. Louis Cardinals outfielder J.D. Drew. And they assaulted Santa Claus with snowballs at the halftime of an Eagles game.

So perhaps this championship drought, likely to extend for another year given the Flyers’ injury-ravaged defense, is just another example of karma coming back to bite them in the derriere. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it wouldn’t be undeserved.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.