We all thought Peter Luukko would replace Ed Snider someday as the man in charge of the Philadelphia Flyers and the vast empire that’s been built around them. The Wells Fargo Center, Xfinity Live, Comcast SportsNet. All of it would someday belong to Peter Luukko, who’s worked alongside Snider since the mid 1980s.
Nope.
Luukko resigned today from his role as president and chief operating officer of Comcast-Spectacor, the company announced, a role which also gave him the title as president of the Flyers. He was highly visible around the Flyers and the public story is that he was essentially Paul Holmgren’s day-to-day boss, although that depends on how much you think Snider meddles in the day-to-day operations of the team. In any event, Luukko had a huge role with the team, and his resignation is huge news.
Dave Scott, a former EVP at Comcast’s cable division, will serve as acting president, which holds title as president of Flyers.
— Frank Seravalli (@DNFlyers) December 2, 2013
Scott will serve as acting pres of Comcast-Spectacor, NOT the Flyers, Snider said.
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) December 2, 2013
Snider on Luukko stunner: “I’ve had better days. This came out of the blue.” #Flyers
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) December 2, 2013
There’s really no sense of quite what this means for the Flyers just yet. It comes off as a sudden move, especially considering the Flyers will be hosting both the NCAA Frozen Four and the NHL Draft in the first half of 2014. Penn State has hosted Vermont in a college hockey game at the WFC the last two years as well, something that seemed pretty obviously tied to the fact that Luukko’s son, a Flyers draftee, plays at the University of Vermont.
More importantly, Snider’s next move is to hire somebody to take over as No. 2. The Inquirer reports that Shawn Tilger, the Flyers current SVP of business operations, could be a candidate for the job. Tilger has been with the organization for 11 years and would be a logical fit if Snider were to promote from within, something we know he loves to do.
