Stan Fischler - Joe Kaldec Interview

THE FISCHLER REPORT

INTERVIEW: JOE KADLEC After 40 years of sterling stewardship of Flyers public relations, the inimitable Joe Kadlec is calling it a career. That's the bad news.

The good news is that always friendly and warm, Joe will remain with the organization as a good-will ambassador, which should suit him and the team ideally.

Kadlec was a splendid p.r. man in many ways and was the innovator of media press notes as we know them today.

In an interview with our Adam Schwartz he touched on the following topics:

THE INVENTION OF NHL PRESS NOTES: We came up with press notes before every game. We were the first team to do that. It happened because we were close to the Philadelphia Eagles and they did it that way. We decided that this was a good idea and we subsequently took a page out of their book.

GIVING UP WRITING FOR PR: I was in the sports department of the Philadelphia Daily News. Ben Callaway was the sports editor there. We knew the Flyers were coming to Philly before they starting playing. Ben would assign me to cover the press conferences about the team before they began playing. I wanted to become the beat writer for the Flyers but that was decided by seniority. I didn't get the job. Instead I wound up working for the Flyers.

LARRY ZIEDEL AND REGGIE LEACH: Larry was like a PR man himself. He was in the minors and wrote our general manager Bud Poile a letter that he wanted to get back into the NHL. Reggie Leach set a team record with five goals in a playoff game. Leach was the first trade the Flyers made after we won the cup.

TRAVELING PLANS: I was asked to handle all of the travel arrangements in addition to my PR duties. The coaches used to plan the travel prior to this.

STAYING POSITIVE: I never wanted to be negative and that worked out well. The 1987 Finals went to seven games. I was short 100 Game Seven tickets. I remembered there was a new ring in the press box in the Northlands' Coliseum and there was enough dead space where chairs could go so we put the extra people up there.

NEW MEDIA AND NATIONAL COVERAGE: More people are aware of what's on websites and blogs. The internet is a fantastic tool to get through to fans immediately. There is more national exposure compared to when I first broke into the league.

THE CELEBRATION THAT WASN'T: We bought champagne for Game Five in Boston in 1974 when we could have won the Cup. We lost that game and we didn't know what to do with the champagne. We threw it out and we won the Cup in six games at home.

PROTECTING THE BROAD STREET BULLIES IMAGE: We didn't have to defend the Flyers image at all. When we got closer people saw we were a hard working team.

A FIRST-CLASS PHILLY ORGANIZATION: Ed Snider wanted everything done first-class. He would not be cheap in any area. He always wanted things done the right way no matter how much it cost.