VOORHEES, N.J. -- On Dave Scott's white collared shirt beamed a shiny orange 50th-anniversary logo.
As it glowed, so did Scott, the president and CEO of Comcast Spectacor, about the vision and direction of his business investment: the Philadelphia Flyers.
With the organization's absence from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the first season without late iconic founder Ed Snider, Scott took to Flyers Skate Zone on Thursday to discuss his position.
And he radiated with positivity about those steering the ship he now oversees.
Scott expressed full belief in team president Paul Holmgren and general manager Ron Hextall. He was succinct in his message: Holmgren and Hextall have his trust.
"This is really my fourth season with the club," Scott said. "Ed was pretty ill the last couple years. I've stayed pretty close to it and I've got all the confidence in the world with Paul as president and Ron as general manager. I think we all have a job to do here. My job is, really, to make sure we have the resources and we're investing in the team for the long term and go for the Cup. The Flyers are going to go for it every year. That's our heritage."
Despite the on-ice struggles and growing pains within the standings, Scott said the Flyers still accomplished "a terrific year from the business perspective."
"It was probably one of the best years we've ever had," Scott said. "Ron's our guy. We believe in the system, we like the vision, we like the strategy, the pipeline. These young players coming up, there's a lot of excitement. From the business side, it's been terrific."
Scott said there are no plans to sell the franchise and that Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts is in support.
"We're going to invest for the long term," Scott said.
"This is our home market. Comcast has been here for a long time. Ed Snider was here for a long time. … It's a great success story. Brian Roberts grew up here in Philadelphia. He's a big fan. I talked to him this morning. He called me before I came over. We're all in this. We love the Flyers. It's working for us.
"I'm here because of the Flyers. This really gets me going. I love the team and I'm having a lot of fun. I look forward to going to the games, learning a lot. I don't think we've missed a lot there. Ed went to a lot of games. I probably go to 75, 80 percent of the home games."
Scott, not with 50 years of hockey experience like Snider, mentioned that he's learned from "great teachers." He said he's been in Philadelphia for 12 years, had watched games with Snider, Holmgren and now Hextall. He also spent six years in Detroit, building a relationship with the Red Wings and late owner Mike Ilitch.
"My job is to make sure that everybody has the resources and I think Ed really felt that way, too," Scott said. "We celebrated 50 years this year. It was really special, but he built this winning culture and we want to continue to have that."
Last month, Hextall shared his enjoyment in working with Scott.
"I can tell you that he is very into it," Hextall said then. "He watches all the games, sends texts after the game. He's latched onto it. He's engaged. We meet on an every-other-week basis and talk about the team. He's been great."
Scott didn't sugarcoat this season's regression.
"It was a tough season," he said. "You've heard from everybody. I think the word disappointed has been overused a little bit, but certainly, none of us are happy where we are right now."
Hextall knows it and agreed with ownership.
"Absolutely, they're disappointed. We're all disappointed," he said. "We made the playoffs last year and it was a step in the right direction, and we took a step back this year. Are we disappointed? Damn right we are. And are we happy? No, we're not.
"Now, in saying that, we're staying on path. We're not deviating from what we've been saying 2 1/2 years ago. We're building … we're building slowly."
And Scott is on board.
"We're going for it," he said. "We're building towards it. I think we had some bright spots this season. We want to build on those bright spots. There's a lot of optimism and that's what we're going for."
