15 seasons have come and gone, a myriad of players and coaches have settled in Philadelphia in that time, even a few different captains have donned the “C”, but one player has remained, one player has been through it all, and his time as a Philadelphia Flyer, at least for now, is possibly coming to an end. With the trade deadline only four days away and Claude Giroux’s 1000th game on the precipice, it could be the final time we see him don the Orange and Black.
By pure happenstance, Giroux’s 1000th game as a Flyer comes not just a few days before the trade deadline, but it is also a home game as they face-off against the Nashville Predators. The Flyers have announced the pre-game festivities and they have also adorned a page on their website specifically for this occasion. Not many players have reached the pinnacle 1000th game, let alone with the same franchise from start to finish.
Before the game players will wear custom T-shirts marking his 1000th game. These T-shirts will also be available for fans to purchase shortly after. During the warmups, all players will be wearing jerseys with his number 28 and the Giroux nameplate, while the game jerseys themselves will feature a custom patch to honour Giroux’s 1000th.
Bobby Clarke will be on the ice to participate in the ceremony, momentous not only because of the lore he holds in Flyerdom but because he is the only other player in franchise history to reach the mark of 1,000 games. Giroux will also be joined by his wife, Ryanne, and his sons, Gavin and Palmer; all of whom will receive special gifts from the Flyers. Finally Giroux will be presented with a custom piece of artwork commemorating the significant moments in his career.
For the fans in attendance, they will receive a limited edition print based on the custom artwork that Giroux will be receiving himself. Fans can also purchase commemorative tickets with all proceeds benefiting Flyers Charities. To knock it out of the park, Giroux’s favourite snack of grilled cheese will be available on every level of the arena.
As for Giroux, his numbers speak for themselves. He has become a very divisive figure in Philadelphia sports because of his perceived lack of leadership and the fact that the Flyers haven’t been successful under his tenure as captain. The argument and debate has been ongoing for years and it seems like people refuse to have their minds changed; no matter the side they’re on. He has endured some of the worst years in Flyers history with some of the worst teams in Flyers history. The carousel of goaltenders, defensemen, coaches, and general managers hasn’t made anything easy, but for the time being instead of finding flaws in his game, maybe just take a day or two to commemorate the captain for his 15 years of service to the club.
Giroux scored his 291st goal and 900th point in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens. That goal put him in sole possession of 8th place in franchise history, eclipsing Eric Lindros. He is currently 2nd in games played behind only Bobby Clarke’s 1,144 games, and he is second in assists with 609, well ahead of Brian Propp’s 480 which has him in 3rd place. Giroux’s 900 points also has him in 2nd only to Clarke’s seemingly unbreakable 1,210.
Giroux is also 8th in power play goals (84), 7th in game winning goals (46), 1st in overtime goals (11), 1st in power play assists (255), 2nd in game winning assists (84), 1st in power play points (339), and finishes off with the 7th best face-off percentage of anyone in franchise history (55.76%). To boot, he is also the longest tenured captain in Flyers history. He has been through it all from his humble beginnings in the 2006 NHL Draft when Clarke seemingly forgot his name to scoring the game-winning goal in overtime in game 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, to the raucous opening shift hit-then-goal against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in 2012.
The Flyers have only won one playoff series since and that came in the COVID bubble against the Montreal Canadiens. They’ve alternated between making and missing the playoffs ever since with this year being the first time since 1992-93 that the Flyers will miss the playoffs in consecutive years. A lot of blame gets thrown towards him, some of it warranted, however looking back at some of the teams that have been iced in the Wells Fargo Center and beyond; it’s not all that shocking to see why they haven’t been successful.
For years the Flyers defense was being patrolled by the likes of Andrew MacDonald, Nick Schultz, Michael Del Zotto, Luke Schenn, Nicklas Grossman, Mark Streit, Braydon Coburn, Brandon Manning, and Radko Gudas among several others. Amongst that list, not many eye-popping names, they all played important roles and minutes, and even though Streit and Coburn were good at the beginning, injuries and age came into the forefront. Kimmo Timonen was the only consistent and actually elite defenseman the Flyers had for nearly a decade, especially after the fall of Chris Pronger.
Most recently, we’ve been waiting on the uplifting development of Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Shayne Gostisbehere, Phil Myers, and even Robert Hagg. Provorov and Sanheim have had their ups and downs, with the last 2 years being a tell-tale sign that management has lost faith as they prepare for drastic changes in the summer. Gostisbehere had a phenomenal start to his career but floundered near the end when he clashed with the coaching staff and the Flyers trying to change him into something he wasn’t. Myers had a great rookie campaign but seemingly landed in Alain Vigneault’s doghouse after some questionable and porous decision making. He ended up getting traded in the summer, as did Hagg, who could never find a permanent spot in the lineup.
The goaltending carousel has been evident since the 90s with not many having great stints in Philadelphia or even lengthy ones at that. Steve Mason carved himself a nice niche in Philadelphia after struggling to replicate his Calder Trophy-winning season in Columbus. Martin Biron had a few good years before he wanted to test out free agency. Goaltenders like Ray Emery, Brian Elliott, Michal Neuvirth, and Ilya Bryzgalov had their chances to stake their claim as the Flyers’ number one, but fell through for a myriad of different reasons. The Flyers gave up on Sergei Bobrovsky rather quickly after a disastrous playoffs led them to sign Bryzgalov to a lucrative deal. They ended up losing both goalies in short order before Mason took over for four years.
The offense was carried by Giroux and Jakub Voracek for a majority of their time together, with the latter currently sitting in 10th place in points in franchise history. The supporting cast was Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn for the most part with Sean Couturier bursting on the scene after his career year in 2017-18. The rest of the lineup had injury problems, consistency issues, and just lacked firepower. The Flyers were a relatively easy team to defend with Giroux and Voracek on one line. Simmonds and Schenn did their damage primarily on the man advantage, which at one point, believe it or not, was tops in the NHL.
Up until 2019-20, Giroux’s supporting cast was subpar and with a disastrous defense behind shaky goaltending, it was no surprise the Flyers struggled. If Ron Hextall could’ve instrumented his full-rebuild – whether he was held back by the ownership group or not remains to be seen – the captain, alongside his trusted companion, should’ve been traded for futures. Hextall wanted to slowly rebuild, while still staying manageable and competitive, which didn’t bode well for the present or the future as we currently sit near the bottom of the standings.
Giroux’s time in Philadelphia should be celebrated, he was one of the most consistent scorers of the past decade, where he finished with 741 points behind only Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, and Alex Ovechkin. The seasons the Flyers made the playoffs under Hextall and Dave Hakstol, Giroux had to carry the team on his back and once the playoffs came around, stopping one line wasn’t a tall task for an actual contending team. He was a great player who played through a rough period, and with the trade deadline rearing its ugly head, it’s time to say goodbye to the Flyers legend.
He could always come back in the summer, but for now we focus on Thursday night’s game against the Nashville Predators, which will mark his 1000th for the Flyers and see what follows suit. The Flyers play the next day in Ottawa, his hometown, and then Sunday against the New York Islanders before the Monday trade deadline. The captain was professional, humble, and strived to do the best that he could for the organization. It’s unfortunate that he couldn’t win a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia, but here’s hoping wherever he does he potentially land, he’s able to hoist Lord Stanley like many before him.
