Claude Giroux
Training camp begins for the Flyers in just three days, starting with physicals and off-ice proceedings on Jan. 3, then the first on-ice workouts on Jan. 4. As the calendar officially turns to 2021, here are five New Year’s Resolutions for the team.
Claude Giroux has been captain of the Flyers for eight seasons, his ninth set to begin on Jan. 13, the day after his 33rd birthday. Giroux’s career has had its peaks and valleys from a production standpoint, but he’s remained durable, very rarely missing action, and is respected as a leader by his teammates. To him, the age he will reach one day before the season opener is nothing but a number.
As 2020 draws to a close, here are some of the topics discussed in the State of the Flyers, a short playing year with a lot of progress made.
Though the circumstances are very different, the NHL has been here before when it comes to shortened seasons, and not too far in the past either. The NHL saw the 2012-13 season shortened to 48 games after a lockout. Sean Couturier remembers that season well, and how a slow start can turn things sour quickly.
For Kevin Hayes, a newcomer to the Flyers last season, this was the reason he had signed in Philadelphia. He wanted a chance to win and saw the potential the Flyers really offered as a key part of their success, and he believes that last season’s playoff run is only scratching the surface.
For those who appreciate the fact that a player’s quality can’t be defined solely by numbers, Ivan Provorov’s performance on the ice backs it up. He’s not the indisputable best defensemen in the NHL, but he certainly didn’t deserve to be omitted from the NHL’s list of the top 20 defensemen for the 2019-20 season. So why was he left out?
Alain Vigneault addressed the media on Monday for the first time since the Flyers lost Game 7 to the Islanders nine days ago. His comments focused on a bright future ahead. “I believe that we’re on the right track as far as moving forward to win a Stanley Cup,” Vigneault said.
This is what is so hard about this Flyers loss. It’s not that it’s the end of the season. This happens for 15 other teams in the playoffs without a reward. Only one team comes away with the Stanley Cup. What’s so hard is having to once again hear “there’s always next year,”… and not knowing when next year really is.
The Islanders struck for two goals in the first period and never looked back, holding the Flyers at bay all game and finishing off the series, as the Flyers season came to an end with a 4-0 loss to the Islanders in Game 7 on Saturday night.
It all comes down to this. Game 7 to decide who goes to the Eastern Conference Final and who goes home. If it’s anything like the other games in this series, you can expect a close, hard-fought battle to the finish where only one thing is certain: this game will end with handshakes at center ice.
