(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Claude Giroux knows it’s no secret. The Flyers didn’t have a good year in 2016-17. Neither did he individually.
So as the 2017-18 season prepares to begin with training camps just about a month away, motivation sets in for the Flyers captain.
"I think it was a bad season. A lot of things didn’t go our way," Giroux said to Sporting News Canada. "As a group, we have to learn from that. The only way to get better is to get motivated and move forward."
Giroux is coming off a season where he posted his lowest points total since 2009-10 (58 points) and his lowest goal total in an 82-game season (14). The Flyers have been a team teetering the line between playoff contender and draft lottery hopeful. They have missed the playoffs in three of the last five seasons.
As the leader of the team, Giroux has some insight on what’s happening during the offseason. The Flyers are preparing to welcome several rookies onto the roster, indicative by their offseason plan to leave roster spots open for competition. Giroux sees this as a way for the Flyers to get more competitive.
"We’re going to have a young team, we know that." Giroux said. "We’re going to have a talented team competing to make the playoffs.
"For us, it’s about getting better every day and just keep building."
Success, of late, has started and ended with Giroux. As Giroux goes, so do the Flyers it seems. When the Flyers saw their 10-game winning streak come to an end in mid-December, after playing their 32nd game of the season, Giroux had nine goals and 21 assists, good for 30 points. He finished the final 50 games of the season with just five goals and 28 points, and the Flyers never regained the mojo they had during the winning streak.
As much as the 2017-18 season will be about growth and a glimpse of the future for the Flyers, it is an equally crucial year for Giroux, in need of a bounce-back season offensively.
Using a clean slate as motivation is always a good thing and with a lot of fresh faces expected in camp and with the potential to be on the roster in October, it isn’t hard to start to feel the excitement for the Flyers to return.
The excitement may surround some of the new faces, but the Flyers fan base wouldn’t be complaining if the captain, who endeared himself to them during his seasons prior to being named captain, returned to form in a big way in 2017-18.
