Flyers captain Claude Giroux guaranteed the Flyers will make the playoffs on Monday. (Kevin Durso/Flyerdelphia)
When you’re the captain of any team, especially in a city
like Philadelphia, a start like the one the Flyers are off to demands strong
explanation and serious correction.
Claude Giroux went pretty far with his. He guaranteed a
turnaround of epic proportions.
“When you have the record we have right now, you’re a little
frustrated and you try to figure out what’s going on,” Giroux said. “We know
there’s not a lot of hockey left to play here. We’re not far at all. How many
points are we off, six? To think that with the start we had, we’re that close.
We’ve never thought that we’re not going to make the playoffs.
“We’ll take it here game-by-game and we will make the
playoffs.”
Now that’s something. Be careful there, G, and don’t write a
check your team can’t cash.
Giroux is right. The Flyers aren’t that far behind in terms
of the standings.
Giroux is right again. The Flyers have appeared to be closer
to winning in the last four games than in the first four games.
But be careful what you say. Not only does the team’s
performance need to be improved, but Giroux must also return to all-star
status.
Still, Craig Berube is keeping that mindset going. The
Flyers are literally taking things one game at a time, starting with Thursday’s
game against the New York Rangers.
“It came at the right time,” Berube said. “We can regroup
here, get our feet under us and go to work Thursday. Basically we can look at
one game at a time. Don’t look ahead, don’t look back anymore, just focus on
the Rangers, that’s it.”
Regardless, the Flyers now have to back up the talk but
walking the walk, which is what Berube has focused on in grueling practices
throughout the week. Berube said that the Flyers success will start by skating
hard and doing things fast by moving your feet.
No matter how close the Flyers may appear to winning in the
last four games, they haven’t been moving their feet well at all in the entire
eight-game stretch.
Talk is cheap, especially in Philadelphia. If the results
aren’t there, no one will buy into Giroux’s assertions.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Flyerdelphia. You can follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
