As the Flyers playoff hopes fade away and the end of another season closes in, the time has come to look for the reasons and scapegoats responsible for another long offseason.
There will be a lot of changes made to the Flyers in the coming months. A coaching change is likely on the way. The roster could undergo an overhaul – maybe not of the Chip Kelly variety – during the offseason as Ron Hextall continues to try to mold the team into his own.
One thing that should not change is the player that is considered the leader of the team. Claude Giroux’s leadership and captaincy should not be in question.
Giroux became an assistant captain for the Flyers during the 2011-12 season, but even before then, his leadership on the ice was evident. Giroux was the ideal player, gritty and skilled, yet with the ability to dangle one moment and snipe the next. He could do it all and play in all situations.
That in itself often times defines a captain. He is a leader by example first and by word the second.
Part of the problem with Giroux is that he is far too often compared to his predecessor. Many people want Giroux to be Chris Pronger, the snarky voice that would tell it like it is after a tough game and wouldn’t hold anything back.
Fans love a good sound byte. But it is a very selective area. They loved it in Pronger. They hated it in Ilya Bryzgalov. And the reasons for that have to go beyond a letter on a uniform.
For three seasons, as Giroux was the consistent leader of the Flyers in points and coming up big in the key situations – it was never more evident than in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Pittsburgh.
He was going to be the next captain. Everybody knew it. Everybody wanted it.
Three seasons into his captaincy, the Flyers are about to miss the playoffs for the second time. You can hardly pin that all on Giroux.
In 2013, Giroux’s first season as captain, the Flyers desperately tried to fight their way into the playoffs late in very similar fashion to this season. Some of the names on the Flyers roster that year included Simon Gagne, Mike Knuble and Ruslan Fedotenko, the ghosts of Flyers past far removed from their best years.
And of course, the lockout shortened the 2013 season to 48 games. There is little margin for error as a team in that amount of time.
Last season, Giroux only aided his leadership by stepping up after a dreadful October to guarantee a playoff appearance. The Flyers went on to clinch a playoff spot with four games remaining in the regular season as Giroux picked up 86 points, seven shy of his career high.
At the time of his proclamation, he had three points in eight games. He picked up 83 points in the final 74 games.
For nearly five seasons now, Giroux has been a point-per-game player. He has 24 game-winning goals in that time. He’s also just 27, just entering his prime.
It is all overshadowed by the Flyers lack of talent elsewhere. This is two of three teams that hasn’t been good enough over a full season, and hasn’t had the depth – both offensively and defensively – to get it done. That’s hardly Giroux’s fault.
I said following the Flyers loss on Tuesday to the Stars – where Steve Mason voiced his frustration to the media – that you have to feel for the three Flyers who have easily carried this team through most of the season. Mason and Jake Voracek aren’t shy about hiding their emotions.
But Giroux isn’t that type of player. It’s natural to want credibility from the captain of the team. What is wrong is expecting a regular sound byte. Giroux doesn’t say anything that is going to be looped over and over again. It doesn't make him any less of a leader or competitor.
And it’s highly unfair, not two seasons into Hextall’s tenure as GM, to let Giroux shoulder the blame for the fact that there isn’t enough depth among his teammates. Giroux’s slow second half of the season – just 10 points in 21 games since the All-Star break – is more a result of the Flyers lack of depth than his own issues.
No team can lean on two players and expect them to do all of the work. The Flyers recent run through February that created a minor playoff stir was due to added contributors. Giroux and Voracek struggled then too. No one said anything. Winning is the best distraction.
Now that the playoffs are essentially no longer a possibility, people will call for heads. The last thing the Flyers should do is make an irrational change of captain now, not with other, more important changes on the horizon.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
