Philadelphia Flyers: Top 10 Controversial Captains
The Philadelphia Flyers have had some great captains. Here’s a look at their 10 most controversial captains of all-time.
Being a professional athlete in Philadelphia is tough. Ergo, being the Captain of the Philadelphia Flyers has got to be tougher than steaks from a horse bound for the glue factory. For whatever reason, their captains just seem to get into trouble, both on and off the ice, and get called out for both.
Current Captain Claude Giroux didn’t wait for the fans to call him out, he did it himself after a game in Carolina, and he has had his share of off the ice woes as well. Flyers Captains have always been a cut above, so let’s take a look at 10 of the Flyer’s most controversial Captains, in no particular order.
10. Claude Giroux (2012-Current)
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It seems appropriate to start with the current Captain, 30-year-old Claude Giroux. He was selected 22nd overall in the 2006 draft when then General Manager Bobby Clarke famously forgot the newest Flyer’s name.
Giroux didn’t join the big club until 2008, and didn’t garner much attention until the 2010 season that saw the Flyers make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. It was Giroux’s shootout goal combined with Brian Boucher‘s lights out save that pushed the team into the playoffs on the last day of that magical season.
The playoff run would be his coming out party, and his OT goal in Game Three of the Finals gave the Flyers new life in the series. They would eventually lose the Cup in six games, but the guy known best as “G” had made his presence known.
Giroux was named the Flyers Captain on January 13, 2013, one day after his twenty-fifth birthday. Rumors of heavy drinking, enjoying the company of ladies of ill repute and other boys will be boys activities followed Giroux everywhere, but were just rumors. The rumors that started on July 1, 2014 of Giroux being arrested were actually true.
Giroux spent some time in an Ottawa jail cell after repeatedly grabbing a police officer’s derriere. He was released, and no charges were ever formally filed. He apologized in a written statement, an has kept his hands to himself since that incident. Well, at least off the ice.