McKenzie: Giroux impressing Flyers
Bob McKenzie
9/20/2007 6:55:39 PM
No one is forgetting Claude Giroux's name in Philadelphia now.
After starring for Canada in the junior Super Series, Giroux is not just playing well in Flyer camp, he's been dominating. He was named tourney MVP in the Flyers' opening few days and GM Paul Holmgren says he's been one of their best players, period, and getting better every day. Oh, did we mention he finished first, a half minute ahead of everyone, in a three-mile run?
The original plan was to keep Giroux for a bit, give him a taste of NHL life and ship him back to Gatineau to develop, but Holmgren says as much they don't want to rush him they have no choice but to let this play out and see where it goes. The kid has earned the opportunity.
A similar situation exists in Los Angeles, where Team Canada goalie Jonathan Bernier has clearly outplayed veterans Dan Cloutier, Jason LaBarbera and J.S. Aubin. The last thing kings' GM Dean Lombardi wants to do is to throw a good underage goalie to the wolves, because L.A. certainly isn't a Cup contender, but the Kings need a goalie to make a save and no one is doing it better than Bernier.
Meanwhile, three more underage juniors with super series experience - Milan Lucic in Boston, David Perron in St. Louis and of course Sam Gagner in Edmonton - are giving their respective NHL clubs something to think about with their strong play.
For TSN.ca, I'm Bob Mckenzie.
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