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Flyers captain Claude Giroux back on the ice, hopes season resumes soon

Flyers captain Claude Giroux was back on the ice Thursday for the first time in 10 weeks.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux (right) scoring against Buffalo's Carter Hutton on March 7. Giroux skated in Ottawa on Thursday.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux (right) scoring against Buffalo's Carter Hutton on March 7. Giroux skated in Ottawa on Thursday.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

For the first time in 10 weeks, Flyers captain Claude Giroux was on the ice Thursday.

Hoping the season soon resumes, Giroux skated in Ottawa, where a private rink opened. Four players and an instructor were allowed on the ice and had to observe social distancing.

The season was suspended March 12 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

"You just want to go out there and see how you feel. ... I don’t know the last time I’ve been off the ice this long,” Giroux, 32, who has been spending time at home with his wife and young son in the Ottawa area, told a local TV station.

Giroux, Ivan Provorov, and Robert Hagg are believed to be the only Flyers who have skated during the season’s pause.

The NHL has not said when it will return, but it is hoping to have a three-week training camp in June.

When the season was suspended, the Flyers had won nine of their last 10 games -- they were the NHL’s hottest team -- and had climbed to within one point of first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division.