Former Flyers captain Claude Giroux reunited with old teammates and ‘didn’t really miss a beat’

OTTAWA, Ontario ― For the last eight months, all former Flyers captain Claude Giroux has known is change.

Following nearly 15 years as the face of the Flyers, the Hearst, Ontario native departed for the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline in March last season to finish out his contract and compete for a Stanley Cup. After the Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Panthers in four games in the second round of the playoffs, Giroux signed with his “hometown” Ottawa Senators as a free agent in July.

But some things never change. Giroux rocked his signature barefoot look at his press conference on Saturday in Ottawa prior to the Senators’ home game against the Flyers. And just a day before the match up, Giroux made sure to reconnect with his former teammates.

When the Flyers arrived in Ottawa on Friday, Giroux reunited with Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Scott Laughton, Justin Braun and Joel Farabee for dinner, according to Hayes. After months of separation, Sanheim said that Giroux slipped right back into his place with the group as they exchanged laughs and memories.

“Didn’t really miss a beat,” Sanheim said. “I felt like he was just with us every day. We had a good dinner with him, good chats, and it was good to see him again.”

Saturday night marks the first time Giroux will face the Flyers as a member of an opposing team. Giroux started thinking about this game “probably when the schedule came out,” acknowledging that it will be “a little weird” to play against the team he identified with for nearly a decade and a half.

Regardless, he’s trying to treat Game No. 11 on the Senators’ slate just like any other one. The 4-6-0 Senators, a young team with budding stars, including Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle, have lost their last four games in regulation. Giroux made a point of trying to keep things light this morning, turning on The Office at the Canadian Tire Centre as the Senators opted to stay off the ice prior to the puck drops .

“We have to keep it loose a little bit, especially tonight,” Giroux said. “Michael Scott makes me laugh, so that’s what I do.”

As strange as it’ll be for Giroux, next week will be even more unusual. On Nov. 12, Giroux returns to Philadelphia as an opponent. Saturday night’s game in Ottawa will be a small glimpse of the emotions to expect upon his return to the Wells Fargo Center.

After all, Giroux never thought he would play for another team until the Flyers’ 2021-22 season went awry.

“It’s just something that you never think of because you’ve been there for a long time,” Giroux said. “I really loved playing in front of those fans and wearing that jersey and I did it with a lot of pride. So I never really thought about playing for another team. But here I am now.”

After facing whirlwind of change and emotions for the better part of this past year, Giroux is starting to find some stability. He’s locked in with Ottawa on a three-year, $19.5 million contract and is coming off of one of his strongest games of the season against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (two goals, plus-three in a 5-4 loss).

“It’s going to hit me a little bit harder tonight,” Giroux said. “[I’d] been there for a long time. At the end of the day, I have to focus on the game and focus on getting the win. We’re in a position right now, our team, how we need the two points.”

After Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, coach John Tortorella lamented the effort of some, but not all of his players. He indicated that the source of his frustration is rooted in some of the team’s veterans.

“We have a lot of young guys learning on the fly here,” Tortorella said Saturday morning. “I need the guys that are supposed to be bona fide National Hockey Leaguers to carry the ball a little bit as these guys are learning. I just don’t think I’ve seen that consistently.”

Tortorella did not reveal the Flyers’ lineup against the Senators , stating that he was “still not sure” who would come out. However, after morning skate, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and winger Kieffer Bellows remained on the ice with skills coach Angelo Ricci to put in extra work. Typically, those who are not in the lineup undergo additional skating after practice.

Ristolainen, who has played four games since coming back from a lower-body injury this season, wasn’t pleased with his minus-two performance against the Leafs.

“There’s only one direction and that’s up,” Ristolainen said. “You can’t really worry about it or do anything about the last game. So just mindset is be better next game.”

Goalie Carter Hart (.943 save percentage, 2.10 goals against average) was the first goalie off the ice at Flyers morning skate and is the likely starter against the Senators.