Giroux eager to lead Cup parade for Flyers in Philadelphia

Claude Giroux has been part of the Philadelphia Flyers organization since they chose him with the No. 22 pick of the 2006 NHL Draft. Since then he's seen the Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series in 2008, and the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl in February.
He's now the longest-tenured professional athlete in Philadelphia, as well as the captain of the team that has gone the longest in the city without winning it all; the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA title in 1983, eight years after the Flyers' second of back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.

Giroux, who was named captain in 2012, admitted seeing other teams in the city celebrate championships recently has him feeling envious.
RELATED: *[Flyers overcame poor start to qualify for playoffs*]
"Of course I'm a little jealous," he said. "It's a motivator to see those guys work hard and be able to get a championship. It really makes you want to have that."
Giroux is doing his best to take a lead role in a Stanley Cup parade. He set NHL career bests in goals (34) and points (102), and is a candidate to win the Hart Trophy for the first time. He's also done it at a new position, left wing.

Giroux has lifted the players around him to career seasons. Sean Couturier, who has played center with Giroux all season, scored 30 goals for the first time in his seventh NHL season. Travis Konecny, who played right wing on the line from Dec. 23 until the final three games of the regular season, finished with 24 goals, more than double the 11 he had as a rookie last season.
Fans at Wells Fargo Center showered Giroux with "MVP" chants late in the season.
"Clearly in my mind he is [a Hart Trophy candidate]," coach Dave Hakstol said. "It's not just the points for me. When you talk about that type of an award, there's a lot more to it. And [Giroux] does a heck of a lot more for our hockey team than just score points. It's hard to score points in this League, I'm not downplaying that. I'm telling you how important a lot of the other things he provides are to our hockey team."
Giroux said his only focus has been helping the Flyers return to the playoffs after missing them last season.
It's a season he'd like to forget for myriad reasons. He had surgery in May 2016 to repair abdominal muscle and hip injuries and rushed back to play for Team Canada in the World Cup of Hockey 2016. After that, he played all 82 games in 2016-17, but his 59 points were the fewest he had in a full season since 2009-10, his first full NHL season.

He had a healthy summer to train, and when he arrived at training camp in September, teammates noticed right away a different player.
"I saw him skating for 30 seconds and I knew that his stride was better," forward Jakub Voracek said. "That's what made the difference. He's healthy more now than he's been the last two years."
Giroux has deflected any credit that's come his way, saying that playing Couturier, Konecny and Voracek, who was on his line at the start of the season, made him better. But teammates know otherwise.
"[Giroux] is an unbelievable player, deserves everything he's getting this year," Couturier said. "Definitely deserves to be in the MVP conversation. He just ups his game every time the game is bigger. That's the kind of guy he is. Shows his character. He's our leader."

Giroux didn't get to go the parade for the Phillies because he was on a road trip with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League, and he had to watch the parade honoring the Eagles on TV because he had a game against the Montreal Canadiens that night to prepare for.
He wants the next parade to be one he's leading, accompanied by the Stanley Cup.
"Being able to see a couple parades and see teams win the championships and how the city goes behind them, it's definitely motivation that you want to be part of," he said. "We know it's not going to be easy, but we're going to give everything we have."