Claude Giroux

Claude Giroux (born January 12, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He has previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers.

Giroux was born on January 12, 1988, in Hearst, Ontario, a Francophone town, and is fluent in both English and French.

He is the son of Raymond and Nicole Giroux, and has one sister named Isabelle.

Giroux's favourite hockey player growing up was Pavel Bure.

In the summer of 2002, at the age of 14, Giroux and his family moved to Ottawa, Ontario, where he attended Béatrice-Desloges High School in the suburban community of Orléans, but graduated in 12th grade at Minto French Catholic Highschool due to the school schedule being flexible around his busy hockey schedule.

While living in Orléans, Giroux played Major Bantam AA and Minor Midget AA hockey for the Cumberland Barons, and was the club's leading scorer in the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons.

After being passed over in the 2004 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft, Giroux played for the Cumberland Grads during the 2004–2005 season at age 16.

Despite missing most of the season after contracting mononucleosis, Giroux scored 40 points across 48 games and was named the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL)'s Rookie of the Year.

A free agent, Giroux was invited to Gatineau Olympiques training camp for a walk-on tryout.

He was signed shortly after.

During his rookie season with the Olympiques, Giroux scored 39 goals for a total of 103 points in 69 games and was named Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)'s Rookie of the Year.

Selected by the Flyers 22nd overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Giroux was named the Flyers' team captain in 2013, and became the longest-tenured captain in team history.

Giroux played his 1,000th game with the Flyers on March 17, 2022.

Giroux has been known to be a very flexible offensive player; capable of playing comfortably on both center and wing throughout his career.

He entered the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and was selected 22nd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers signed Giroux to an entry-level contract on July 23, 2007.

Giroux spent a large amount of time centering James van Riemsdyk, the highly touted rookie winger that the Flyers had drafted second overall in 2007.

Before playing in the NHL, Giroux played his major junior career with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he helped the team win a 2008 President's Cup and earned the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the 2008 playoff MVP.

Internationally, he won a gold medal with Team Canada in the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Giroux made his debut with the Flyers in February 2008 and joined the roster full-time midway through the 2008–09 season.

Giroux made his NHL debut when the Flyers visited the Ottawa Senators on February 19, 2008, recording no points and being the team's first shooter in the shootout.

Sent back down to the Olympiques, he helped the club win the QMJHL Playoffs and earned himself the Guy Lafleur Trophy as MVP in the QMJHL Playoffs by scoring 17 goals and 34 assists in 19 playoff games, also setting a franchise record.

After a disappointing training camp for the Flyers at the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Giroux was assigned to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms.

After acclimatizing to professional hockey, however, things turned around quickly; he was named Rookie of the Month for December for his eight goals and six assists in eight games played.

He was then called up to the Flyers after the Christmas break and remained there throughout the rest of the season.

On December 31, he recorded his first NHL point by assisting on a Jeff Carter goal in a win over the Vancouver Canucks.

He suffered a mild concussion during the next game when Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks elbowed him in the head.

Giroux finished the game but missed the next five; Perry was suspended for four games.

Giroux ended the 2008–09 season with nine goals and 27 points in 42 games played.

On January 27, 2009, Giroux scored his first NHL goal against goaltender Tomáš Vokoun and the Florida Panthers in a 3–2 loss.

His first Stanley Cup playoff goal came in a 6–3 win in Game 3 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The same game also saw him setting up a short-handed goal when he stole the puck in the corner of the Penguins zone and outworked their backcheck, skating past the back of their net twice protecting the puck while looking for incoming support in the form of Simon Gagné.

The Flyers were an inconsistent team for the bulk of the 2009–10 season, which affected all of their players.

The Flyers' fortunes, however, soon turned dramatically: they qualified for the 2010 playoffs on Giroux's game-winner in a shootout against the New York Rangers.

In 2011, after the trades of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, Giroux took over the role of the club's first-line centre.

He was the club's top point-scorer for seven seasons.

In 2012 and 2014, he finished third in the league in point scoring.

In 2018, he finished second in the league with 102 points, behind only Connor McDavid.

On February 20, 2019, Giroux's number 28 was retired with the Gatineau Olympiques.