Claude Giroux: “We’ve got to go game by game and we will make the playoffs”

Claude Giroux has said what no one else has: that the Philadelphia Flyers will make the playoffs this year. The Captain of the 1-7 Flyers spoke to Ed Barkowitz of the Philadelphia Daily News this morning and let this little snippet fly:

"We’re not far off at all. How many points are we out, six? To think of the start that we had and we’re that close . . . we never thought about not making the playoffs. We’ve got to go game by game and we will make the playoffs."

Giroux’s math is spot on. Philly is only six points behind the Ottawa Senators at the moment for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Six points may not seem like too much, but that’s a pretty solid cushion only eight games into the season.

Since Giroux is suddenly focused on numbers, perhaps he should take a look at his own stat sheet before making bold claims about the worst team in hockey suddenly coming alive and making the postseason. Before they can do that, the captain probably needs to score his first goal of the season—something that he hasn’t done yet.

He should then check out how anemic the Flyers have been on offense so far this year. They are they 28th-best offensive team in the NHL right now and are averaging 0.53 goals per game. We’re not sure why Giroux thinks being “close” to the playoffs three weeks into the season is something special.

Every team technically could storm the gates, go on a tear and make the dance. But it’s Giroux and what army right now? Tye McGinn became the team’s leading goal scorer after only playing two games in the NHL, and that isn’t a testament to some kind of scoring depth. It’s just that every one of Philly’s big guns has been awful.

Guarantees can end up motivating a squad and becoming legend. They also backfire more often than not. At this point, no one is confusing Giroux with Mark Messier, nor should they be.