Best news of the say, week or this month, was the unexpected early return of Flyers captain Claude Giroux on the ice this morning at Skate Zone.
He was to have missed up to two weeks with a groin/abdominal/hip flexor injury - take your pick. It was six days off the ice for him.
Giroux showed up to work out with teammates. Slowly at first, but things and the tempo increased over the 80 minutes he was there.
Players and coach Craig Berube all agreed it was a positive step to seeing Giroux get a pre-season game or two in and knowing he should be ready for the opener in Boston next month.
“The most important game is Game 1 and my job right now is to make sure I am ready for Game 1,” Giroux said. “If I play pre-season or not or play a couple, we’ll see how I feel. Most important thing is to make sure for Game 1 in Boston I am the healthiest I can be.”
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Flyers also signed impressive, young defenseman Travis Sanheim to an entry-level deal today. Not at all surprising given how strong he has looked in camp and in games. The first-round pick from last summer can really skate.
The club has a lot of talent on the blue line now in its system which is great. Just wish some of these guys were available right now because the defense remains the Achilles heel going into the season.
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How lucky are the Flyers that all these clubs in the East, and particularly in the Metro Division, are being hit with serious injuries?
Columbus, to me, has a club capable of doing damage and beating the Flyers out in the division race - but not without holdout Ryan Johansen and now Nate Horton goes down with a back issue.
Rangers lose Derek Stepan. Carolina loses Jordan Staal. Detroit loses Pavel Datsyuk.
All of that helps the Flyers at season's start except ... the Flyers have their own issues w/the loss of Kimmo Timonen.
All eyes on Michael Del Zotto this fall ...
Here's more on the Giroux situation at CSNPhilly.com:
click here 
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