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Quick Hits: Giroux Milestones, Lindros and More

August 16, 2018, 11:07 AM ET [124 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick Hits: August 16, 2018

1) When the 2018-19 NHL season gets underway, Flyers captain Claude Giroux will be one assist away from passing Bill Barber (463) for sole possession of third on the franchise's all-time assist list. He is currently 17 assists away from tying Brian Propp (480) for second on the list. All-time franchise leader Bobby Clarke's 852 regular season assists are likely unattainable for the 30-year-old Giroux.

However, Giroux has hit the 50-assist mark four times in his career (and 65+ twice, including his career-high 68 last season). If he can continue to play at a high level for another four seasons, Giroux could eventually reach 700+ assists for his career.

With 677 career points, Giroux is 20 points away from tying Rick MacLeish (697) for fourth on the franchise scoring list. The top three: Clarke (1,210), Barber (883), Propp (849). If Giroux averages 70 points for the next three seasons, he will pass Barber for 2nd late in the 2020-21 season.

Although Giroux has never been a prolific goal-scorer (his 34 goals in 2017-18 surpassed his twice-achieved previous single season high by six goals), he is a six-time 20+ goal scorer. His 214 career regular season goals rank 13th in franchise history. He needs 21 goals to match Flyers Hall of Fame member Rod Brind'Amour (235) and move into the top 10. Before that, he will pass Rick Tocchet (232) and Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Recchi (also 232).

In terms of playoff production, Giroux has 65 points (24 goals, 41 assists) in 69 career playoff games. That ranks 9th in franchise history, but Danny Briere (68), Reggie Leach(69), Tim Kerr(70), and John LeClair (74) are within reach. The top four: Clarke (119), Propp (112), Barber (108) and MacLeish (105).

With 41 career playoff assists, Giroux ranks 7th in franchise history. The top 6: Clarke (77), Propp (60), Barber (55), MacLeish (52), Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Howe (45) and Ken Linseman (42).

Giroux's unproductive 2016 (one assist in six games) and relatively unproductive 2018 (one goal, two assists in six games) playoff runs pushed him below a point-per-game in his playoff career but he is still in the franchise top seven in that category at .942 points-per-game. Giroux's career playoff points-per-game is actually higher than Clarke's (.875) or Barber's (.837).

The Flyers top seven playoff point-per-game players (excluding Peter Forsberg who had eight points in six games in his lone Flyers playoff series) is as follows: 1) Eric Lindros (1.14), 2) Briere (1.06), 3) Linseman (1.02), 4) MacLeish (0.972), 5) Propp (.966), 6) Tim Kerr(.959), 7) Giroux (.942). Lindros is also the Flyers all-time regular season points-per-game leader (659 points in just 486 games, 1.36 points per game).

No matter how one slices-and-dices Giroux's career, he has been one of the best players in franchise history. As for inevitable "what did the team win?" question, I would argue that, while Briere's 2010 playoff run deservedly earned a place in franchise lore, the 2010 playoffs also marked 2nd-season NHLer Giroux's emergence as an NHL star as he produced 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) and scored an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Finals against Chicago. He also played like a man possessed in the 2012 playoffs (17 points in 10 games, including eight goals) and especially tore apart the Pittsburgh Penguins -- who had been the massive favorite in the media to win the Cup -- in the Flyers' first-round upset victory.

Last season, Giroux absolutely deserved to at least finish in the top 3 in Hart Trophy balloting. He finished fourth. Unfortunately, after he was so consistently excellent all season -- the NHL awards ballots are filed at the end of the regular season -- Giroux was not at his best in the playoffs against Pittsburgh. That fueled some of his critics anew. Nevertheless, the "Giroux doesn't produce in the biggest games" argument is easily disproved by looking at his career as a whole.

2) On a somewhat related note, ESPN.com just did the Metro Division version of its "Mount Puckmore," selecting the four most important players in franchise history for each NHL club. For the Flyers, Greg Wyshnyski chose Clarke, Bernie Parent, Lindros and Ron Hextall. Honorable mentions included Barber, Giroux, Kerr, Propp and MacLeish.

With all due respect to Hexy, his playing career doesn't belong in the top four. Barber, the best all-around winger and top goal-scorer in franchise history, needs to be up there. Also, for Howe to not even receive an honorable mention pretty much torpedoes the list's credibility.

Howe was by leaps and bounds both the best all-around and the best offensive defenseman in franchise history, and was a three-time Norris Trophy first runner-up. Not that awards voting matters all that much, but it still notable that no other Flyers D-man to date has ever finished in the Norris voting top 3 even once and Howe was a three-time finalist (1982-83, 1985-86, 1986-87) as well as a one-time Hart Trophy finalist (1985-86) and two-time top-five finisher (fith in 1982-83) for the Hart.

I would think that a Flyers "Mount Puckmore", if it consists solely of players with no executives (Ed Snider), general managers (Keith Allen) or coaches (Fred Shero) eligible, should represent the most important goalie (Parent), center (Clarke), winger (Barber) and defenseman (Howe) to have played for the team.

Lindros, the most individually dominant force when he was on the ice, simply missed too many games due to injuries even if all of the ancillary controversies from his Flyers career are removed from consideration. Clearly, Lindros was a spectacular talent and, when he was on the ice, he was a generational player during his Flyers years. However, there are only four spots to award and Clarke's legacy (three Hart Trophies, two Stanley Cups, franchise points and assists leader, etc.) sets THE standard. In order to honor players from every position on the ice, I'm excluding No. 88 from my version of the Flyers "Mount Puckmore."

3) Speaking of Lindros, the 45-year-old Hall of Famer will give a presentation today on sports and head injuries at the annual See The Line Community Symposium at the University of Western Ontario in London.

4) Flyers goaltending prospect Felix Sandström may see action today at HV71 Jönköping plays an SHL preseason game on the road against Frölunda HC in Gothenburg, Sweden. Game time is 1 p.m. EDT.

5) Today in Flyers History: On Aug. 16, 1979, the Flyers career of the late Wayne Stephenson, the longtime backup to Bernie Parent and a solid netminder in his own right, came to an end. The Flyers traded Stephenson, who was often disgruntled over his playing time and was now 34 years old, to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 1981 third-round draft pick, which the Flyers used on the late Barry Tabobondung.
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