Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Daulton, Desjardins, Giroux and the Fickleness of Fandom

Good article. Hope he rebounds.

Claude has been my favorite player ever since I started following hockey. I've never doubted his leadership abilities and I hope to see a bounce back season from our Captain this year.

Claude needs fresh air .Meaning either being traded like to Montreal or totally different
role within Flyers organization.He should in my view return to playing wing and not taking any defensive zone face-off or any form of PK work
Just offensive focus and PP

Claude needs fresh air .Meaning either being traded like to Montreal or totally different
role within Flyers organization.He should in my view return to playing wing and not taking any defensive zone face-off or any form of PK work
Just offensive focus and PP
- goenzoy

He is one of the best faceoff guys in the NHL

I think Giroux will have a better season on luck alone. Hopefully some issues were physical and he gets back to finding separation from the defense as Bill suggested. If that happens then his scoring should come up from that as well. His scoring prime is most likely over, but I do think he is still capable of hitting the high 70's. I don't think he is cooked, and a rapid decline like this seems a bit unrealistic.

Give him a couple more years as 1c until patrick is ready to take on that role. G will be a very effective 2c with easier match ups closing out his final years under his current contact. Couts can take on more ice time and heavier work load to keep G healthy for pp. The sens would have best the pens if they had a pp specialist like G.

"It's because a contingent of fans have turned on the current Flyers captain after his stats have declined in each of the last two seasons"

But that's our right as a fan. We come to watch him earn his millions which I will never see in my life time. i pay for tickets and for packages. I don't know Claude personally so none of it is personal. But if he isn't doing what is needed on the ice then i do have the right to turn on the player. Sports are a "what have you done for me lately" business.

My first obligation is to the team. With free agency and player movement, I see them all as mercenaries. If Giroux has another declining season, am I supposed to keep living on what he did in the past?

He is one of the best faceoff guys in the NHL
- YuenglingJagr

Nobody is disagreeing with this but we can see that he does not look fresh too often
Reduce his duties and maybe even remove C and give to a D-Man so the Claude can focus on points and scoring

Nobody is disagreeing with this but we can see that he does not look fresh too often
Reduce his duties and maybe even remove C and give to a D-Man so the Claude can focus on points and scoring
- goenzoy

Question: do you also want to give Coots more PP time?

@J35Bacher

It shouldn't matter to fans at all how much a player makes. Do you care how much I make, or bill? The team cares but as a fan complaining that a player makes x amount of money is ridiculous. Imo.

@J35Bacher

It shouldn't matter to fans at all how much a player makes. Do you care how much I make, or bill? The team cares but as a fan complaining that a player makes x amount of money is ridiculous. Imo.
- twotoekenn

Do you play for the hockey team I like and cheer for?

I don't CARE about what he makes until I feel it's not earned because then it effects making the team better.

Say he declines this year and next. Is it easier to trade a guy declining making 8 million a year? The care is because it could effect my team I like.

ttt

Summary: a lot of Philly fans are not; they're deplorable cretins

Question: do you also want to give Coots more PP time?
- YuenglingJagr

Not sure I guess PP was also last year OK with Giroux where he struggled is with 5on5
So Cots on PP is not really a good idea.Would prefer the 2 Finnish guys on 2nd unit

Spot on as always Bill. Schmidt said it best, "only in Philly can you enjoy the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.

But that's our right as a fan. We come to watch him earn his millions which I will never see in my life time. i pay for tickets and for packages. I don't know Claude personally so none of it is personal. But if he isn't doing what is needed on the ice then i do have the right to turn on the player. Sports are a "what have you done for me lately" business.

My first obligation is to the team. With free agency and player movement, I see them all as mercenaries. If Giroux has another declining season, am I supposed to keep living on what he did in the past?

You can always, you know, not buy tickets or a ticket package.

You can always, you know, not buy tickets or a ticket package.
- KGBflyers10

I can.

But as a fan i am allowed to buy tickets and have expectations for the players and team.

Spot on as always Bill. Schmidt said it best, "only in Philly can you enjoy the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.
- BiggE

slurp

Gotta say I don't boo. I don't believe in booing. I just don't. I root for the player no matter what as long as they are working their asses off. just me.

Nobody is disagreeing with this but we can see that he does not look fresh too often
Reduce his duties and maybe even remove C and give to a D-Man so the Claude can focus on points and scoring
- goenzoy

I think far too much is made of the weight of the C. How they have used Giroux in the past in my opinion has no doubt worn him down. They have reduced his role and taken some of the burden off of him but the damage was done. I still think he should remain at center and he can get stronger physically and rebound.

Asdf

@J35Bacher

It shouldn't matter to fans at all how much a player makes. Do you care how much I make, or bill? The team cares but as a fan complaining that a player makes x amount of money is ridiculous. Imo.
- twotoekenn

There is a salary cap and not getting the bang for your buck not only affects the teams performance on the ice but also their ability to improve. Without a cap I would agree with you.

I think far too much is made of the weight of the C. How they have used Giroux in the past in my opinion has no doubt worn him down. They have reduced his role and taken some of the burden off of him but the damage was done. I still think he should remain at center and he can get stronger physically and rebound.
- MJL

This will be a big year. If it was the injury last year we will see if he can recover. Or maybe he has just felt the wear and tear and it's hitting him and causing a decline in his game.

I hope he recovers because that can only help the Flyers.

I think most of Giroux's problems last season were a crisis of confidence brought on by his injuries.

He became a perimeter player and was perhaps even playing scared because he couldn't move like he was accustomed.

Hopefully a long offseason without preseason tournaments where he can heal and get back in top physical shape will do wonders for him.