After watching hockey every single day since the playoffs started, I have been drawn to the Philadelphia Flyers as the team I want to win the Stanley Cup. It may be a little biased considering I picked them in both my playoff pools (Giroux Hartnell Jagr and Briere in 1 and Giroux and Hartnell in the other), but I have been thinking of one scenario every time they play: the absence of captain Chris Pronger and the "C." While Chris is out for the season and most likely done for his career, it still leaves the Flyers without a captain and they have watched Claude Giroux take the team on his back. You hear it from so many different people in the Philadelphia Flyers organization, whether it is his coach Peter Laviolette's label as the "best player in the world" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amtdI16esqQ) or his fellow teammates like Jagr, Briere etc. who refer to him as their "engine" or "leader." In my personal opinion, I believe that there is no reason for Laviolette to not name a captain at this point. If they were to win, someone has to take responsibility and shake Gary Bettman's hand as the Captain and receive the Cup. It would come down to their three Alternate Captains: Briere, Timonen and Giroux. One could make equally impressive cases for each to be Captain: Both Timonen and Briere have been here the longest of any Flyer on the the roster (5 years; along with Scott Hartnell) and lead on equal ends of the ice , but in my opinion Giroux is this team's true leader right now. There was a reason GM Paul Holmgren was confident in moving longtime Flyers Center's Mike Richards (former Captain) and Jeff Carter (2 players considered "cornerstones" of the franchise since joining the team post-lockout in 2005) this past summer: they were ready to let Claude Giroux lead this team. Much like Mike Richards, Giroux excels at both ends of the ice: on offence he is relentless on the forecheck, and he has a special set of hands and vision that separates him from most players in the league. On defence, he understands where to be at all times and will make a block/hit/steal when he needs to, and he excels at important faceoffs. The 2012 playoffs are a prime example of his rise to the elite in the NHL: He leads the playoffs in goals (7-tied with Briere), assists (8), points (15), and short-handed pts (3-tied with Max Talbot and Dustin Brown). He lead his team past the Penguins in 6 games, getting 14 points and significantly outplaying the most talented players in the world Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The three nominees for the Hart Trophy (as MVP of the regular season) were: Evgeni Malkin (Art Ross winner), Steven Stamkos (Rocket Richard Winner) and Henrik Lundqvist (also a Vezina candidate). While all three of these are deserving candidates, what Giroux did to lead this team without their captain is the reason he is my choice of MVP, and i believe he was snubbed by not even being chosen as a nominee. Say what you will about points (Malkin) or goals (Stamkos), but Claude Giroux is the best Center in the NHL right now and he continues to get better every single game. If I could pick one player in the NHL to base my team around, it would be Claude Giroux no question about it. I will end off with a short message to Laviolette: make this guy your captain already!
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News (PLAYOFF EDITION)
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