Claude Giroux Mic’ed up, Ready to Play vs. Stars
All reports out of Dallas indicate Claude Giroux will play tonight.
CSN’s John Boruk reported, via Twitter, that Giroux would draw back in after missing four games with a concussion. His linemate, Scott Hartnell, also confirmed his center would get back in the lineup. To top things off, he will be mic’ed up by HBO for tonight’s tilt which indicates he will not be in the press box.
Activate him and put him back into your lineup tonight. To see the Flyers’ full lines, click here.
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UPDATE 12/20/11: Claude Giroux was spotted at practice this afternoon by several members of the media. Not only did he skate on the top line in between Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr but he also manned the top power play unit.
According to CSN’s Tim Panaccio, via Twitter, two players thought he would get back into the lineup. Giroux himself admitted that he would draw back in if allowed to warm up. Sounds like we will more after tomorrow’s practice so stay tuned for a further update.
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As a fantasy hockey player you are trained to fear for the worst. We try to stockpile some depth and improve our teams with regularity. However, when the best player on your team goes down, it’s hard not to panic. Today, the worst-case scenario happened as League leader Claude Giroux was deemed out indefinitely with a concussion after feeling worse effects of his collision. For the record, this is the second time in two seasons that the League leader in points was knocked out of the game due to a head injury.
When questioned, GM Paul Holmgren was quite straight forward with his answers according to Dave Isaac of Philly Sports Daily.
“Claude reported not feeling very good today. Over the past few days, his symptoms have gradually gotten worse. He will be out indefinitely with a concussion.”
Nothing we can do now but wait for a further update on his status.
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UPDATE 12/12/11: According to Sarah Baicker of CSN Philly, via Twitter, Giroux will not travel with the team to Washington, effectively ruling him out of tomorrow’s game. Adjust your lineup accordingly.
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UPDATE 12/11/11: The team remains relatively cryptic on their superstar’s status but Flyers GM Paul Holmgren did give us an update today. “Claude felt better this morning. He will be evaluated again tomorrow morning,” said Holmgren. Interpret that as you will; G remains doubtful for Tuesday’s tilt against the Washington Capitals
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ORIGINAL POST 12/11/11: Philadelphia Flyers star center Claude Giroux left tonight’s game and did not return, sending one team in every fantasy hockey league into a panic. Reports indicate the NHL points leader fell in front of winger Wayne Simmonds and was kneed by his teammate trying to jump over him. Since I was unable to watch the game, let’s hear exactly what happened. From NHLhotstove.com:
Giroux was shaken up in a collision with teammate, Wayne Simmonds. Giroux had fallen to the ice, and the big winger attempted to jump over Giroux to avoid him. But Simmonds’ knee hit Giroux in the head, and Philadelphia’s MVP stayed on the ice for a few moments before skating slowly to the bench.
Giroux stayed on the end of the bench — obviously shaken up — until there was about one minute left in the middle frame, at which time he went down the tunnel to the locker room.
Giroux did not come out for the start of the third period, and rookie Sean Couturier skated in his place on the line with Jaromir Jagr and Scott Hartnell. There has been no official word on any injury from the club.
Ouch.
Perhaps the Flyers are just playing it safe with their top liner but we can only fear the worst-case scenario: out indefinitely with the dreaded ‘C’ word. The team is off tomorrow so we may not get an update on his status until Monday but stay tuned for a further word on his status.