Player Discussion Claude Giroux

[Pierre from Orleans]

I wonder what the beef between him and Brady was.

Huh? Where did this come from? What beef

 

[JungleBeat]

Huh? Where did this come from? What beef

 

[Micklebot]

why did Brady play better when all the pressure was off and we were eliminated? he was a ghost when things actually mattered.

also Giroux definitely mailed it in the second half, probably the first time in his career that he has. you could tell his heart wasn't into it.

Well, might have something to do with the coaching change, Brady was nearly a pt per game under Martin, with 53 pts in 55 games. The whole team played better under Martin after a breakin period of about a dozen games.

Was that because of lack of pressure, or the result of good coaching? idk, maybe a bit of both. We were also missing Zub (7 out of 26 games), Chabot (17 out of 26 games), Pinto (26 out of 26 games) and Greig (10 out of 26 games) for a good chunk of DJ's 26 games as coach, we were then pretty healthy until about game 60 losing Norris for the remainder of the season, and then some key guys got shut down towards the end of the year.

 

[JungleBeat]

Can't blame Giroux. He walked into a locker room that's more focused in money, drinking and gambling than actually winning hockey games.

It's a sad state of affairs in Sens land.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Well, might have something to do with the coaching change, Brady was nearly a pt per game under Martin, with 53 pts in 55 games. The whole team played better under Martin after a breakin period of about a dozen games.

Was that because of lack of pressure, or the result of good coaching? idk, maybe a bit of both. We were also missing Zub (7 out of 26 games), Chabot (17 out of 26 games), Pinto (26 out of 26 games) and Greig (10 out of 26 games) for a good chunk of DJ's 26 games as coach, we were then pretty healthy until about game 60 losing Norris for the remainder of the season, and then some key guys got shut down towards the end of the year.

sure bit of both, but this team playing well only when all the pressure is off has been a pattern for what 4-5 years now?

 

[Cosmix]

Huh? Where did this come from? What beef

Apparently out of a small dark hole.

 

[Micklebot]

sure bit of both, but this team playing well only when all the pressure is off has been a pattern for what 4-5 years now?

Correlation is not causation, there are a number of variables at play, I showed how health/suspension could easily have played into our poor start this year, we had a number of key players missing time early, and our improved played correlated with both us getting healthy and a coaching change, perhaps though, as a young team, we struggle with the pressure, hard to say.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I wonder what the beef between him and Brady was.

Only player with a beef seemed to be Chychurn, and Branny got a little pissed as well sitting and playing forward couple of times.

Can't blame Giroux. He walked into a locker room that's more focused in money, drinking and gambling than actually winning hockey games.

It's a sad state of affairs in Sens land.

lol, like you’ve been in the room.
I get it, it’s the internet, people make shit up,
Too many kids today believe what the read from twitter and Reddit, wait til we get AI rumours, it will be worse.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Even if he did take his foot off the gas pedal, it's hard to blame Giroux too much considering he's 36 and the season was long since over at that point.

We know what we're going to get from the guy if/when the games matter.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Correlation is not causation, there are a number of variables at play, I showed how health/suspension could easily have played into our poor start this year, we had a number of key players missing time early, and our improved played correlated with both us getting healthy and a coaching change, perhaps though, as a young team, we struggle with the pressure, hard to say.

its not hard to say this team struggles with pressure. it is the most accurate way this team could be described. we've been watching it play out every season.

and missing key players and playing well is a sign of being able to handle pressure too.

lots of players around the league and on previous senators teams play better and raise their game when playing shorthanded. that's what makes them high pressure players. Alfredsson, Karlsson, Spezza, heck even Heatley did it.

current core has been duds in that regard.

 

[aragorn]

Can't blame Giroux. He walked into a locker room that's more focused in money, drinking and gambling than actually winning hockey games.

It's a sad state of affairs in Sens land.

Isn't every professional athlete & sports teams into drinking & gambling & making as much money as possible? Gambling advertising is everywhere during sports games, these guys make millions of dollars, Jaromir Jagr was known to have lost $500K betting on an on line gambling site. It's a sad state of affairs in sports in general & not just in Ottawa, although this is more heresay & opinion than fact. Isn't it well known that AHL teams & even junior teams that take buses everywhere play poker in the back of the bus? Why attribute this well known behaviour throughout sports on just the Sens when it is rampid throughtout sports?

These guys aren't saints, (Mike Fisher maybe) they are rich young men who work hard at their craft & like to party when they aren't playing, lots of young men go to sports events & get hammered & go partying afterwards or go to the casino, why should some of them be any different? Hopefully, they mature & learn as they age, but why blame them for enjoying their lives, that they have the talent to do what they do. Don't most people who play sports not wish they were good enough to become professional athletes & reap the rewards of being that good at their sport? Stop trying to blame everything wrong with the team on one player, they need to fix goaltending & RD, once that is done start targeting other deficiencies.

 

[DueDiligence]

he definitely checked out, the kids and losing broke him.

also Giroux definitely mailed it in the second half, probably the first time in his career that he has. you could tell his heart wasn't into it.

And he should be embarrassed at his own effort. Leaders "don't mail it in".

 

[DueDiligence]

Can't blame Giroux. He walked into a locker room that's more focused in money, drinking and gambling than actually winning hockey games.

It's a sad state of affairs in Sens land.

Can't blame Giroux???? Sure as hell we can.

 

[Ouroboros]

I think it's far more likely that we saw the beginnings of Giroux aging out rather than him dogging it. Once you go beyond 35, the end usually isn't far behind.

 

[Micklebot]

I think it's far more likely that we saw the beginnings of Giroux aging out rather than him dogging it. Once you go beyond 35, the end usually isn't far behind.

We also don't know what his health was like, he may have been doing the play through it thing despite not being close to 100%, although could be the result of your point.

I think it's likely that Giroux is slowing down with his age, he's likely going to have longer recovery time between games, and he'll take longer to heal nagging injuries.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I think it's far more likely that we saw the beginnings of Giroux aging out rather than him dogging it. Once you go beyond 35, the end usually isn't far behind.

He definitely is aging out. He's got a lot of miles on him, and isn't exactly the biggest body around.

He can still be useful...if his role is managed properly. Lower icetime and a bit more care in matchups.

The real question is, what is his next contract going to look like (if he even wants another contract), and can we afford to pay the premium he'd want? And is it the right choice to overpay him on a 1-2 year deal?

 

[PlayOn]

He definitely is aging out. He's got a lot of miles on him, and isn't exactly the biggest body around.

He can still be useful...if his role is managed properly. Lower icetime and a bit more care in matchups.

The real question is, what is his next contract going to look like (if he even wants another contract), and can we afford to pay the premium he'd want? And is it the right choice to overpay him on a 1-2 year deal?

I think Giroux should be bumped to the third line where he can help Greig develop as a C. In the top 6, we need a bit more speed and tenacity, and that’s what we should be looking at this off-season.

With that being said, I really don’t see an issue with his next contract. A lot has been made about how bad we are but I think Giroux is going to retire here no matter what. He has a baby on the way and he moved home to be closer to family. I don’t think at this stage he’s going to uproot his life to chase a 1/32 chance at a cup.

Similar to Spezza in Toronto, I think we could see some smaller deals on a year to year basis (not as low as spezza’s AAV was though). Obviously if he puts up 80 points next year this won’t be the case, but to your point earlier I do think we need to reduce his minutes and responsibilities so he can pace himself.

 

[Cosmix]

I think Giroux should be bumped to the third line where he can help Greig develop as a C. In the top 6, we need a bit more speed and tenacity, and that’s what we should be looking at this off-season.

With that being said, I really don’t see an issue with his next contract. A lot has been made about how bad we are but I think Giroux is going to retire here no matter what. He has a baby on the way and he moved home to be closer to family. I don’t think at this stage he’s going to uproot his life to chase a 1/32 chance at a cup.

Similar to Spezza in Toronto, I think we could see some smaller deals on a year to year basis (not as low as spezza’s AAV was though). Obviously if he puts up 80 points next year this won’t be the case, but to your point earlier I do think we need to reduce his minutes and responsibilities so he can pace himself.

I don't know what Giroux wants; however, I suspect he might want a better chance at being on an SC champion team than he will have next year and beyond with the Senators. Since he is a UFA he will choose his next team wisely and it will have a better chance than 1/32nd. He will likely have to take a significant salary cut to get there since the better teams will be near the cap ceiling.

 

[bicboi64]

If we're out of the playoff picture and Giroux says he wants out, I just hope he doesn't restrict us the way Tarasenko did.

 

[PlayOn]

I don't know what Giroux wants; however, I suspect he might want a better chance at being on an SC champion team than he will have next year and beyond with the Senators. Since he is a UFA he will choose his next team wisely and it will have a better chance than 1/32nd. He will likely have to take a significant salary cut to get there since the better teams will be near the cap ceiling.

Yeah I mean who knows, we don’t know the guy. But how many players return home to end their career and end up leaving? While I think he genuinely wanted to win when he signed here, if it was his number one priority he’d have gone elsewhere. Doesn’t mean he can’t change his mind.

 

[BigRig4]

I don't know what Giroux wants; however, I suspect he might want a better chance at being on an SC champion team than he will have next year and beyond with the Senators. Since he is a UFA he will choose his next team wisely and it will have a better chance than 1/32nd. He will likely have to take a significant salary cut to get there since the better teams will be near the cap ceiling.

I think (purely speculating) Giroux took this deal to be in his hometown. If he wanted to win that badly, he wouldn't have signed with us in the first place.

 

[PlayOn]

If we're out of the playoff picture and Giroux says he wants out, I just hope he doesn't restrict us the way Tarasenko did.

I would happily send Giroux wherever he wants to go. He gave us two great years, we’ll be fine even if we don’t get a 2026 2nd round pick.

 

[bicboi64]

I would happily send Giroux wherever he wants to go. He gave us two great years, we’ll be fine even if we don’t get a 2026 2nd round pick.

He's got a NMC so he'll definitely be picking where he goes if that situation arises. Fingers crossed that we don't even get to that point

 

[Stylizer1]

I feel bad for him being sold on a team on the cusp fyous(?) but instead wasting his last few good seasons left.

 

[Micklebot]

Good interview with Giroux on CiH,

Talked about how much harder good teams work in practice (mentioned the difference when he was traded from Philly to Florida)
Talked about how much faster the kids coming into the league are,
Talked about the disappointment of last season and... distractions in the room
Talked about some of the young guys like Greig, and Pinto.