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While the Philadelphia Flyers are gearing up for the 2013-2014 NHL season, fate has seemed to throw a wrench in their training camp and preseason schedule plans.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux has injured his right index finger and is expected to miss five to six weeks. Giroux’s injury is kind of laughable, since he injured himself, not by playing hockey, but by playing golf. Not only that, but the Flyers captain shattered his golf club while injuring his finger.
The injury was first being reported as a broken wrist, which sent Flyers fans in chaos, but was later clarified as only a finger injury. It has also been reported that he has already had surgery on it.
So good on the Flyers for acting so quickly, but this does not bode well for training camp and exhibition games. Since Giroux is expected to be out for a little over a month, he is likely to miss the whole of camp and most exhibition games. However, the hockey season doesn’t start for another 48 games, so in terms of the Flyers stats, this is going to be okay for them.
One of the major issues they faced this past season was the amount of players that were injured. So one of the main obstacles they will face this year is whether or not the captain will remain healthy. With an injury before the season starts, that’s not good foreshadowing.
Giroux’s injury to his finger is minor, so it will be an easy hurdle for them to get over, and he should be able to bounce back from the injury fairly quickly. If he is not present during exhibition games, this is not going to be anything the team is really going to fret over too much. Preseason is just a taste of the season, so it’s really going to be imperative that he is present during opening day.
Deanna Vasso is a Flyers writer for www.rantsports.com, you can follow her on Twitter, like her on Facebook and join her Google network.
