Claude Giroux (French pronunciation: [klod ʒiʁu]; born January 12, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward and alternate captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers. Selected by the Flyers 22nd overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft, Giroux was named the Flyers' team captain in 2013, and became the longest-tenured captain in team history. Giroux played his 1,000th game with the Flyers on March 17, 2022. Giroux has been known to be a very flexible offensive player; capable of playing comfortably on both centre and wing throughout his career.
Before playing in the NHL, Giroux played his major junior career with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he helped the team win a 2008 President's Cup and earned the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the 2008 playoff MVP. Internationally, he won a gold medal with Team Canada in the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Giroux made his debut with the Flyers in February 2008 and joined the roster full-time midway through the 2008–09 season. In 2011, after the trades of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, Giroux took over the role of the club's first-line centre. He was the club's top point-scorer for seven seasons. In 2012 and 2014, he finished third in the league in point scoring. In 2018, he finished second in the league with 102 points, behind only Connor McDavid.
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Early life
Giroux was born on January 12, 1988, in Hearst, Ontario, a Francophone town, and is fluent in both English and French. He is the son of Raymond and Nicole Giroux, and has one sister named Isabelle. Giroux's favourite hockey player growing up was Pavel Bure.
In mid 2002, at the age of 14, Giroux and his family moved to Ottawa, Ontario, where he attended Béatrice-Desloges High School in the suburban community of Orléans, but graduated in 12th grade at Minto French Catholic Highschool due to the school schedule being flexible around his busy hockey schedule. While living in Orléans, Giroux played Major Bantam AA and Minor Midget AA hockey for the Cumberland Barons, and was the club's leading scorer in the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons. After being passed over in the 2004 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft, Giroux played for the Cumberland Grads during the 2004–05 season at age 16. Despite missing most of the season after contracting mononucleosis, Giroux scored 40 points in 48 games and was named the Central Junior A Hockey League (CJHL)'s Rookie of the Year.
Playing career
Junior
A free agent, Giroux was invited to the (QMJHL)'s Gatineau Olympiques training camp for a walk-on tryout. He was signed shortly after. During his rookie season with the Olympiques, Giroux scored 39 goals for a total of 103 points in 69 games and was named QMJHL Rookie of the Year. He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL in the first round, 22nd overall, of the 2006 NHL entry draft. The Flyers signed Giroux to an entry-level contract on July 23, 2007.
Giroux made his NHL debut when the Flyers visited the Ottawa Senators on February 19, 2008, recording no points and being the team's first shooter in the shootout. Sent back down to the Olympiques, he helped the club win the QMJHL Playoffs and earned himself the Guy Lafleur Trophy as MVP in the QMJHL playoffs by scoring 17 goals and 34 assists in 19 playoff games, also setting a franchise record.
On February 20, 2019, Giroux's number 28 was retired with the Olympiques.
Professional
After a disappointing training camp for the Flyers at the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Giroux was assigned to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms. After acclimatizing to professional hockey, however, things turned around quickly; he was named Rookie of the Month for December for his eight goals and six assists in eight games played. He was then called up to the Flyers after the Christmas break and remained there throughout the rest of the season. On December 30, he recorded his first NHL point by assisting on a Jeff Carter goal in a win over the Vancouver Canucks. He suffered a mild concussion during the next game when Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks elbowed him in the head. Giroux finished the game but missed the next five; Perry was suspended for four games. On January 27, 2009, Giroux scored his first NHL goal against goaltender Tomáš Vokoun and the Florida Panthers in a 3–2 loss. He ended the 2008–09 season with nine goals and 27 points in 42 games played. His first Stanley Cup playoff goal came in a 6–3 win in game three of the opening round in the 2009 playoffs against Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-André Fleury. The same game also saw him setting up a short-handed goal when he stole the puck in the corner of the Penguins zone and outworked their backcheck, skating past the back of their net twice protecting the puck while looking for incoming support in the form of Simon Gagné. Giroux and the Flyers would be defeated by the fourth-seeded and eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins in six games. He played all six games and recorded two goals and three assists for five points.
The Flyers were an inconsistent team for the bulk of the 2009–10 season, which affected all of their players. Giroux spent a large amount of time centring a line with James van Riemsdyk, the highly-touted rookie winger that the Flyers had drafted second overall in 2007. The team's fortunes, however, soon turned dramatically, as they finished third in the Atlantic Division and qualified for the playoffs by winning the last game of the season against their rival, the New York Rangers, with Giroux scoring the game-winning shootout goal against Henrik Lundqvist. Girioux finished the season fifth on the team in goals and fourth in points. Despite coming in as the conference seventh seed, the Flyers dismantled the second-seeded New Jersey Devils in the first round, winning the series 4–1. The Flyers then made an historic comeback in the semifinals against the sixth-seeded Boston Bruins, becoming only the third team in NHL history, and first since 1975, to overcome a three-game deficit in the playoffs; the series win earned the team a spot in the Eastern Conference Final against the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens. The Flyers dominated the Canadiens, winning the series 4–1, and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. In the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals against the second-seeded Chicago Blackhawks, Giroux put up 4 points in the series, including the game-winning goal in overtime of game three, but the Flyers eventually lost the series 4–2. Giroux ended the post-season with 21 points, cementing his reputation as an emerging young talent.
International play
Giroux competed with Team Canada in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Ice Hockey Championship (WJC) in 2008. He scored two goals and four assists in seven games to help Canada win its fourth consecutive WJC. He competed with Team Canada in the IIHF World Championship in April 2013. He scored three goals and five assists in eight games. In 2015, he was a member of Canada's gold medal-winning team at the World Hockey Championships. He competed with Team Canada in the 2015 IIHF World Championship, and was awarded Player of the Game in the team's victory against Team Russia in the final game of the Championship.
Personal life
During the 2010–2011 season, Giroux lived with teammate Daniel Brière and Brière's three sons in their Haddonfield, New Jersey, home. In 2011, Giroux moved out and into an apartment with teammate Brayden Schenn.
During the 2012–13 lockout, Giroux also made a voice appearance in the 2012 TV film, The Magic Hockey Skates (based on the book of the same name).
On July 1, 2014, Giroux was arrested by police in Ottawa after twice grabbing the buttocks of a male police officer while intoxicated inside an Ottawa nightclub. Though he reportedly spent the night in jail, no charges were laid.
In December 2016, Giroux became engaged to his longtime girlfriend Ryanne Breton and the two married in July 2018. They have three sons.
In May 2023, Giroux was given a sponsor's exemption to play in the professional golf PGA Tour Canada event Commissionaires Ottawa Open and was also the tournament's honorary chair.
During the 2024–25 season, he was the victim of two auto thefts at his Ottawa home.
Records
Gatineau Olympiques – most points in a single QMJHL playoff run (51 points in 19 playoff games)
Philadelphia Flyers – most points in a single Stanley Cup playoffs game (6)
Philadelphia Flyers – most games played by a team captain (715)
Philadelphia Flyers – most power play points (334)
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
Awards and honours
QMJHL
Played in the 2005–06 CHL Top Prospects Game
QMJHL Rookie of the Month – December 2005 and March 2006
2005–06 QMJHL All-Rookie Team
QMJHL Offensive Player of the Month – September 2006
2008 President's Cup (QMJHL playoff champion) with Gatineau Olympiques
2008 Guy Lafleur Trophy (QMJHL playoff MVP)
2007–08 QMJHL First All-Star Team
2007–08 Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team
Jersey number 28 retired by Gatineau Olympiques on February 20, 2019
AHL
AHL Rookie of the Month – December 2008
NHL
7× NHL All-Star Game – 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022
NHL Second All-Star Team – 2018
NHL All-Star Game MVP – 2022
Bobby Clarke Trophy – 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018
Gene Hart Memorial Award – 2011
Toyota Cup (3 Stars Award) – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021
Other
Named 2011 Pro Athlete of the Year by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association
2012 recipient of the Philadelphia Sports Congress' John Wanamaker Athletic Award
Voted in as the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 13 video game
Game-winning goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets voted by Flyers fans as the team's "Highlight of the Year" during the 2013–14 season
Game-winning overtime goal against the Winnipeg Jets, along with the assist by Shayne Gostisbehere, voted by Flyers fans as the team's "Highlight of the Year" during the 2015–16 season
Named 2018 Saku Koivu Award (Comeback Player) recipient by The Hockey News