I spent Tuesday morning with Flyers alumni at a Comcast Spectacor golf outing at the Ace Club in Lafayette Hill. These guys are beaming after the Flyers disposed of the Penguins in the opening round of the playoffs.
Some of the biggest names in franchise history -- Bernie Parent, Bob Kelly, Joe Watson, Jimmy Watson, Don Saleski, Bob Dailey and Gary Dornhoefer all were out to enjoy a windy day on the links and talk hockey. The No. 1 topic was the performance of Claude Giroux in the Pens series and Game 6 in particular.
To a man, Giroux is now without a doubt the man. Hearing the former Flyers offer one compliment after another about this emerging superstar is a credit to his progression in just four years in Philadelphia.
They loved hearing about his pre-game request to Peter Laviolette to start the game and how he set the tempo for the entire afternoon on his first shift. There is no doubt in the alums' minds that Giroux is special and Sunday was his coming out party at the young age of 24.
The Flyers alumni are a tight group and they know what it takes to win championships. You get the feeling that they believe this year's team has what it takes to win it all thanks to a fierce competitor who is only getting better with time.
E-mail Neil Hartman at nhartman@comcastsportsnet.com