VOORHEES, N.J. — Claude Giroux may still be a bachelor, but he’s seen a number of altars up close in recent months.
“I went to a lot of weddings over the summer,” the bearded Flyers captain said.
This is the eve of Flyers training camp opening at Skate Zone in Voorhees, New Jersey. All the players reported on Thursday morning for meetings and video sessions.
Some had to tidy up with on-ice testing, as well.
“We wanted to make sure we had complete testing results on all of these guys,” new head coach Dave Hakstol said.
General manager Ron Hextall was impressed with the tempo, concentration and work ethic he witnessed during the short two-day rookie camp under Hakstol.
Hextall expects even more from his veterans as two squads combine on Friday for the full camp. He wants to see a visible resolve from his team on the ice to make the most of this camp and get off to a quick start once the regular season begins in October.
Not making the playoffs is something that haunted the Flyers for five long months.
“When you don’t make the playoffs, you’re upset, you try to figure out why you didn’t make it and start asking yourself questions,” Giroux said.
“We did a lot of good things last year, we did some bad things. If we minimize the bad things, we will be a good team. There is disappointment, but we have to look at we did good things, too. A good record at home and we played well against teams that were in the playoffs.
“It was the teams that didn’t make the playoffs [against whom] we struggled a bit. That says we have to be more consistent this year, be ready each game. But it was a long summer and you carry a chip on your shoulder. You work out harder and want the season to start right away. That’s why it was such a long summer.”
The organization expects more from the leadership group this season. Some of those players chatted over the summer, but there were no face-to-face meetings.
“It’s pretty tough to do that,” Giroux said. “Everyone has their own thing going on with family and friends [in the summer].
“Like I said, I’m sure everyone went to at least two weddings this summer and it took up a lot of time. Everyone’s back and camp is soon and everyone is back and wants to work together. They want it.”
Hakstol is still meeting with players to develop some bonds. There’s a lot to do in terms of introductions with this group in his first NHL season.
“When camp starts, communication with the leadership group and all the players with the coach, it will only get better,” Giroux said.
Hakstol did seek out certain players over the summer. He flew to the Czech Republic to meet with Jakub Voracek. And he flew to Ottawa to sit down with Giroux, who said he was impressed that Hakstol made such an effort.
“It kind of shows his good leadership,” Giroux said. “Him going all the way to Prague [to see Voracek] shows his dedication. It’s fun to see when you have a new coach and he is making the extra effort to show everyone that he really cares.”
That was one of the things Hextall said impressed him about Hakstol. How much he deeply cares about his players to make an effort like that.
Hakstol can build off that during this training camp.
“With a new coach and a couple of new faces, you want to make sure everyone is on the same page,” Giroux said. “Everybody has to have the same goal and we need to work on our identity. When we get the identity, we can go from there.”