Giroux becoming a vocal presence for Flyers

RALEIGH, N.C. - Peter Laviolette said Claude Giroux is not the type of player who will parade up and down the locker room, trying to coax his teammates to a win with the sound of his voice.

But if there is one thing we have learned through the magic of HBO's cameras in the four-episode reality series, "24/7: Flyers/Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic," it's that Giroux is a lot more vocal than outsiders might have realized.

Take, for instance, when the Flyers entered their Madison Square Garden locker room during the second intermission of their Dec. 23 game, trailing 2-0, when Giroux said: "We need to have a positive attitude in this locker room, boys."

Or, when Giroux was filmed leading the Flyers' trash-talking charge on the ice, either in front of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist or Stars center Steve Ott.

"He's becoming a vocal leader," Scott Hartnell said yesterday. "Guys feed off that. He's engaging guys. He wants the best out of guys. Guys feed off that. I think that's big for a young star like he is."

On the ice, Giroux wears an "A" on his sweater for alternate captain in the absence of captain Chris Pronger, who has not played since Nov. 19. According to a source, the Flyers have not yet had any internal discussions about replacing Pronger as captain, even though he has been ruled out for the balance of the regular season and playoffs.

Giroux turns 24 tomorrow.

"I think he feels a bit more comfortable," Hartnell said. "You can't come in and be 19 years old and have the respect of 20 guys. With a couple years under his belt, he speaks up. Even though he is young, people listen."

Danny Briere said teammates are willing to listen because of the respect he has earned on the ice with his Hart Trophy-caliber play. Giroux, who is second in the Art Ross Trophy race for the league scoring lead despite having played five or seven fewer games than the other candidates, has 18 goals and 30 assists in 37 games.

"Age, experience and play are all factors in how your words are going to be taken from the rest of the team," Briere said. "I know he's still fairly young, but I think he's earned the respect of everyone. With his play, too, I think you become more of a talkative guy, or more confident. I think he's earned the right to do that."

Coach Peter Laviolette said he has watched Giroux mature and grow in a variety of ways over the past two seasons, but he hadn't noticed much of a leadership difference off the ice.

"There's really not much of a difference [from last year]," Briere said. "He's the same guy. What's changed is his game on the ice. He's taken another step or two or three."

Since last week's "24/7" series finale, the reviews have been mostly positive, but the consensus is that the Flyers-Rangers edition was not as strong as last year's original Penguins-Capitals series.

One of the things that was missing was day-to-day interaction between Peter Laviolette and Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, especially with concern for player evaluation, possible trade talk or roster movement. The previous year's coverage of the dialogue between Penguins GM Ray Shero and coach Dan Bylsma was unprecedented.

According to Laviolette, it wasn't exactly an accident that HBO cameras didn't catch those conversations or personal meetings with players. A league source told the Daily News that while the Flyers did not assert any editorial control, HBO simply wasn't invited to film those portions of day-to-day hockey operations.

Noticeably missing was the Flyers' internal debate about Pronger's health. The team captain was barely mentioned in the last three episodes.

"I've never been a big fan of using the media to motivate or talk about my players," Laviolette said. "I don't believe in that. That doesn't mean that they don't get meetings, because they do. A lot of times they don't like those meetings. But for me, that's an opportunity to coach a player.

"If there was something of any significance, it probably got the cut. There were certainly some things that came up during the show. But that isn't to say that we staged it and said, 'We'll talk about this, why don't you get your cameras in here?' The cameras caught what they caught."