Inside the Flyers: Giroux's leadership is by example

There is a theory floating around that the Flyers are off to a poor start because Claude Giroux is not a good captain.

It's an erroneous theory.

The Flyers have struggled because they have mid-level talent, and because several players haven't played with the passion provided by Giroux and his linemates.

Giroux may not be the best sound bite in the Flyers' locker room, but he leads - quite well - with his relentless style on the ice.

The 26-year-old star center has his own captain's style. Just like his predecessor, Chris Pronger, had his way of being the captain.

Giroux can raise his voice in the locker room when needed, but he's more content to let his playing do the talking.

Pronger was different. The big defenseman played the game with an edge, and he was an in-your-face leader. If he didn't like something you did, he let you know about it. Loudly. And he didn't care who heard him or whether he hurt your feelings.

There is no Official Captains Guidebook. No right way, no wrong way. Each captain must lead by whatever feels natural, whatever makes him - and, by extension, his teammates - feel comfortable.

"Everybody has their own personality," said veteran defenseman Mark Streit, a Flyers alternate captain who used to serve as the Islanders captain. "Some guys are more outgoing, and some guys are more quiet. The kind of personality you have, that's how you want to be, because you can't be something else. It wouldn't be real.

The best way to lead is by "playing hard every night," Streit said. "That's how I tried to be on Long Island, and that was more natural. . . . It's all about being positive and making sure the guys are positive. Sometimes you need to be the bad guy and yell a few times, but more than that, you have to be positive. And it's your daily work, too, and how you prepare yourself, how you practice, how hard you work - and being an example."

Voracek, who entered Saturday leading the NHL with 27 points, said Giroux has "tremendous respect from the guys. He's one of the best players in the NHL, and he hates losing. When we lose, you can tell, because G is pissed and tries to get the team going - and I think that's the way to do it."

"He's very positive in the room," Streit said. ". . . When it's time to step up in the room, he does, and he finds the right words."

Giroux takes the losses personally, and while he is mostly a quiet, lead-by-example captain like the Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews, he's "vocal at the right moments," Voracek said. "He's not vocal when he doesn't need to be, but when we play a bad game, he knows what to say at the right moment."

And when he doesn't feel the need to be vocal, he has a general manager who is more than willing to seize the opportunity.

Ron Hextall did just that after the Flyers' 2-0 loss to last season's playoff conquerors, the New York Rangers, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, tearing into the team after an embarrassing, listless performance against one of their main rivals.

On national TV, no less - and in a game in which Giroux surprisingly played despite entering the arena with a boot on his injured left foot.

If the Flyers don't respond to Hextall, you get the feeling there will be a massive shake-up, some veterans will be dealt for draft picks, and prospects will be promoted from Lehigh Valley.

"The team needed it," Streit said of Hextall's profanity-laced, door-slamming outburst in the locker room, "and now it's up to us to go out there and perform and play the way we're supposed to play and can play."

The Flyers were a difficult team to play against after coach Craig Berube took over last season. They lost that edge in their playoff loss to the Rangers last spring, and they have started this year as a nondescript team in search of an identity.

Though Hextall doesn't agree, the Flyers' talent level is in the middle of the NHL pack, so they need to ratchet up their competitiveness if they are going to be a playoff team. If not, the highlight of this season may be the stirring Eric Lindros/John LeClair pregame ceremony Thursday.