Flyers’ Giroux, Hart kick off season improvement campaign

One has been a franchise pillar for more than a decade. The other is the Great Not-Quite Right Hope of the future.

Claude Giroux, the longest-tenured captain in Flyers history. Carter Hart, the anointed savior in net, where the franchise has had a history of injury issues and other problems. They are joined together for this coming season focused on one common goal … to save face.

On Thursday, Flyers old (lots of them now) and young, essentially symbolized by Giroux and Hart, officially kicked into what is supposed to be a full training camp ahead of a back-to-normal 2021-22 season.

Outside factors will determine the fate of just how back the NHL can be.

Internal factors will matter most in telling the story of how much of a comeback the Flyers may or may not be able to make.

“Last year is in the past, so it has no effect on this upcoming season,” said Hart, 23, who is putting last season in the past mostly because he went 9-11-5 with a 3.67 goals-against average and .877 saves percentage in 27 games.

“I think this summer we have made a lot of great moves,” Hart added. “We lost some great players but I think some of the guys coming in will fill some big roles and step up. I’m looking forward to the start of the season.”

Asked how quickly he felt he could “turn things around,” or get back to the form he showed in the 2019-20 pandemic-shortened season in which at 21 he appeared as one of the top developing goalies in the league, Hart replied, “Right away.

“I just needed a break after last season,” he concluded. “I took some time off from the ice and had to recharge the batteries a little bit. Got into tennis this summer, so that was fun. Golf is usually what I do over the summer. It was good to recharge and relax for a little bit.”

While Hart was trying hard to sound a relaxed note, Giroux, 33, showed that he’s practiced at it.

Despite all his franchise accomplishments – his name will dot several sections of the Flyers record books when he’s done here – Giroux’s most accomplished team was one in which he played a relatively small role.

When the Flyers of young guns Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, and older stars Danny Briere, Simon Gagne, Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen made it through six games of the Stanley Cup finals before bowing to the Chicago Blackhawks, Giroux was a lower-line center playing in his first full season.

Since then seasonal results have been less than mixed; the Flyers during Giroux’s captaincy tenure (the labor-delayed 2012-13 season to present) have missed the playoffs five times out of the nine seasons. Of their four playoff appearances, they won one round just once.

Last season, Giroux’s 13th, he finished in a three-way tie for the club production lead at 43 points with James van Riemsdyk and since-departed Jake Voracek. But now that he’s entering the final season of his contract, and there is much speculation that it could be his last in Philadelphia, there’s no better time for Giroux to help his team make some real strides toward … and perhaps through … the postseason.

“We have an older team and I think guys we brought in have a lot of experience,” said Giroux, referencing veteran offseason additions like forwards Cam Atkinson and Derick Brassard, along with defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen, Ryan Ellis and Keith Yandle, and goalie Martin Jones.

“Some guys feel like they have something to prove and as a team we definitely feel like we have something to prove,” Giroux added. “Anytime you have new players coming in and a different team there is always a little excitement of getting to know the guys. I think this camp maybe is a little different than the camps we have had before. Guys are excited, but it doesn’t matter with the roster. You need to find a way to be able to have chemistry and today was a good first day.”