I have been waiting for news of the NHL starting back up for months. Being able to work from home has left me able to stalk Twitter, Instagram and the NHL website more frequently. When the news broke that training camps would start on July 13th with games beginning on August 1st, I was giddy with joy.
That joy was short lived. While I am obviously concerned about the health of the players and their families, the idea of “hub” cities, basically bubbles for the players, seems to be a solid plan to keep the players healthy. Frequent testing, limited outside contact, near constant sanitizing and quarantine of any ill player or staff members…the NHL has this covered, right?
As I continued my fevered search for information, I stumbled across a Tweet from Ryanne Giroux, wife of none other than Flyers Captain Claude Giroux. Yes, I follow Claude Giroux’s wife on Twitter and Instagram, thank you very much. She posts a ton of cute pictures of G and their adorable son Gavin, and some feature our Captain sans shirt, don’t judge me, OK? On this day, this tweet stopped me dead in my social media scrolling tracks.
Let that sink in. Once Claude Giroux enters “The Bubble”, he won’t get to see his son. Absent a quick exit from the playoffs, he won’t see his son in person for several months. Per NHL sources, families will be allowed to reunite with players in Edmonton, if their teams make the Conference Finals. Considering the NHL is eyeing late September or early October for the Cup Finals, it would be reasonable to think the Conference Finals will start in early September, so that looks to be just about two months before Claude will see Baby G.
You could argue that during the playoffs Giroux wouldn’t see his son all that often, but after home games, he could watch him sleep. Momma Ryanne could bring him to home games; there would most certainly be cute pictures of the two Giroux men ice side. Not this year. Covid-19 has changed everyone’s lives. Claude Giroux will most certainly celebrate his son’s 1st Birthday with him via FaceTime on August 26th.
The cost of everything in the age of Covid-19 is higher. The Giroux Family seems to be accepting of that price, because that is who Claude Giroux is. The next person that questions Claude Giroux’s loyalty to this team, his commitment to winning, or his being deserving of the C should take a long, hard look at this tweet. He is missing his son’s first birthday. FOR THIS TEAM. FOR THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. He has, in my eyes, just earned a spot in the Flyers All Time Team.
by: Phyllis Hunter (@flyersfan1129)
Photo Credits: Ryanne Giroux Twitter
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