Nearing 30, Claude Giroux reflects on his hectic decade

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"Oh, Jesus!"

That was Claude Giroux's initial thought when I brought up the inevitability of his turning 30 this Friday. While teammates were jet-setting to the tropics during the bye week, Giroux is simply spending time with friends and family outside of Ottawa.

"If we stay at home and watch a movie, that's pretty good, too," said Giroux, who didn't envision any elaborate birthday plans. 

Certainly, age is just a number for a guy who has done nothing but put up big numbers since entering the NHL just 38 days after his 20th birthday.

"I always say you're as old as you feel, and I feel pretty good right now," Giroux said. "Time flies by to know that I've been in the league for 10 years. It's pretty crazy to think, but a lot of good things are in the future."

He can focus on the future now that he's buried the past this season.

Just a year ago, Giroux may have felt as if he was pushing 40 coming off a corrective core muscle procedure to his hip and abdomen areas that general manager Ron Hextall labeled a "maintenance surgery." Clearly, it was much more as Giroux struggled to be the dominant player he was in previous seasons. That burst of speed was missing and his confidence wasn't too far behind.

Admittedly, since the first day back in Voorhees, New Jersey, this past September, Giroux's been inspired and motivated to prove that the guy preparing to enter his 30s could be just as dominant as the player who brought a degree of wizardry to South Broad in his early-20s.

Throughout his first five years in the league, Giroux dazzled with dekes, toe drags and other shootout moves he perfected on the frozen pond of Northern Ontario. He played with a nasty edge, laying vicious checks to guys 15 and 20 pounds heavier than he was.

"It's the motivation to go out there and play and not think," Giroux said. "It's a lot different now. You have to really prepare more. You've got to take care of your body more. I've learned a lot and I've been able to take those life lessons and just grow with that."

He scored a game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Final at the age of 22, led the Flyers in scoring for the first time at 23 and was named the 19th team captain in franchise history, taking over for the injured Chris Pronger, just three days after his 25th birthday. For most players, that's a pretty distinguished career, but for Giroux, he was just getting started. 

Three months later came "The Shift," when he approached then-head coach Peter Laviolette and asked to take that opening shift in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Penguins. After laying out Sidney Crosby with an open-ice hit, Giroux proceeded to score the first goal of the game and later earned Laviolette's label as "the best player in the world."

"There's a lot I wish I would have known when I was 20, but when I was 20, I was lucky enough to have a coach and teammates to show me the way and help me be a player that I can be today," Giroux said. "I've learned a lot in those 10 years. I don't know if I'd change a lot in those 10 years."     

And why would he? If Giroux hasn't been the world's best player, he's come pretty close. Since 2010-11, only Crosby and Patrick Kane have scored more points. 

If the 20s can be considered a time of self-discovery, then the following decade is a period of refinement as Giroux will learn even more about himself as he grows older. Now engaged, he's planning to marry his fiancee Ryanne Breton this summer.

"It's crazy to think how young I was. I've got a lot of memories here in Philadelphia, not just on the ice but off the ice," Giroux said. "Hopefully, I've got 10 more years here."

And 10 more years to fulfill what has been a life-long commitment.

"Obviously when you do something in life, you want to be the best you can be," Giroux said. "I've dreamed since I was a little kid to win the Stanley Cup. Not being able to do that, that's my biggest motivation in hockey. I've got to take everything that I've learned and bring it to my game and get closer to my dream."

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