Philadelphia Flyers captain, Claude Giroux, took to the ice for his 1000th game in the National Hockey League, all of which have been with the Flyers, tonight vs. Nashville Predators at Wells Fargo Center.
He becomes just the second player in franchise history to reach that mark and trails only Bob Clarke (1,144) for the most games played all-time in Flyers history.
Giroux also becomes the 368th player, and 365th skater, in NHL history to have played 1000 games, the 71st player to accomplish that feat with the same team, the 36th active player, 11th player this season and sixth player from the 2006 NHL Draft Class to reach 1000 games.
To celebrate the occasion, Giroux was honored in a pregame ceremony where he was joined on the ice with his family. The Flyers played a special video that included congratulations messages from family and friends, current and former teammates.
The Flyers presented Giroux and his family with the following items to commemorate the remarkable milestone:
• From the Flyers organization for Giroux, an engraved silver stick and Tiffany Crystal provided by the NHL as well as a custom made piece of artwork created by a local artist and Flyers fan featuring his greatest moments as a Flyer.
• From his teammates, an engraved Rolex watch for Giroux, an engraved crystal tennis bracelet presented to his wife, Ryanne, and two engraved mini silver sticks for sons, Gavin and Palmer.
• From the team’s equipment and training staff, an original piece of artwork featuring the iconic pose of his game-winning goal in the 2019 Stadium Series vs. Pittsburgh Penguins at Lincoln Financial Field.
• All players wore special 1,000 t-shirts in the locker room pregame, #28 jerseys for warmups and their game jerseys featured a Giroux 1,000 patch on them.
• All fans in attendance received a custom, limited-edition print designed by local artist Patrick Higgins, based on the piece Giroux received during the pre-game ceremony.
Giroux is in his 15th Flyers and NHL season and 10th season as Flyers captain since being named on January 15, 2013. He has served as captain for over 700 games, including tonight (715), making him the longest-tenured captain in Flyers history.
In addition to tonight’s milestone, Giroux has hit multiple franchise marks this season (stats are through 999 games played):
On Mar. 13 , Giroux scored a goal to record his 900th point in the NHL and became the second player in team history to hit that milestone. In addition, the goal was Giroux’s 291st and moved him into 8th place all-time in franchise history, which surpassed Eric Lindros.
On Dec. 29 at Seattle, Giroux recorded his 600th assist becoming one of only two Flyers (Clarke-852) to reach 600 assists as a Flyer, and on Dec. 10 vs. Vegas Golden Knights, Giroux surpassed Clarke for the most points on the power play (334) in Flyers history with a power-play assist.
A native of Hearst, Ontario, Giroux ranks second in Flyers history in overall points (900), assists (609), games played (999) and is the Flyers all-time leader in overtime goals (11) and points on the power-play (339).
MOST GAMES PLAYED IN FLYERS HISTORY
Bob Clarke 1,144
Claude Giroux 1,000
Bill Barber 903
Brian Propp 790
* Sean Couturier is the next active Flyer with the most games played in a Flyers uniform at 721 games played.
Selected in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Flyers, Giroux ranks second in assists, third in points and fourth in goals among all players selected in the 2006 Draft. He is also just the third player of the 2006 draft class to hit 900 points (Nicklas Backstrom & Phil Kessel).
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