It's Claude Giroux's city, the rest of us just live in it:
And a 24-year-old shall lead them.
Claude Giroux. Yes.
On the first shift of what turned out to be the clinching game of the Flyers-Penguins series, this is what the Flyers’ best player did. He leveled Penguins captain Sidney Crosby in the first 5 seconds of the game. He scored a goal at 32 seconds. And as a kind-of-nervous Wells Fargo Center erupted in celebration, turned his own celebration into an exhortation.
Absolutely. Only one time in my life have I seen anything like what Giroux did today in finishing off Pittsburgh, and that was way, way back when I was 11 years ago, and a hobbled Willis Reed ended Game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals right at the start by scoring the first two baskets of the game -- the only points, it turned out, that he scored that night. Giroux came out and solved all of Philadelphia's problems in one quick loop of the rink, pummeling the all-too precious Crosby, getting what appeared to be an all-time record nervous crowd back into the game, and then giving the Flyers a lead that they never relinquished. Now it's on to...Washington, maybe?
It's all good. But it's even better when you're the king. Especially when you're just 24.
Note: The newspaper gods, in their infintite wisdom, are rolling out a brand new content management system (a.k.a. CMS) tonight! Not quite as exciting as the Flyers' win. So blogging may be extremely light. You're welcome.