Last season didn’t end up as Claude Giroux had hoped. He left the Philadelphia Flyers after being with the organization for the last 15 years and was hoping to lift the Cup. But the Panthers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the playoff.
But it was still a season to remember for Giroux.
He celebrated his 1000th game last spring, and while playing for the Panthers, he scored more points than games played for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Giroux has always been a well-liked teammate, and he is most known for his winning mentality. Both on ice and off the ice.
He even beat his own coach in arm wrestling one time, so bad that the coach had to leave a bar with his tail between his legs.
Scott Hartnell shared the story ahead of Giroux’s 1000th game.
“Chief (former assistant and then head coach Craig Berube) ended up showing up with a strength coach and [former equipment manager Derek Settlemyre],” Hartnell said according to the Philly Voice. “Just kinda hanging out.”
“Chief was like ‘oh I heard you’re pretty good’ to G. [Giroux] was like ‘Yeah, I’ll take you on right now!'”
Beforehand, the odds were in Craig Berube’s favor. As a player, he was 6’1″, 210 lbs. Giroux, on the other hand, was at the time 5’11”, 190 lbs.
“I was the referee, you know, with your hands on them ready to arm wrestle,” Hartnell said. “G kinda let Chief have the first wind, and just like the movie Over the Top with Sylvester Stallone, he just went [swung his arm the other way], just hammered him down and was just in his face, all over him. We were just going bananas!”
Berube got destroyed so hard he actually left the building.
“I think we actually made Chief leave that bar just because he was so embarrassed that he lost, so that was a pretty funny story.”
