Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux Is the New Bobby Clarke

Last night, before the Philadelphia Flyers were shutout by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Flyer great Bobby Clarke was on the pre-game show.

They were talking to him about the team and the state of hockey when the station moved on to a segment comparing Clarke to current Flyer Claude Giroux.

“I think the next star of this group is Giroux,” Clarke said.

He may be right, and he may be more like Clarke than you have ever realized before.

They Look Alike

Honestly, now that Giroux's hair is shaggier, he looks just like Bobby Clarke.

Bobby Clarke looked like a hockey player, and when I first saw Giroux, he was still baby-faced.

After a long playoff run, you can see he looks like a hockey player now.

When all of his front teeth are gone and the Flyers win the Stanley Cup, Giroux will look exactly like Clarke.

Passing Ability and Willingness

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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 26: Darroll Powe #36 of the Philadelphia Flyers scores a second period goal past Ryan Miller #30 after a pass from teammate Claude Giroux #28 on October 26, 2010 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim M

Bobby Clarke said that Giroux isn’t selfish enough.  The same was said about Clarke in his day.

The biggest criticism that Clarke encountered was that he was so unselfish and willing to do whatever it took to win that he wanted to make the most out of every opportunity.

Giroux loves to pass and set up his teammates for great goals.

Through the first 176 games of each player’s careers, both Giroux and Clarke had 77 assists.

Attitude

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BOSTON - JANUARY 01: Staff Sergeant Ryan R. LaFrance (C) drops the ceremonial first puck for Bobby Clarke #16 (L) honorary captain of the Philadelphia Flyers and Bobby Orr #4 (R) honorary captain of the Boston Bruins during the 2010 Bridgestone Winter Cl

When a coach tells a player to play for 200 feet, he is asking the person to play hard from one end of the ice to the other.

Bobby Clarke and Claude Giroux both share that style.

Clarke was a ferocious fore-checker and that attitude of relentlessly attacking the puck resides in Giroux.

Giroux's willingness to do whatever it takes to win is easily comparable to the same attributes of Bobby Clarke.

Goal-Scoring Ability

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PHILADELPHIA - DECEMBER 08: Claude Giroux #28 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his second period goal with teammates Nikolay Zherdev #93 and Braydon Coburn #5 against the San Jose Sharks on December 8, 2010 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia

Bobby Clarke scored some of the most famous goals in Flyers history and a total of 358 goals in his career.

Through his first 176 games, he scored 47 goals and had a total of 124 points.

Giroux has 44 goals in his first 176 games while having 121 points overall.

The similarities are evident in numbers, and in style of play.

The Boss Says So

It doesn’t mean anything unless the boss agrees.

In this case, the boss says so.

Philadelphia Flyers owner and chairman Ed Snider has the final say on everything Flyers and if he says Giroux is like Clarke, you better take notice.

Snider is the one who made it possible to bring hockey to Philadelphia, as well as playing a big hand in the drafting of both Clarke and Giroux.