Flyers

Tim Panaccio Had a Ridiculous Take on Claude Giroux’s Arrest

By Kyle Scott

Published: Jul 7th, 2014 · 3:27 PM EDT

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This is a reason why I’m upset I was away for Claude Giroux’s copping a feel– I couldn’t see the hilarious overreactions by the likes of Tim Panaccio and his beat-writing weirdo friends.

Sure, we’re learning that Giroux is a bit of a knucklehead, but his arrest for not being able to resist the no doubt tightly-formed derriere of a male Ottawa police officer amounts to little more than a 26-year-old millionaire acting with the sort of entitlement and the-ass-is-my-oyster mindset that 26-year-old millionaires are known to act with. It happens. It says a little about Giroux as a person, but not much. Mostly it just says that he’s an ass man. And that’s cool, because many of us are. I know I am. Idda grabbed that thing, squeezed and twisted if it was as enticing as it sounds like it was.

Butt G’s crack addiction has, predictably, pulled Panaccio away from his wine and provided the much-needed fodder for him to write something completely ridiculous about Giroux and his leadership skills. Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey performed an excellent takedown of Panaccio’s drivel – the sort of thing I wish I’d written, or was in the country to write, and I highly suggest you go read it – but here’s a highlight from Panotch’s absurdity:

The Flyers – and that means Ed Snider, Paul Holmgren, Ron Hextall and Craig Berube need to have a heart-to-heart talk with their young captain, Claude Giroux.

Going into a bar and pinching police officers’ butts doesn’t cut it for a captain. It’s unprofessional behavior.

He got arrested but not charged. And no charges appear forthcoming. He caught a break.

This entire thing might be overlooked had the Flyers won the Stanley Cup and everyone was celebrating somewhere when this happened, but this is July and the Flyers were eliminated months ago and there was nothing to celebrate on the day free agency opened, especially, given the Flyers salary cap situation.

This stands out.

Two summers in succession Giroux has gone to Ottawa – he’s from nearby Hearst – and the news coming out has been all bad.

Forgetting the fact that Hearst is nowhere near Ottawa – as mapped by Hughes – and that July 1, the day Giroux was arrested, was Canada Day, Panaccio, a world-class Giroux antagonizer, is acting like Giroux keeps getting caught up in gang shootings every time he dares to enter Ottawa. Not quite. G’s merely been the victim of using graphite shafts and his own Canadian heritage. The latter will impact the Flyers not at all next season, and when it doesn’t, Panaccio, should he still be with CSN, will no doubt be there to write about Giroux’s growth from drunken idiot to mature leader and back again… which, in case you keep score at home like I do, is something we’ve seen before.

Try not to get whiplash from Panaccio’s aggressive wavering on G and his leadership skills (just a sampling):

Panaccio, January 10, 2012:

One revelation from HBOs 247 that came to light recently was how vocal Claude Giroux has become on the ice as team leader.

His coach, Peter Laviolette, said Giroux has always been a chatterbox.

His teammates, however, say when he talks now, he speaks with authority as an elite player and a serious candidate for the Hart Trophy, as well as the Art Ross, as the NHLs leading scorer.

Indeed, with Mike Richards gone, Giroux is now the voice in the room as the teams rising star and on-ice warrior.

Panaccio, October 18, 2013:

The Flyers have miles to go. I am a bit concerned with team captain Claude Giruox’s comments today that it’s “not just” him in the room doing the talking, there are others.

I don’t know. I do know that when Bob Clarke was Bobby Clarke the captain, he would go around and pull guys to the side and confront them in private and motivate them without going on in front of everyone else.

I don’t see Giruox having that kind of personality, either. There are other former captains here – Vinny Lecavalier, Kimmo Timonen and Mark Streit.

The point is, right now, the leadership group on this club leads MUCH to be desired. It has to get better.

Panaccio, March 20, 2014:

Panaccio, last week:

When Lindros was accused of misdemeanor assault over spilled beer and such, he was a 19-year-old Flyer rookie.

Giroux is 26. Big age difference. It matters. And it looks bad. Giroux is the captain. Lindros wasn’t at the time. He took it court and won.

A conversation with Giroux needs to occur and the Flyers owe it to their fanbase to make a public statement saying such has occurred, so everyone moves on.

To Panaccio, anything a Flyers captain does, on or off the ice, speaks to his leadership skills.