Even in the offseason we still get a reminder as to what sort of rivalry the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers have going on.
In a recent interview with The Northern Times, Flyers star forward Claude Giroux discussed, among other things, the offseason wrist surgeries he underwent and the source of the scars that he's currently sporting -- Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
Here's Giroux's comments to Kevin Anderson of the Northern Times, via the Timmins Press:
“Those are from (Sidney) Crosby,” he says half smiling, but with some tension in his voice. “Every time we'd line up against each other for a face-off during our (2012 playoff) series, instead of going for the puck when it was dropped, he'd hack me across the wrists. I ended up playing the series against (New) Jersey with one of them fractured and had to go for surgery on both of them after we were out of the playoffs.”
If you're waiting for any sort of response from Crosby, don't hold your breathe. Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette passes along the word that Crosby won't be doing any interviews this summer so he can focus on his offseason training.
Crosby and Giroux saw a lot of each other in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with Giroux getting the better of the play on the scoreboard nearly every night.
He finished the series with five goals and eight assists in the six games. He was also responsible for what turned out to be one of the signature moments of the wild series in the opening minutes of Game 6 when he delivered a crushing (and clean) open ice hit on Crosby, then followed it up on the very next shift with the games first goal.
In case you're wondering the two teams are scheduled to meet for the first time this upcoming season on October 18 in Philadelphia.
Even without Giroux's comments it's a game that will absolutely be worth watching because every Penguins-Flyers game is worth watching, if for no other reason than you never really know what sort of chaos you're going to see.
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