Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider isn’t at all pleased that his team’s captain, Claude Giroux, was left off Canada’s men’s Olympic hockey team yet again. And he let his feelings known.
Giroux, along with Martin St. Louis, were believed to be the two frontrunners to be named as the single replacement for the injured Steven Stamkos, who will not be competing for Canada in Sochi because his broken tibia hasn’t fully healed yet. That decision was officially made on Wednesday.
On Thursday, St. Louis was named as that replacement. He’ll return to the Olympics, having competed for Canada in 2006.
Giroux was snubbed once again. Snider let his thoughts be known Thursday evening, as the Flyers defeated the Colorado Avalanche. Giroux scored his 19th goal of the season - into an empty net.
As per Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, Snider said Giroux is "...better than half the guys” on Team Canada.
“Anybody that thinks that Claude Giroux doesn’t belong on the Canadian Olympic team, they don’t know anything about hockey,” said Snider.
He continued: "...as far as I’m concerned. It’s politics to a certain degree. He had to pick his own guy. His guy’s good, but Claude’s better.”