Dave Isaac

@davegisaac

PHILADELPHIA — It was the worst kept secret around the team when Claude Giroux finally got the call to Paul Holmgren’s office.

He was going to be the captain.

“I told him how happy I was and how I was going to do my best to help this organization,” Giroux recalled.

It was the first meaningful time in his hockey career to have a C stitched on his jersey. It didn’t happen when he played junior hockey. There’s a big responsibility that comes with the letter.

Thursday night the Flyers had “Captains Night” as a part of their “heritage” series and from the first to the 18th, the definition of what a captain is has changed greatly.

“If we weren’t happy with the coach or weren’t happy with the way things were going we didn’t say anything and nobody said anything,” said Lou Angotti, the Flyers’ first captain in franchise history. “Even the great players didn’t do it. It’s not something you do. You didn’t need anybody to talk for you because nobody talked. Nobody expressed themselves. If you didn’t like what was going on, that was your problem.”

It’s not just Giroux that runs the show. He points out that the whole leadership group plays a big role and that’s nothing new.

He relies greatly on alternate captains Wayne Simmonds, Mark Streit and several other players that don’t wear letters on their jerseys.

“I was named captain my second year in the league and the leadership group in that room was really strong,” said Dave Poulin, captain from 1984 to 1990. “Brad Marsh had bene a captain., Brad McCrimmon was a great leader. Mark Howe was there. I had a lot of guys and a lot of help and you needed that help.”

There are all different types of leaders, too. Giroux is quiet, unlike his predecessor Chris Pronger who once verbally undressed him in a locker room full of reporters a year or two before he was anointed the captain.

Leadership can come in different ways. For Pronger it was his voice. Poulin said he thinks a good captain is a liaison between the team and the coach and Angotti agreed. There’s been a trend in the league with giving young players the captaincy because they’re the best player and hope they grow into the role with a good supporting cast.

This has been the case for Sidney Crosby, who was named captain his third NHL season at age 20. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid is the league’s youngest captain, given the C at age 19.

“Has Connor McDavid ever been on a 10-game losing streak? Before he came to Edmonton? Probably not because his teams have been so good,” Pronger said.

“You have to grow into the role. That was my point about McDavid. (Gabriel) Landeskog in Colorado, me at 23 in St. Louis, you’re not going to have the same experiences as a guy who’s been in the league 10 years and won Cups or been to playoffs and done all these things. You’re just not.”

Especially in a big market like Philadelphia, there’s a big pressure that comes with the captaincy, “but the kind of pressure you want to have,” Giroux says.

“I’m a guy that cares a little too much sometimes so sometimes I have to remind myself to relax and go out and have fun,” Giroux said. “There’s always room for improvement, that’s for sure.”

Poulin was one of the top Flyers captains in franchise history, but Pronger was the last one to play and is most familiar with the current game. So what would he say is most important? What does Giroux need?

“I think with how the game is played and how it’s evolved, it’s patience,” Pronger said. “It’s understanding the grind of the schedule, the process of getting your team better every game, being patient with results and ultimately it’s building each and every game on top of one another and getting that buy-in from the group.”

Youngsters sit

Travis Konecny sat out as a healthy scratch for a second time this season and Shayne Gostisbehere a third.

Konecny, 19, and Gostisbehere, 23, were the scapegoats after the Flyers’ 5-1 blowout loss Tuesday in Raleigh, North Carolina. So why sit them when there were plenty of worthy candidates?

“I think there’s things both young guys can improve in their game,” coach Dave Hakstol said.

“I won’t get into the specifics. There’s a couple different things that they’re aware of that they can improve.”

Slap on the wrist

Pronger, who works for the NHL’s department of player safety, joked that he had to pay a $5 fine for the photo that went viral over All-Star weekend of a hit he laid on pop music star Justin Bieber. The photo caught a maniacal looking Pronger laughing as Bieber was pinned to the boards by the Hall of Fame defenseman.

It sure looked like Pronger’s day was made with the faux hit.

“Just good fun. Just good fun,” he said. “A little massage to his back, a little face wash. I tried to hit the full spectrum.”

Dave Isaac; 856-486-2479;disaac@gannett.com

Up next: vs. Los Angeles Kings

When: 1 p.m., Saturday

TV/Radio: CSN/97.5 FM