Flyers' Giroux attracts star buzz

OTTAWA - With snowflakes falling outside a quaint pizza bar in the downtown ByWard Market, just steps from Parliament Hill, a giddy waiter ran to the cash register on Saturday, carefully cradling a gold credit card.

"Do you know who this is?!" the excited waiter said to his bartender, pointing to the embossed name on the card.

"Claude Giroux?" replied the bartender, more hipster than hockey fan. "Who is that?"

Just a few months ago, in the city where he spends his summers training, Giroux would have been able to remain nestled anonymously in the back of one of his favorite restaurants unbothered. He would have been able to eat with his father, Raymond, and sister, Isabelle, her fiancee and a few friends without the whispers, the autograph requests and the camera phones.

Not on Saturday. Not more than a few city blocks from the All-Star Game's Fan Fair. And certainly not with the season - and Hart Trophy chatter - that Giroux has created for himself.

Just last week, ESPN's John Buccigross put Giroux fifth on his list of Top 100 NHL players. On Thursday night, he was selected eighth overall out of 38 players in the Fantasy Draft by captain Daniel Alfredsson.

Even with the near-constant demands on his time, Giroux wouldn't have it any other way. In the NHL, where the spotlight is as fleeting as a 108.8 mph Zdeno Chara slap shot, it's better to be burdened than bored.

That's what made part of his weekend so enjoyable, surrounded by family and close friends, as he collected a goal in his second career All-Star Game appearance at Scotiabank Place last night.

"I'm sure he was a little busy all weekend," linemate Scott Hartnell said. "It's a lot of family time. A lot of things going on, with signing autographs or media requests. But he was pretty fired up all weekend."

For Giroux, and every player involved in the weekend, the game was less X's-and-O's and a chance to work on his skills. It was an experience - and one that was wildly different than his coming-out All-Star Game last year in Raleigh, N.C.

"This was my second time being here," Giroux said. "It was an exciting game. You saw how excited the city was that the All-Star Game was hosted here. It's a great city to have an All-Star Game. It was pretty special to be here in Ottawa, I had a lot of family and friends here watching the game."