Claude Giroux

IT SOUNDS like a sitcom. It would make a helluva reality show. "Three boys, two dogs and two hockey players," I said to Danny Briere after Flyers practice yesterday. "Whaddaya think?" "Five hockey players," Briere corrected. "The kids play, too. There's not a day of the week when there's no hockey. Every single day of the week, there's at least one practice. " That's in addition to getting his three young sons to and from school, feeding and walking Zoey the bulldog and Zora the Boston terrier, and keeping Briere's large South Jersey house, which he held on to after splitting with his wife last year, tidy.

Here is staff writer Sam Carchidi's key to the game: In the first 32 seconds, Claude Giroux leveled Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby with a clean hit and scored a goal. Crosby (minus-3) seemed out of sorts the rest of the day - and so did the Penguins.

1. MIKE RICHARDS, Flyers. Captain's play last night was Yzerman-esque. 2. CLAUDE GIROUX, Flyers. Had one assist and was stellar all over the ice. 3. SCOTT GOMEZ, Canadiens. Had a goal and an assist and baited Kimmo Timonen into a rare retaliation penalty.  

The Phantoms edged the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 2-1, last night on Claude Giroux's goal 42 seconds into the second period to take their American Hockey League season opener at the Wachovia Spectrum. Giroux's goal gave the Phantoms a 2-0 lead, after Matt Clackson's first-period score. Goalie Scott Munroe stopped 30 of the Tigers' 31 shots.

1. Claude Giroux, Flyers: His first goal of the finals could not have been any bigger. 2. Ville Leino, Flyers: The Flyers winger scored huge goal just 20 seconds after Hawks took lead in third period. 3. Scott Hartnell, Flyers: He played tough hockey, scored a goal and made a dazzling backhand pass to set up Danny Briere's goal.  

The Flyers will have some decisions to make this offseason. They have some flexibility given the development of their young players. UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS Mike Knuble Marty Biron Antero Niittymaki Andrew Alberts Josh Gratton Boyd Kane Lasse Kukkonen RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS Nate Raduns Nate Guenin Danny Syvret Jared Ross PROMISING ROOKIES Claude Giroux Luca Sbisa ...

"I think anytime you get a player that is well-versed on the opponent, you spend a lot of time with them. Max and I had a lot of conversations in my office, talking about personnel, players we're not as familiar with that maybe come in because of injury, systems. And we go over it . . . Max was right there . . . So not only was Max great on the ice, maybe one day he'll make a great coach as well. " - Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, after Sunday's 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh.

Veteran Flyers center Danny Briere will miss two weeks because of a wrist injury suffered in Germany, according to a report from Eishockeynews.de. That means Briere should be ready if the NHL and players' union solve their labor dispute and start the season Jan. 19. Briere, 35, who had 16 goals in 70 games with the Flyers last season, is playing for Eisbaren Berlin and has 10 goals and 34 points in 21 games. In Germany Briere teamed with Claude Giroux, who stopped playing last month because of a neck injury.

Flanked by former Flyers Bernie Parent, Gary Dornhoefer, and Bob Kelly, Hollywood movie director and rock musician Rob Zombie talked Tuesday night about the motion picture he is creating about the Broad Street Bullies. Parent suggested that Danny DeVito could play the role of Kelly. Dornhoefer interceded. "Moses can play you," Dornhoefer told Parent, who looked distinguished in his white hair and matching goatee. Zombie said the project is in its early stages, and he attended Tuesday's game against Tampa Bay to visit with some of the Broad Street Bullies - the brawling teams that won Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975 - and to observe the fans.