NHL teams
Scott Burnside, ESPN Senior Writer 10y

Claude Giroux improving quickly

NHL, Philadelphia Flyers

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux is ahead of schedule in his recovery from an upper-body injury sustained in the opening moments of training camp, although there remains no timetable for his return to game action.

Giroux skated on his own at the team's practice facility Wednesday morning and then joined his teammates for the first time since the opening of camp on Thursday for a long workout that took him to both of the team's practice rinks.

How did he feel?

"Good," Giroux said. "Better than I thought.

"Feel a lot better today," he added.

Coach Craig Berube expressed optimism that Giroux was on the right track to getting back in the lineup.

"He's starting to feel better," Berube told reporters. "I think he's getting better quick, so it's good."

Giroux led the Flyers in point production last season and was third overall in the league with 86 points in spite of a grisly start to the regular season that was exacerbated by a late-summer golf injury. The Flyers star, who ended up being a finalist for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, admitted the early injury bug this fall was frustrating, especially given last season.

"Bad luck kind of follows me. I was really frustrated," he said. "It's something that you can't really control at that point. You work hard before camp, and you're out there for four minutes. It's frustrating, but at the same time, we've got to play it by how I feel right now and feeling better every day."

Neither Berube nor Giroux would guess on when he might get back into game action, although Berube agreed that it was important for Giroux to get into some preseason games to help with his timing, familiarity with linemates and to work on the power play.

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