Flyers chairman Ed Snider on Claude Giroux snub: Yzerman 'Had to pick his own guy'
Philadelphia Flyers chairman Ed Snider spoke with Yahoo! Sports NHL writer Nick Cotsonika on Thursday and blasted Steve Yzerman for snubbing Flyers captain Claude Giroux for the Canadian Olympic team.
"Anybody that thinks that Claude Giroux doesn’t belong on the Canadian team, they don’t know anything about hockey," Snider said. On the selection of Martin St. Louis over Giroux as an injury replacement for Team Canada, Snider added: "(Steve Yzerman) had to pick his own guy, and his own guy is good, but Claude is better.”
Giroux probably is better than St. Louis at this point in their respective careers, however, it should probably be mentioned that Yzerman had no issue snubbing St. Louis with the selection of the initial Canadian Olympic team. Yzerman also snubbed both St. Louis and Steven Stamkos when he named the 2010 Canadian Olympic team.
Finally, Snider opined that the NHL shouldn't participate in the Olympics in the first place:
Flyers chairman Ed Snider: "If I had my way, we’d never go to the Olympics. We’re the only league that breaks up our season."
— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) February 7, 2014