With the news out of the Washington Capitals’ training camp that former Bear, Tomas Fleischmann, has a blood clot injury and his status for the early part of the season is a bit cloudy, the skies have cleared for AHL sniper Alexandre Giroux to crack Washington’s opening night roster.

Giroux, 28, who shot the lights out last season in the American Hockey League by scoring 60 goals in the regular season, and establishing a new AHL record for scoring goals in 15 consecutive contests, also added 15 post-season markers to lead the Hershey Bears to their 10^th Calder Cup crown.

Always low-key in the locker room after a game, whether he had just had a spectacular game, or a sub-standard outing, Giroux maintained that same demeanor during his historical 2008-09 season, and while others made a big deal out of his accomplishments, Giroux himself took it all in stride.

“People were talking about it all year long, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s something special’,” said Giroux. “It was something that I was reminded of all the time.”

Even with all of his record-breaking feats, and the accolades that went along with them, Giroux was unable to secure a coveted one-way contract for the upcoming season, and had to instead settle for a two-way deal with Washington.

“Washington was my first choice and I have a contract and a chance to play. Last year was like a push up to the NHL, and my confidence is absolutely as high as it’s ever been,” he said. “I expected to get one, and was a little disappointed I didn’t, but not devastated. With the way the NHL is now, there are a lot of good players either without contracts or on two-way deals.”

Despite his plump AHL point totals, Giroux enters the 2009-10 campaign with only six points in 22 NHL contests on his resume over the course of three partial NHL seasons. While explaining the reasons for his lack of his production at the game’s highest level, Giroux offers up a rather plausible explanation.

“When you get called up to the NHL, you don’t know if it’s for one game or ten, and you don’t necessarily play to your strengths, but instead you play not to make mistakes and that can make a huge difference,” said Giroux, who has played for Capitals coach, Bruce Boudreau, with both the Bears and Capitals. “When you start the year with a team and you get the confidence of the coach, you can just play your game.”

Enjoying the fruits of his labor over the summer, Giroux had a chance to spend some quality time in the company of the Calder Cup.

“I had it for a whole weekend. When I had it, I organized a baseball game with my family and friends, with the Cup going to the winning team. I also dragged it along to a couple of local bars, and had a house party.”

If Giroux has his way, the party that started with his celebrated season of a year ago in Chocolatetown will continue on opening night in Chinatown.