Alexandre Giroux (born June 16, 1981) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

currently playing for the Thetford Assurancia of the Quebec-based Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey. He previously played in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) with

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and blues). Though they have never won the leagu ...

and EHC Kloten. He is the son of former

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

player Rejean Giroux.

Playing career

Amateur

As a youth, Giroux played in the 1995

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team from

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

. Giroux joined the

QMJHL The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The le ...

Hull Olympiques The Gatineau Olympiques are a junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey team based in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, that plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Olympiques play home games at Ce ...

in 1998–99 and went on to play parts of three seasons with the club before joining the

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League based in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. The team plays its home games at the Aréna Glencore. The Huskies finished first overall in the QMJHL, durin ...

midway through the 2000–01 season. Over the course of his junior career, Giroux registered 226 points (111 goals and 115 assists) before going on to make his professional debut with the AHL's

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Leag ...

in 2001–02.

Professional

Drafted by the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

in 1999, Giroux failed to crack the NHL roster. He would spend parts of three seasons in the Senators' system before a 2004 deadline deal sent him and Karel Rachunek to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

for Greg de Vries. Giroux would ultimately play only one game with the Rangers, spending the majority of his time with their farm team, the Hartford Wolf Pack. In the summer of 2006, Giroux signed as a free agent with the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

. As a member of the Capitals, Giroux would spend the majority of his time with the club's AHL affiliate, the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...

and appear in a handful of games with Washington. The following summer, he signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Thrashers. With the Thrashers, Giroux was sent to the club's AHL affiliate, the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

. He tallied 19 goals and 41 points in 44 games with the Wolves before he was traded back to the Capitals organization. On August 5, 2009, it was announced that Giroux had signed a one-year

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

to remain with the Hershey Bears. The

2008–09 AHL season The 2008–09 AHL season was the 73rd season of the American Hockey League. 29 teams each played 80 games in the regular season, which ran from October 8 until April 12. Team and NHL affiliation changes The Iowa Stars are renamed and are now cal ...

was a successful one for Giroux. On January 18, 2009, Giroux broke

Brett Hull Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, ...

's American Hockey League record for consecutive games scoring a goal, scoring in 15 straight games. On April 10, 2009, Giroux capped off his memorable season by being awarded the

Les Cunningham Award The Les Cunningham Award is given annually to American Hockey League's "Most Valuable Player" of the regular season, as voted on by AHL media and players. The award was first presented in the 1947–48 season, is named after Les Cunningham, a five ...

as American Hockey League MVP. On July 3, 2010, he signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Following their preseason run, he was assigned to the Oilers' AHL affiliates, the

Oklahoma City Barons The Oklahoma City Barons were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team's first season was 2010–11. They played their home games at the Cox Convention Center, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. History On February 9 ...

. With a season-ending injury to the Oilers'

Taylor Hall Taylor Hall (born November 14, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft selected by the Edmonton Oilers. He has ...

, Giroux was recalled from Oklahoma City, on March 5, 2011. He made his Oilers debut the same night, scoring a goal which helped Edmonton secure a 5–1 victory, over the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

. On July 3, 2011, Giroux signed a two-way contract with the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

. During the 2011–12 season, Giroux appeared in 9 games with the Blue Jackets but primarily was assigned to the all familiar AHL with the Springfield Falcons. On May 24, 2012, Giroux left North America and inked a one-year deal as a free agent with Dinamo Riga of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

. In the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season with the Latvian outfit, Giroux failed to produce the desired offensive impact, with 21 points in 47 games, before he was loaned to Swiss club, the

Kloten Flyers EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the National League (NL). It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 year ...

of the NLA to end the campaign. In the following season, Giroux remained in Switzerland, signing an initial one-year contract with

of the

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

(NLA) on June 28, 2013. During his three-year stint, he saw the ice in 167 NLA contests, tallying 77 goals and 56 assists. Giroux returned to the KHL upon the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, penning a deal with Medvescak Zagreb in July 2016. In 11 AHL seasons, Giroux totaled 704 points in 771 games. His 368 goals are seventh-most in league history.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

*AHL MVP (2008-09) *AHL scoring champion (2008-09) *AHL goal-scoring champion (2008-09, 2009-10) *AHL First All-Star Team (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010–11) *Calder Cup champion (2009, 2010) *AHL All-Star Classic (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giroux, Alexandre 1981 births Living people HC Ambrì-Piotta players Binghamton Senators players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Wolves players Columbus Blue Jackets players Dinamo Riga players Edmonton Oilers players Grand Rapids Griffins players Hartford Wolf Pack players Hershey Bears players Hull Olympiques players Ice hockey people from Quebec City EHC Kloten players KHL Medveščak Zagreb players New York Rangers players Oklahoma City Barons players Ottawa Senators draft picks Rouyn-Noranda Huskies players Springfield Falcons players Washington Capitals players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Croatia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Latvia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland