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Giroux: “I’m not a dirty player... I was just trying to finish my hit.”

Philadelphia Flyers v New Jersey Devils - Game Four

NEWARK, NJ - MAY 06: Claude Giroux #28 of the Philadelphia Flyers gets ahead of Petr Sykora #15 of the New Jersey Devils in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Prudential Center on May 6, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Flyers 4-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Now that Claude Giroux is apparently headed for a meeting with the NHL over his hit on Dainius Zubrus, Giroux’s explanation of the play following last night’s loss to New Jersey gets more interesting.

Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun got Giroux’s reasoning behind his hit on Zubrus that got him sent off for two minutes for an illegal check to the head. As you might expect, Giroux wasn’t about to say he did anything wrong on the play.

“I’m not a dirty player,” said the Flyers captain. “I don’t hit guys in the head. I was trying to finish my hit.”

He did finish it, for sure, just directly into the head of an opposing player. One thing is for sure, Giroux isn’t a dirty player, but he sure looked like a highly frustrated one last night and now that his team is on the brink of elimination, there’s a chance he won’t be on the ice to help his team try and avoid elimination.

In case you missed it, here’s video of the play in question.