Injured Flyers star Claude Giroux returning from Germany By BRUCE GARRIOCH, QMI Agency

Claude Giroux is returning home from Germany to meet with a concussion specialist following a neck injury. (Tony Caldwell/QMI Agency)

Claude Giroux is headed back to North America.

Elbowed in the neck last week while playing for the Berlin Polar Bears in the Deutsch Elite League, the Philadelphia Flyers superstar is on his way home to Ottawa before travelling to Atlanta to meet with a concussion specialist.

Berlin GM Peter Lee confirmed in an interview with QMI Agency Tuesday morning that Giroux "wasn't feeling right" after taking the hit and the organization has decided to take every precaution to make sure he's okay.

"He got hit in the neck area and was feeling a little funny," said Lee Tuesday. "Without even thinking, we wanted to double-check because we weren't going to push him.

"You know how it is with players, we didn't want him to make the decision, we want to make sure he's going to be fine. He's out for the week anyway. Rather than sitting around we might as well be pro-active so we've sent him back so we know everything is all right."

Lee said the organization doesn't want to take any chances with the 24-year-old Giroux. He did pass baseline tests in Berlin.

"There's no such things as a mild hit. We don't want to take anything lightly," said Lee. "He's not playing for the next week and you're always shut down in these situations. We hope he will be back next week.

"We want to make sure it is not a concussion. He passed the scan test here. He didn't lose conciousness when it happened here. He just felt funny so everybody gets nervous now. Rather than be nervous and sitting around, we want to get it checked. We're not worried about him not playing the weekend, we're more worried about him making sure he is cleared."

bruce.garrioch@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/sungarrioch