The current state of the Flyers, trying to develop young talent, is a far cry from where the Flyers were on July 1, 2007, when they signed free agent Danny Briere to an eight-year deal.
That was an era where the Flyers were hungry for superstars and playoff success. They got both in Briere.
Briere had spent the majority of his career to that point as an enemy of the Flyers, having playoff success against them in Buffalo with the Sabres. He was originally drafted as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes, the 24th overall pick, in 1996.
Briere is the groundbreaker for many players today, the likes of Tyler Johnson, Johnny Gaudreau and Nathan Gerbe. Players who had often been told they were too short to play professional hockey and defied the odds.
It is a more common trend now. But as Briere was making his rise, he was essentially in a class of his own.
When Briere joined the Flyers for the 2007-08 season, it was the start of something magical for the organization. Briere had 72 points that season, second highest on the team, but followed that up with 16 points in the playoffs, helping the Flyers reach the Eastern Conference Final.
Briere was at it again two years later, following an injury-riddled 2008-09 season, to produce 53 points in the regular season before setting a new franchise record with 30 points, including 12 goals, in the Flyers run to the Stanley Cup Final.
From that point, Briere became more of a secondary player and eventually fizzled out with the Flyers. He was bought out following the shortened 2013 season and eventually landed with the Montreal Canadiens. He was traded the following offseason to Colorado, where he played in 57 games over his final NHL season.
Even after his six-year career with the Flyers was over, Briere continued to live in the Philadelphia area, part of the reason today’s announcement was made on behalf of the Flyers. The next step for Briere could be a position with the Flyers while tending to his family.
It’s difficult to pick five moments that highlight Briere’s brilliant career with the team. But we will try. Here are five of the more memorable ones.
- Briere’s game-tying goal in Game 7 against the Bruins – This was playoff Danny Briere at his finest. A one-man wrecking ball who charged his way through the Boston defense to score the game-tying goal that completed a three-goal comeback. Simon Gagne had the goal that gave the Flyers the win, but Briere’s goal was huge in magnitude and sent the game into a sudden-death showdown.
- Shootout goal against the Rangers – It’s hard to believe that a shootout goal would have such magnitude, but there was no playoff run in 2010 without the regular-season finale and shootout win over the Rangers. Briere was the first shooter that day and made a nice move on Henrik Lundqvist to open the scoring.
- Game-winning goal in Game 4 against Montreal – Briere’s stick was a puck magnet in the playoffs. On a late power play in Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens in the 2008 Eastern Conference Semi-final, Briere was right on the doorstep for a juicy rebound to give the Flyers the lead late in the game.
- Overtime game-winning goal against Devils – One of Briere’s final playoff moments with the Flyers came in the 2012 Eastern Conference Semi-final. Briere had been denied the game-winner once already in overtime on a kicking motion. He would not be denied against Martin Brodeur and the Devils this time as he scored to give the Flyers a Game 1 win over the Devils.
- Briere’s assist on Claude Giroux’s Stanley Cup Final OT goal – Consider this the passing of the torch. Giroux was emerging as a superstar in the 2010 playoffs right as Briere’s career was starting to twilight. It didn’t seem like it then, but the following season’s would indicate a changing of the guard. Briere and Giroux had been roommates as well as teammates during the season, and the two created a bond off the ice. Perhaps their best on-ice moment was as linemates when Briere helped set up Giroux’s game-winning overtime goal in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
