It may surprise you, but even though Simon Gagne knew Mike Richards and Jeff Carter far longer than he knew Danny Briere, the latter was his closest friend.
I'm sure a lot of that had to do with both coming from Quebec.
Briere was among a number of players who had some nice things to say today about Gagne's return to Flyerdom tomorrow as a member of the Tampa Bay LIghtning.
“If it weren’t for all the injuries, he’d be ranked a lot higher among the Flyers [leaders],” Briere told me today.
“He did a lot for this organization, for the fans, for the city. That’s why people respected him. He played the game hard.
“I’ve been talking to him mostly by text here and there. We’ve been texting back and forth the last couple of weeks. He seems to be happy down there.”
Three of Gagne's closest friends in the game are Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis and Tampa GM Steve Yzerman. They made him feel very welcomed.
“Yeah, it’s always easier when you go into a team with familiar faces,” Mike Richards said. “With him and Lecavalier and St. Louis, there very close over the last few years with the World Championships and World Cups and he played with Yzerman in ’02 [at the Olympics] and what not. It’s a lot easier going to a team you are more comfortable with.
Gagne is in Montreal tonight, and that's one kind of of homecoming, and then he comes to Philly which is another.
“It’ll be special," he said. "It will mean a lot. I spent 11 years there and 11 years in one life is a lot. And it’s not just the 11 years. I started my career there. I was a rookie there. When I left home for the first time I went to Philly. When I was 16-17-18-years-old I was playing juniors but I was playing in my home town.
"So it was the first time I went away and it became my second home. Going back there is going to be weird. It’s going to be hard. I was laughing with the (Tampa and Montreal) media today about how it’s going to be tough to make sure I go to the left side and the locker room where we’re supposed to be and not the Flyers locker room.
"At the same time I’m looking forward to seeing all the people who work in the (Wells Fargo) Center and being able to say hello to them. It’s going to be a special game for me tomorrow. For me it’s a big one here tonight too in Montreal because I have a lot of family coming here to see me play in a different uniform for the first time.
"There’s been a lot of emotion for me this week – my first game in Tampa, now back in Montreal and then in Philly tomorrow, so it’s been a tough week for me. Hopefully though we’ll have some fun with it because I’m looking forward to playing these games."
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And let's get this straight. When the coach criticizes a player, directly or indirectly, it's our job to get a quote from the player. For me to write about Nick Zherdev and NOT ask for his response to what the coach is saying, is wrong.
If I don't include his response, people think I didn't give him a chance. If I mention that he again ducked the media, I'm picking on him.
Zherdev's attitude with the media is a problem. It's being addressed by the club and his agent.
If it costs me readers for pointing these things out when we seek comment to something the coach has to say, then so be it.
Here's the full Gagne story on CSNPhilly.com:
click here 
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