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Longtime Flyers fan favorite Danny Briere has announced his retirement as an active player. He will hold a press conference in Philadelphia tomorrow.
“After taking a few weeks to think about it, it’s time to hang them up and spend a little more time at home with the family,” Briere said in a statement released by the Flyers.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate to have a chance to play with some great organizations, but at this point the family becomes a priority. The Flyers are where I played the bulk of my career. I’ve had a great time in Philadelphia and have been very, very fortunate to have the chance to play here. I would like to thank Mr. Snider, Paul Holmgren and Peter Luukko along with the coaches, staff, the fans and all my teammates. It’s been a great ride in an area that I still call home.”
For his NHL career, Briere played 973 regular season games (307 goals, 696 points) and 124 playoff games (53 goals, 116 points). He spent six seasons with the Flyers, compiling 124 goals and 283 points in 365 regular season games.
Briere was one of the best playoff performers in Flyers franchise history. In 68 playoff games, he racked up 37 goals (13 power play goals), 35 assists, 72 points (1.06 points per game) and nine game-winning goals. His performance in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs in particular was extraordinary. Briere played a pivotal role in bringing the Flyers to within two victories of the Stanley Cup as he produced 12 goals and 30 points in 23 games.
During his time with the Flyers, Briere won the Yanick Dupre Memorial Class Guy Award in 2008-09 -- he'd have won every year but the tradition is to spread the award around and avoid repeat winners -- and played in the 2010-11 NHL All-Star Game. Briere also won the Toyota Cup (most three-star selection points) in 2010-11.
Briere's impact went beyond his awards and his pivotal role in the team reaching a Stanley Cup Final and a pair of Eastern Conference Finals. He also became a highly respected dressing room leader and a big part of the local community. In retirement, Briere plans to remain in South Jersey. He accepted young teammates such as Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier into his home in order to help them get acclimated to the NHL.
Above all, Briere was the epitome of class and grace: friendly, caring, approachable, and always knowing just the right thing to say.
In a hockey context, Briere was the perfect team spokesman with the media. Briere had his finger on the team's pulse and was always honest about what was going on with the team's play, yet he invariably did it with a positive-minded message. Briere did not point fingers or throw anyone under the bus but he also did not deny when things needed to improve.
On a personal level one would be hard-pressed to find a better human being -- in any walk of life, not just among pro athletes -- than Briere. He's a devoted father, charitable, kind and gentle of spirit. Briere has a unique way of making people he meets feel they are a friend.
Hockey is a tough, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. There was no surprise in the Flyers' decision to buy out the remaining two seasons of Briere's contract back in 2013. His $6.5 million cap hit, mounting injuries, advancing age, and relatively modest remaining salaries in the final two years of his frontloaded contract made him the team's most obvious amnesty buyout candidate along with Ilya Bryzgalov.
That the buyout was an economic necessity with the decrease in the salary cap ceiling did not make it any easier. As a business decision, using a compliance buyout on Briere was a virtual no-brainer. Even so, anyone who has ever been around the man or the Flyers locker room knew how much Briere would be missed.
Many fans see only what happens on the ice. But everyone around the team missed the positive example Briere set. The Flyers coaches missed a veteran player who was one of the first to come to the rink and one of the last to leave (long after the on-ice training is done). The young players missed a guy who willingly took them into his home and made them feel like they belonged in the NHL.
Teammates missed a guy who takes media heat off of less talkative teammates by patiently answering both mundane and oft-repeated questions or tough and pointed ones when the team has not been winning.
The writers who cover the team missed his availability and the respectful, thoughtful way he answered questions. Although not every player can be as articulate as Briere, they could still learn a lesson from Briere in how to handle the media relations aspect of the job.
Flyers management missed a player who willingly gave up his already limited free time to represent the team off the ice whenever asked to do so, especially when charitable causes are involved. Briere always did it cheerfully and with a healthy dose of perspective.
When asked about his commitment to charitable causes, Briere said that he realized a long time ago that the game has given him a lot and enabled him to provide a good life to his children. Since the 1998-99 season, Briere earned approximately $68.3 million. He felt the least he could do in return was to give back generously to those who support his team and his sport, especially those who are less fortunate in life.
I will never forget the usually stoic Paul Holmgren talking about the Briere buyout two years ago and having a tough time masking his own emotions. Holmgren said it was one of the toughest things he ever had to do as a general manager -- although Briere understood why it was happening -- and it was clear the then-GM was speaking from the heart.
Loyalty is rarely a two-way street in business. Holmgren officially announcing the Briere buyout early was a way for the Flyers to publicly thank him for all he'd done and to let Briere and agent Pat Brisson shift gears and go about finding a new club.
The final two seasons of Briere's career were not especially satisfying. He was away from his kids, was not very well-treated by Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien in 2013-14 and was a bit player for Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche this past season. Although Briere probably could have hung on another year somewhere as a power play specialist to reach the coveted 1,000-game milestone, he decided it was time to come home.
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