Danny Briere has called it a career after 17 seasons in the National Hockey League. The announcement came in a column published Monday in a French-language newspaper out of Ottawa, with a formal announcement to be made Tuesday in Philadelphia.
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“It’s time to hang them up and spend a little more time with my family”, said Briere, a divorced father who has three teenage boys and was away from them last winter when they were in Philadelphia with their mother and he was in Denver, Colo. He also finished with 696 points in 973 regular-season games.
Danny Briere thought briefly about playing another year and even kicked around the idea of trying to finish his career as a fourth-liner with the Flyers. I don’t think he will qualify for the hall of fame with these numbers, but none the less, he was always counted on to make a big play whenever his team needed him to.
“I still remember sitting on the bench nearly crying because we had put all this time, all this effort to come back all the way to Game 7 and we start the game and we give them a three goal lead within seven or eight minutes”, Briere recalled.
Briere thanked Flyers proprietor Ed Snider, group president Paul Holmgren and former government Peter Luukko. 4 of his objectives have been game-winners and he introduced the Flyers all the best way to Recreation 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
But what he maybe most known for is his playoff numbers.
And while his one season with the Canadiens wasn’t the highlight of his career, it was his fifth trip to the conference final and an experience he’s thankful for.
Briere’s 17-year professional career included six prolific seasons (2007-2013) with the Flyers, during which he scored 124 goals and added 159 assists for 283 points in 364 games.
Briere, 37, spent the 2014-15 season with the Colorado Avalanche. Briere did not point fingers or throw anyone under the bus but he also did not deny when things needed to improve. Up until about a week to 10 days before free agency, I was convinced I was going to be a Buffalo Sabre for the rest of my career…. In that postseason, he scored 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in 23 games played. Briere was a fan favorite from the moment he arrived; at 5-foot-10 and 181 pounds, he was one of the smallest players on the ice but a skating sensation with a gifted scoring touch that netted 88 goals in 169 Falcons games.
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“There’s been a couple of teams kicking the tires and I had told my agent before we get into any discussions about a contract, I needed to figure out what I want”, Briere said. Briere was a key contributor to the Flyers Stanley Cup appearance in the 2009-2010 season.
