Briere ready to prove to Flyers, fans that he’s worth it was the headline of Sam Donnellons article today on Philly.com.
I sure hope that’s what’s on Danny Briere’s mind every time he laces up his skates this off-season because so far he has not lived up to his inflated eight-year, $52 million contract. Granted, there is not much you can do about injuries but basically when he returned to the lineup in time for the trade deadline he did nothing for the club except force Paul Holmgren to trade away pesky Scottie Upshall.
I tried to be optimistic about Briere’s return last season and as you will learn quickly as the season progresses, Danny is just not my kind of guy. I mean, sure… I like someone who gets points but I am not keen on a hockey player being just a power play specialist. You can’t sign a third-down defensive-end to a deal worth $52 million in guaranteed money. You sign him to a five-year deal worth $12.6 million so this way you can’t complain as much when they leave camp from heat exhaustion.
I hope that Briere truly plays next season with a chip on his shoulder. I hope he thinks he has something to prove because after two years, I can reassure you, he has not proven anything except that his contract is a waste and he is a third-line center behind Richards and Carter. If I have to spend all of next season watching a third-line center signed to a franchise player type contract, lose the puck along the boards, coast back in the defensive zone and give his usual lame attempt to finish a check, I could quite possibly lose my mind.
Danny is the type of player who thinks if he puts points on the board he has done his job. Fortunately for hockey fans and unfortunately for Flyers fans, that is not the case. The best players play at both ends of the ice and are not satisfied with two points on the scorecard in tomorrow’s paper, they care about two points in the standings. I hope Briere proves me completely wrong, I really do. But so far, he has been a guy who chips in on the tally sheet and finishes the game at minus 3.
