April 23, 2008

When the Flyers signed Daniel Briere to a lucrative free agent deal in this past off season, it was supposed to be the "big catch" that would put the team back into the playoffs.

Briere, along with the rest of the Flyers, started this season on fire, storming to near the top of the Eastern Conference and, for a time, putting last season's disaster behind them.

Briere was coming off a career year in 2006-07 with the Buffalo Sabres, putting up 95 points in the regular season and tallied 15 points in 16 games in the playoffs.

But after a good start, Briere struggled, along with the rest of the team for long stretches in the middle of the season. His struggles were magnified with the loss of Simon Gagne, who Briere had teamed well with during his initial success with the Flyers.

Briere's scoring slump magnified his spotty defense and his plus/minus rating plummeted. The fickle Philly fans saddled their discontent for the Flyers' losing on Briere, who was booed lustily through several poor performances.

With their season on the line, the team managed to pick itself up and make the playoffs, and part of their late season success was due to Briere's recovery as a scorer. One of the main contributing factors to his resurgence was the acquisition of Vinny Prospal from the Tampa Lightning.

Prospal did a reasonable impersonation of Simon Gagne, and Briere's scorers touch began to resurface.

And then in the playoffs, he has exploded.

Briere leads the postseason with 10 points and 6 goals in 7 games, including two, two-goal games against the Washington Capitals.

The Flyers surged to a three-games-to-one lead in the best of seven series, before coughing up that lead, only to finally win it in overtime of the seventh game.

During the regular season, Briere stepped up to take the Flyers into the playoffs.

In the playoffs, Briere has taken his team to the next level once again.