Daniel Brière
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Right |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg/12 st 12 lb) |
| NHL Team F. teams |
Philadelphia Flyers Phoenix Coyotes Buffalo Sabres |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | October 6, 1977 , Gatineau, PQ, CAN |
| NHL Draft | 24th overall, 1996 Phoenix Coyotes |
| Pro career | 1998 – present |
Daniel Brière (born October 6, 1977, in Gatineau, Quebec) is a French Canadian professional ice hockey player with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
Growing up and playing hockey in his hometown Gatineau, Brière's number 14 has been retired by his former team.[citation needed]
He began his major junior career in 1994–95 with the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In his rookie season, he recorded 123 points, third overall in the league, was awarded the Michel Bergeron Trophy as league rookie of the year, and the Marcel Robert Trophy as scholastic player of the year. The following season, he improved to 163 points, earning the Jean Beliveau Trophy as the league's leading scorer. He was also named the QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year and awarded the Ford Cup as offensive player of the year. Despite a remarkable 6-game, 18-point post-season effort from Brière, Drummondville was not able to advance from the divisional round-robin.
After Brière was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round, 24th overall, in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, he returned to Drumondville for one more season. He recorded 130 points, finishing in the top three in league scoring for the third consecutive season, and was awarded the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player.
Graduating from major junior, Brière split his first four seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between the Coyotes and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Springfield Falcons. In his first professional season, he recorded 92 points in 68 games and was awarded the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as top rookie.
Brière's training regimen became newsworthy in 2001 when it became known that, in order to overcome his diminutive size (at 5 ft. 10 in., he is comparably small by NHL standards), he had begun off-season strength training with Canadian World's Strongest Man competitor Hugo Girard, who shares Gatineau as a hometown.[1] He earned a consistent NHL roster spot in the second half of the 2000–01 season and spent his first full season with the Coyotes in 2001–02, recording 60 points.
The Coyotes traded him to the Buffalo Sabres at the 2002-03 trade deadline for Chris Gratton. Two draft picks were also exchanged in the trade. Brière continued to improve with the Sabres.[citation needed] After playing with SC Bern of the Swiss Nationaliiga A during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he became an NHL star, beginning with a 58-point season in just 48 games during the 2005–06 campaign (he missed 32 games due to an abdominal injury and 2 to a suspension). Brière helped lead the Sabres to their first post-season berth in four years that season. Playing on a rejuvenated team that included stars Chris Drury, Thomas Vanek and Brian Campbell, the Sabres advanced to the semi-finals, paced by Brière's team-high 19 points. In the off-season, Brière filed for salary arbitration, which resulted in a one-year, $5 million contract that the Sabres agreed to on August 5, 2006.[citation needed]
The following season Brière scored two hat tricks. His first on December 5, 2006, against the Tampa Bay Lightning's goaltender Marc Denis.[citation needed] His second came shortly after, on January 30, 2007, in front of a home crowd at HSBC Arena in a 7-1 victory against the Boston Bruins, with two goals against Hannu Toivonen and one against his replacement Tim Thomas.[citation needed] He was voted in as a starter to his first NHL All-Star Game in Dallas, Texas,[2] and recorded a game-high five points (one goal, four assists). He was named All-Star Game MVP and received a Dodge Nitro that he ended up giving to his sister.[3] Brière finished the season with a career-high 32 goals, 63 assists and 95 points. He added 15 points in the post-season as the Sabres made their second straight apperance in the semi-finals, but were eliminated by the Ottawa Senators.
As Brière's one-year contract expired at the end of 2006–07, he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2007. It was widely speculated that Brière would return to his home province and play for the Montreal Canadiens,[4] but he instead signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, who finished the previous season as the worst team in the NHL, to an eight-year, $52 million contract with a no-trade clause.[4] The Flyers front-loaded the deal, paying Brière $10 million in the first season of the contract, making him the highest paid player of the league in 2007–08, along with Scott Gomez of the New York Rangers and former Sabres teammate Thomas Vanek. His decision to join the Flyers is often attributed to the influence of his friend Martin Biron, who was traded from Buffalo to Philadelphia at the previous season's trade deadline. He later cited the prospect of anonymity in Philadelphia as opposed to Montreal as an additional factor in his decision.[4]
Brière's production dipped in his first season with the Flyers in 2007-08, but he still finished second in team scoring with 72 points in 79 games, behind eventual team captain Mike Richards. He scored his third career hat trick near the beginning of the season on November 21, 2007, against the Carolina Hurricanes's goaltender Cam Ward.[citation needed] Led by Brière and Richards on the newly revamped Flyers (additional off-season acquisitions included Kimmo Timmonen, Scott Hartnell and Joffrey Lupul), Philadelphia went from worst team in the NHL the previous season to an apperance in the 2008 semi-finals against eventual Eastern Conference champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brière recorded 9 goals and 7 assists in his third straight semi-finals appearance.
[edit] Awards
[edit] QMJHL
- Awarded the Michel Bergeron Trophy (rookie of the year) in 1995.
- Awarded the Marcel Robert Trophy (scholastic player of the year) in 1995.
- Named to the QMJHL All-Rookie Team in 1995.
- Awarded the Jean Beliveau Trophy (leading scorer) in 1996.
- Named the QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year in 1996.
- Awarded Ford Cup (offensive player of the year) in 1996.
- Named to the QMJHL Second All-Star Team in 1996 and 1997.
- Awarded the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy (most sportsmanlike player) in 1997.
[edit] AHL
- Awarded the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award (rookie of the year) in 1998.
[edit] NHL
- Played in the All-Star Game in 2007 (starter)
- Named the All-Star Game MVP in 2007.
[edit] Personal life
Growing up, Brière attended Collège Saint-Alexandre, a private high school in Gatineau.[citation needed] He presently has three sons – Caelan, Carson and Cameron – with wife Sylvie and has has been a resident of Haddonfield, New Jersey.[citation needed]
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1994-95 | Drummondville Voltigeurs | QMJHL | 72 | 51 | 72 | 123 | 54 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1995-96 | Drummondville Voltigeurs | QMJHL | 67 | 67 | 96 | 163 | 84 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 8 | ||
| 1996-97 | Drummondville Voltigeurs | QMJHL | 59 | 52 | 78 | 130 | 86 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997-98 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 68 | 36 | 56 | 92 | 42 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1997-98 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 64 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 13 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1998-99 | Las Vegas Thunder | IHL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 58 | 29 | 42 | 71 | 56 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2000-01 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 30 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001-02 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 78 | 32 | 28 | 60 | 52 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2002-03 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 68 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 50 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 14 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 82 | 28 | 37 | 65 | 70 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2004-05 | SC Bern | Swiss-A | 36 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 26 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2005-06 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 48 | 25 | 33 | 58 | 48 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 12 | ||
| 2006-07 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 81 | 32 | 63 | 95 | 89 | 16 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 16 | ||
| 2007-08 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 79 | 31 | 41 | 72 | 68 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 20 | ||
| NHL totals | 562 | 193 | 255 | 448 | 433 | 57 | 22 | 31 | 53 | 50 | ||||
[edit] International play
At the World Championships, Brière won gold medals with Canada in 2003 and 2004. He also won a gold medal at the 1997 World Junior Championships.
International statistics
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Canada | WJC | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Canada | WC | 9 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 6 | |
| 2004 | Canada | WC | 9 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | |
| Int'l totals | 25 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 16 | |||
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Ovechkin picked to start in All-Star Game". Washington Post (2007-01-09). Retrieved on 2008-10-26.
- ^ "Briere shines but West wins All-Star Game", tsn.ca (2007-01-25). Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
- ^ a b c Cazeneuve, Brian (2008-05-06). "Teflon Danny". CNN Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on 2008-07-08.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Daniel Brière's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- www.brierebunch.com The Brière Bunch - Caps for Charity
| Preceded by J. P. Dumont |
Buffalo Sabres captains February 2004 |
Succeeded by Chris Drury |
| Preceded by Chris Drury |
Buffalo Sabres captains 2005-07 co-captain with Chris Drury |
Succeeded by Jochen Hecht |
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