It’s unlikely that you will ever see him receive a bunch of Selke Trophy votes. Chances are, people will continue to look at the eight-year, $52 million contract he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers in the summer of 2007 as a mistake. Yet those qualms aside, I stand by the fact that Danny Briere’s outstanding playoff run was one of the most under-reported stories of the 2010 playoffs.
Briere hopes to pick up where he ended in June. After a disappointing regular season that saw him mostly playing on the wing, he had 26 goals and 53 points as the Flyers struggled to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the last day of the season.
The postseason, however, was a whole new experience for Briere. Playing mostly center due to an injury to Jeff Carter and feeling reinvigorated on and off the ice, Briere had a career-best run. He led the League with 30 points, the third-most points in one playoff season since 1995, and the most ever by a Flyer in a single postseason.
Twelve of those points came in the six-game Stanley Cup Final series loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, which saw him center a line with Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino. The threesome combined for 11 goals and 30 points in the series, and Leino finished the playoffs with 21 points, tied for the most in League history by a rookie.
After weighing in around 180 lbs. most years, Briere is hoping to continue the success he enjoyed at an-even-smaller 170 like he was in the playoffs. That seems like a good plan, especially considering the fact that he’s a small player anyway and won’t need the size to win board battles he (wisely) shies away from anyway.
While people will question the goalie tandem of Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher, that cheap duo allows the Flyers to amass a formidable, deep lineup on offense and defense. Briere excelled on a Buffalo Sabres team that scored by committee rather than depending on a couple stars, so don’t be shocked if he puts up some nice numbers during the regular season too.