Briere's first "official" comments

[patmoran2006]

http://broadband.tsn.ca/?vid=9210
Highlights (or lowlights)

* A lot of teams that called. Philadelphia had been on his mind since the season was over. Thought about many teams and Philadelphia always kept coming back.

* he likes the look of their team and what they've done at the deadline. Called them an organization who's willing to do whatever it needs to win. AFter what happened last season, they are very committed to turning it around.

* ON Martin Biron "He did have many calls and we had many discussions about it. Ummm (canadian pause)--I asked him a lot of questions about the team and about the organization - certainly he had something to do with it.

* ON if the money he's making has sunk in yet.. "Not really I dont think so.. Its a little bit out of this world. TO be honest, going in I didnt really have a number of something I wanted. There were teams that were offering more than that per year. But in the end, it wasnt just about the money. I wanted to be a with a team that was committed to winning and a team that was going in the right direction.

* On his decision making process: "what we wanted to do was give everybody a chance. we gave everybody the chance to give us a call and kinda make their pitch. Like I said there was a few teams that had an average higher then what Philadelphia had. But at the point its so much money I know im very fortunate and it wasnt just about it. I looked at teams that were in the right direction and were going to be players in the next few years in the new NHL.

* wouldnt share who was the "runner up" or what the highest average salary offered was. There were teams over $7 million per.
========================================================
no mention was made of Buffalo-- the interviewer didnt even ask about Buffalo. From my experiences, that tells me he was probably told ahead of time to not mention anything about Buffalo.

[patmoran2006]

Fox Sports Hockey Writer Kyle Richardson (SPector)
with some perspective on the Briere signing.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD colSpan=2>Briere Signs with Flyers. (http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Spector/2007/07/01/Briere_Signs_with_Flyers)
Jul 01, 2007 | 12:44PM | report this (javascript:report(7588, 69318);) The Buffalo News reported Daniel Briere text-messaged that he's agreed to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Briere signed a whopping 8 year, $52 million contract with the Flyers, which will average $6.5million per season against the Flyers cap but will be front-loaded, paying him $10 million for next season, making him the league’s high paid player next season.


What’s more, the contract also includes a “no-movement” clause, meaning Briere cannot be traded, waived or bought out without his permission.

Looks like GM Paul Holmgren picked up the trait of signing free agents to hefty contracts from predecessor Bob Clarke. The one thing he has done right, however, is that by “front-loading” the contract he makes it easier to perhaps move Briere in the later years of this deal should his play falter.
Provided, of course, if Briere gives his blessing.

Still, both the money and the tenure are huge, proving once again that a salary cap doesn’t prevent general managers from over-paying for UFA talent.

Don’t get me wrong, Briere’s a very talented player, posting a career -high 95 points 81 games during the 2006-07 season and 15 points in 16 games during the 2007 playoffs.

The Flyers have been enamoured of Briere ever since he burned them in the 2006 playoffs and made it their intent to land him.

But the Flyers are expecting Briere, who turns 30 in October, to post those kind of numbers on a regular basis. That could be expecting too much from a player who never reached those kind of numbers before, and did so on a young, fast Sabres team that suited his playing style.

And despite his gaudy post-season numbers in 2007, Briere came under criticism in this year’s playoffs for his consistency, having been out-shone by teammate and fellow UFA Chris Drury.

It remains to be seen if Briere’s a good fit in Philadelphia. If he is, Holmgren will look like a genius, but if not, he’s saddled himself with a hefty contract and a player who has the final say on where he goes if Holmgren tries to move him later on.

The Flyers were already just over $42 million committed to 19 players for next season prior to the Briere signing, which will put them at over $48 million for 20 players. While they’re still under the cap, GM Paul Holmgren will likely still want to free up some cap room as the summer progresses.

One possibility is by trading Joni Pitkanen, another is perhaps placing Mike Rathje and his $3.5 million for next season on the long-term injury list provided he’s proven medically unfit to play by the league.

The Montreal Canadiens had been in the bidding for Briere, even rumored to have offered a six-year, $42 million offer but the Flyers blew that out of the water. GM Bob Gainey will now have to turn his attention elsewhere and will undoubtedly feel the wrath of the Quebec media for failing to overpay for

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[TheGhostofJimKelly]

**** You Briere. I love it that you signed with Philly. Now I really hate you instead on not liking you. I hope fans boo you next season in the same way Satan does.

[Mitchy moo]

The team he went to lost to us like 9-1 to start the season and we owned them. He went to a loser team with our castout goalie and like the way they are going? He is so full of ****, it makes me sick.

P.S. We are going to torch Philly every game.

[tampabay25690]

The team he went to lost to us like 9-1 to start the season and we owned them. He went to a loser team with our castout goalie and like the way they are going? He is so full of ****, it makes me sick.

P.S. We are going to torch Philly every game.

Some of the guys on this site think he is GOD......

[Dr. Lecter]

The no movement clause is nuts. Absolutely nuts.

It might mean that Danny's demands were insane.

[patmoran2006]

Montreal is the team that offered him more money per.

[Philagape]

I hope Briere lights us up and we win 6-5. Idiot Darcy deserves it. He's the bad guy in this. Good for Briere after we rewarded the most talented player we've had since LaFontaine with a slap in the face.

[patmoran2006]

I hope Briere lights us up and we win 6-5. Idiot Darcy deserves it. He's the bad guy in this. Good for Briere after we rewarded the most talented player we've had since LaFontaine with a slap in the face.

GREAT ****ING POST.

Instead of the "Briere is a traitor" thread.. How about a Darcy is a jerkoff thread instead.

Briere offered us a fair deal last year and we rejected it.

[Mitchy moo]

Frenchie F-er.

[patmoran2006]

Frenchie F-er.
why dont you go to your job tommorow and offer to take a DEMOTION.

More hours worked, for less money.

Briere offered us a deal last year far cheaper than this.. WE rejected it.

We're the Frenchie F-ers.. Not him.

[chernobylwraiths]

The money doesn't sound ridiculous. And if he would take a hometown discount from that, sounds like the Sabres didn't make a very good offer.

[Dr. Lecter]

The money doesn't sound ridiculous. And if he would take a hometown discount from that, sounds like the Sabres didn't make a very good offer.

The length of the deal is, especially with a no buyout clause.

[Philagape]

Again we have the typical homer reactions of idiotically trashing good players who leave. That's embarrassing.

[BlackMetalNinja]

The length of the deal is, especially with a no buyout clause.

Exactly, that's the only thing I'm ragging on Philly about in this situation. That's the money I expected him to get, but 8 years and no buyout is crazy. Briere could literally tank it, not do a damn thing, and he's set for life. Now, I obviously don't think that will be the case, but dealing with that for 8 years would be crazy if you're the Flyers.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Again we have the typical homer reactions of idiotically trashing good players who leave. That's embarrassing.

Please don't throw the "homers" under the bus by comparing them to Skooby... nobody deserves that, not even the blindly optimistic.

[chernobylwraiths]

Again we have the typical homer reactions of idiotically trashing good players who leave. That's embarrassing.

Unfortunately, some will think that the Sabres gave a good faith offer and that the player is only in it for the money.

However, I don't much like players who say all the time that they would love to stay and then sign a contract within hours of free agency. Nobody will ever know if the Sabres didn't make any good faith offers or if Briere is just greedy. However, history has seemed to show that the Sabres don't like to make big offers. Dumont was pissed because the Sabres never made him an offer until after arbitration. McKee said he was always offered short contracts as small figures. Even Grier didn't sign here after his offer was matched. These things tell you something, I just don't know for sure what it is.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

I hate anyone that signs with Philadelphia, plays for Philadelphia, or is in their organization.

I dare you to find one time that I said I was a fan of Briere after June '06.

[chubluv]

Just because he used to play for us doesnt mean we cant hate his guts now that he signed on with another team.
Thats what we do as fans of our teams. Plus I'm glad we didnt offer him more then what we did. Thats why the NHL is screwed up. Thes contracts are ludacris. 10 million the first year & 8 mill the 2nd year of a 8 year contract is crazy.
Its not Darcys fault we didnt offer him more $. We have a system and we are sticking to it. We got to where we are because of the system, and finding a few diamonds in the rough. We will just have to start fining our next diamond.

[chernobylwraiths]

Unfortunately, some will think that the Sabres gave a good faith offer and that the player is only in it for the money.

However, I don't much like players who say all the time that they would love to stay and then sign a contract within hours of free agency. Nobody will ever know if the Sabres didn't make any good faith offers or if Briere is just greedy. However, history has seemed to show that the Sabres don't like to make big offers. Dumont was pissed because the Sabres never made him an offer until after arbitration. McKee said he was always offered short contracts as small figures. Even Grier didn't sign here after his offer was matched. These things tell you something, I just don't know for sure what it is.

Oh, I almost forgot Mike Peca.