Daniel Briere said Friday he's not hurt. He was talking about his health, not his pride.
His ice time reduced to 15:33 in a 5-2 Game 1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night, some people wonder whether the Buffalo Sabres star centre is hiding an injury.
"Good," he said when asked about his health, although he added the kicker that if he was hurt, he wouldn't tell the media.
Television cameras caught him flexing his hand on the bench but this being the playoffs, one never knows the truth until it's over. He did say he didn't sleep very well Thursday night.
"Last night was one of those games where I barely touched the puck," Briere said. ". . . I'm not happy with my game but have to move on."
He did his best to hide his disappointment in not playing a whole lot in Game 1.
"That's not for me to decide," said Briere, who understood that head coach Lindy Ruff was trying to match Chris Drury's line with Jason Spezza's line.
"So sometimes it's tough as a coach to get everybody happy," Briere added. "I'm not going to complain about it . . . I'm 100 per cent behind (Ruff)."