Oct 1, 2008 - 3:53 PM
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Daniel Briere doesn't skate away from great expectations. He embraces them.
So after the Philadelphia Flyers recorded a 39-point turnaround and went from the outhouse to knocking on the door of the penthouse by reaching the Eastern Conference finals last season, Briere can understand the City of Brotherly Love's desire for more in 2008-09.
Perhaps a return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1997?
Then again, why stop there?
How about reliving the franchise's glory days, when the "Broad Street Bullies" hoisted the cherished chalice in both 1974 and 1975?
That's more to the liking of the animated Philly faithful - and Briere wouldn't have it any other way.
"It's a good thing. You want to have those expectations, that means you are part of a team that's on the rise, and a team that is suppose to succeed," Briere said. "I would rather be on a team like that than a team where nobody expects much of them, of us. I am very excited about our team this year."
With good reason.
Overcoming a sluggish start, Briere recorded 31 goals in 2007-08 and added nine tallies in the postseason to push Philadelphia past the Southeast Division champion Washington Capitals and the top-seeded Northeast Division champion Montreal Canadiens. The Flyers eventually were grounded in five games in the conference finals by their Keystone State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"It was a good year last year, but I don't think we want to get in the mind set dwelling or drawing from last year," said Mike Richards, who was named the 17th captain in franchise history over the summer.
"It was a good stepping stone, but we want to do better than we did last year. We have a lot of the same players, that helps out with the chemistry. We have to be more consistent this year."
Richards, who displayed impressive leadership qualities last season, succeeds defenseman Jason Smith, who joined the Ottawa Senators as a free agent during the offseason. The 23-year-old won the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the Flyers' most valuable player in 2007-08 after leading the team with 47 assists and 75 points in 73 games.
"It's well deserved. Knowing that Mike is going to be around a long time, I think it's great for continuity, having someone in place who's going to be here for a long time," Briere said. "He's got all the qualities you want in a captain. The way he plays the game, the way he carries himself, the way he interacts with his teammates, I could go on and on about his qualities.
"He's the perfect choice for a captain."
The wild card in Philadelphia will be the return of two-time 40-goal scorer Simon Gagne, who saw his 2007-08 campaign come to an end when he suffered his third concussion of the season on February 10. The 28-year-old appeared in just 25 games due to the multiple head injuries, recording seven goals and 11 assists.
"Hopefully, I'll get back to the form I used to be and help out just a little bit," Gagne said. "The team took so many big steps last year. Watching from the outside, it was fun to see, but at the same time, it was tough not to be part of it.
"So if I can get back and healthy, I can chip in and help and maybe make that difference that was missing in the end. I need to get my timing back and find my game."
Philadelphia coach John Stevens, for one, hardly can wait to see the talented Quebec native back on the ice.
"I haven't seen anything or heard anything that tells me otherwise, so he looks like he is in good shape. His fitness level is something that has to still continue to come, only because he's been out of games for so long," Stevens said.
"We'll progress him along through training camp and see how he does. We'll get him back in some games, but I haven't seen anything and don't have any red flags from anything that's happened over the summer, or certainly to this point in training camp. We're hoping he can come back and make an impact on our team like he did before."
With the budding talent of Jeff Carter (career-best 29 goals last season) and defenseman Braydon Coburn (nine goals, 27 assists, plus-17) joining established stars like All-Star blue-liner Kimmo Timonen (eight goals, 36 assists), the Flyers are looking to challenge Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the high-powered Penguins for Atlantic Division laurels.
Keeping Pittsburgh - and others - from lighting up the scoreboard will fall in the capable hands of goaltender Martin Biron, who posted a 30-20-9 record with five shutouts, a 2.59 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage last season.
In the final year of his contract, the 31-year-old knows that even more is expected of him should the Flyers look to improve upon last season's showing.
"Whatever happened in the past should not affect what you're trying to achieve," Biron said. "The playoffs were a good thing. I played a total of 17 games in the playoffs, but that's about a fifth of what a regular season is. It's easy to play 17 games and play well, but to go 82 games and be consistent and play well is the big challenge.
"Sometimes you get an identity with what you can do in the playoffs. I think we did that. Now to get out of the gate and show the rest of the league that we were not just a team that got on fire at the end of the year and in the playoffs, that we are a team that can get on fire for a whole season. That's got to be our goal."
And to do it without last season's playoff hero, R.J. Umberger.
Umberger, a former All-American at Ohio State, was traded on draft day in June and signed a four-year contract extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 26-year-old was a key cog in the Flyers' postseason run, tallying 11 goals and five assists in 16 playoff games - a great increase from the 13 goals and 37 assists he notched in 74 regular-season contests.
While not statistically impressive, Smith is a 14-year veteran who served as the team's locker-room leader. On the ice, his one goal, nine assists and 86 penalty minutes were par for the course, but Smith's 204 blocked shots and 142 hits showed a willingness to put his 34-year-old body on the line for the benefit of the team.
Significant departures to be certain, but Briere doesn't envision the Flyers being felled by them.
So, where does he see the team finishing?
"At the top, you have no choice. That's what you expect," he said. "Obviously, there will be ups and downs, it's that way every year. You have to shoot for the top, and I think we have the team do it."
Great expectations, indeed.
