Danny Briere, Yet Another Dirty Flyer?

by Travis Hughes on Oct 14, 2009 8:58 PM EDT in Commentary

If you ask Anaheim's James Wisniewski to list dirty players on the Flyers' roster, you'd be surprised to hear that forward Danny Briere might make the cut. Wisniewski injured his shoulder in the third period in Philadelphia on Saturday night, and he blames everybody's favorite number 48.

From the Orange County, California Register...

"[Briere] decided to finish his check while I’m lying on the ice," Wisniewski said. "Well, my arms were laying straight out. Actually, he even went a little bit lower to get a little more piece of me, which to me is kind of a dirty hit.

"I mean, there’s no need to do that when a guy is in a vulnerable spot to go ahead and finish your check. But that happened. Stuff happens. My shoulder just kind of got crunched against the boards and that was it."

Unfortunately, there's no video of the hit available online (from my searches), and my memory doesn't recall the incident well enough to judge. It really doesn't sound like Briere to do something like that, though. Or, it could be that Danny is just so short that it just seemed to Wisniewski like he went "a little bit lower."

Nevertheless, I'd love to hear what Briere has to say about the accusations.

UPDATE! Reader DragonGirl0583 uploaded a video of the "hit" and shared it in the comments below. You'll be entertained by these accusations after you see it, and that's a guarantee.

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Comments

So, Briere, it’s you who’s putting my fantasy team D in even more of a bind…

by Ben Feldman on Oct 14, 2009 9:09 PM EDT reply actions

Oh puhlease. Some people will b.itch about anything when it comes to our flyboys.

by Kanayd on Oct 14, 2009 9:32 PM EDT reply actions

Wait, how does Briere “finish his check” on a guy who’s laying on the ice? Presumably face down (arms laying straight out)? Coincidence there’s no video…

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by Geoff Detweiler on Oct 14, 2009 9:48 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, I’ve been trying to picture this in my head and I just can’t. I mean, how does one bend THAT low to hit crunch a guys shoulder into the board when he’s laying on the ice. I’m slightly confused.

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by Travis Hughes on Oct 14, 2009 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions

I imagine all hockey players have their questionable moments, but I just can’t see Briere as being a dirty hockey player, sorry. I have seen him shove goalies’ heads to the ice as he skates out of the crease (Caps series) and he’s as competitve as anyone, but this seems far-fetched.

Whatever, I guess the simplest thing to do whenever you’re injured doing something you probably shouldn’t be doing or caught out of position or whatever, just blame a Flyer. They’re all goons, right?

by doubleh on Oct 14, 2009 10:11 PM EDT reply actions

I was at the game and am pretty sure I know what he’s talking about. I had a decent angle and I saw the guy kind of falling sideways as Briere came in to hit him and then that guy slowly made his way to the bench looking pretty hurt.

Here’s my homer opinion. They always take runs at Briere because he’s small and he saw an opportunity to return the favor and took it. Deal with it. The real badasses don’t whine and complain in any sport, they get even. Could anyone here see Richards crying like this? Utley about a pitch that hit him? I think not.

by Will21 on Oct 14, 2009 10:33 PM EDT reply actions

exactly

Though keep in mind, not everyone is a tough person. For every Mike Richards, there’s a Sidney Crosby

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by Kevin Sellathamby on Oct 15, 2009 8:03 AM EDT up reply actions

I actually am surprised by the shock here—I always thought of Briere as being fairly dirty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxi77lWJdaw

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by Ben Rothenberg on Oct 15, 2009 9:34 AM EDT reply actions

right in the fig leafs

by CoburnsCuddleBuddy on Oct 15, 2009 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions

You did see what it was in response to, right?

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by Geoff Detweiler on Oct 15, 2009 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions

the spear was payback for this late dirty hit, Ovie wouldn’t try that crap against our team he knows the payback would be a bit more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxMJrQhGoSg&NR=1&feature=fvwp

by chrislanci on Oct 15, 2009 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions

“They have way too many guys on the ice. They have 5 plus 1, THAT’S SIX!”

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by Travis Hughes on Oct 15, 2009 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I remember this. I actually turned to my buddy that I was sitting with and mentioned that I was surprised there wasn’t a call made. Briere clearly slowed up to try and avoid the hit, but Wisniewski had fallen at the absolute wrong time and there was just no avoiding it. If Wisniewski knew how to skate, this wouldn’t be an issue, but he fell over nothing, so I’m not surprised he’s trying to make a big deal out of it.

And, I do agree, unfortunately, that Briere is a dirty player. He’s still my favorite, though. Whatever.

Let's go Flyers!

by OrangeAndBlackk on Oct 15, 2009 7:31 PM EDT reply actions

I was going crazy trying to find it, because Wisniewski’s description didn’t sound plausible. I think I finally figured it out, but there is no call, no reaction by the announcers, and it isn’t credited as a hit…

OrangeAndBlackk touched on the fact that he was falling in the above post, but I’ve just watched the video, so I’ll be more detailed. With 10:13 to go in the third, Wisniewski checks Jeff Carter into the boards. As Wisniewski tries to skate away from Carter, the puck is ahead up the boards ahead and Briere is coming from the middle at an angle toward the loose puck. Wisniewski accelerates out of the check before actually getting his balance, and falls/dives toward the puck with his stick ahead and knocks the puck away. Briere, however, has momentum coming from the middle toward the boards where the loose puck was, and now Wisniewski has just dived right between him and the boards. Briere applies the brakes, but there’s no room to stop because he’s already there, so there’s a collision.

If this guys wants to say someone is a dirty player, he needs to call them out over a real hit. This was more like he dove at Briere’s feet and started whining that Briere skated into him. I’m more than willing to admit it when the Flyers do something dirty, but this did not look like one of those times.

I have really bad video of it on my computer, if you guys want me to attempt to show it to you, let me know.

by DragonGirl0583 on Oct 15, 2009 9:38 PM EDT reply actions

If you don’t mind putting it up, I’d like to take a crack at seeing it.

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by Travis Hughes on Oct 15, 2009 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Don’t say I didn’t warn you… It’s got a bad watermark and it’s not exactly high res.

Everything happens between 10:15 and 10:10 on the game clock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd4uToSHO2I

by DragonGirl0583 on Oct 15, 2009 9:59 PM EDT up reply actions

lol, wow. Briere was going for the puck, but found Wisniewski in his skates. I wonder if Wisniewski saw video of this play, and if he still thinks it was a “dirty” play.

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by Geoff Detweiler on Oct 15, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions