No one could have predicted the adversity and turmoil Danny Briere would experience as General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers in his first year holding the position.
Not long after replacing lame duck Chuck Fletcher as showrunner, albeit with a interim tag at the time, Briere was thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. His son, Carson Briere, was given a trio of charges for pushing an unoccupied wheelchair down a flight of stairs at a bar in Erie, Pennsylvania. The incident was caught on camera, and Briere, a member of Mercyhurst University’s hockey program, was promptly removed from the team.
The wheelchair belonged to fellow Mercyhurst student, Sydney Benes, who lost both of her legs in a 2021 car accident. A GoFundMe was created by employees of Sullivan’s Pub, the bar where the incident took place, to raise money for a replacement. Enough was raised for that and a charitable donation of Benes’s choice.
Briere would later issue a statement on the abhorrent actions of his son.
“They’re inexcusable and run completely counter to our family’s values on treating people with respect. Carson is very sorry and accepts full responsibility for his behavior.”
But the damage had already been done. Briere’s son, of course, would ultimately be the one forced to face the music for his crimes — he received 15 months probation last December — but GM Briere still received backlash and criticism for the incident. It was an off-ice distraction the team hardly needed, especially considering how far the last management team had fallen out of favor with its fan base.
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