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Jeremy Roenick is all-in on Daniel Briere as Flyers GM

The Philadelphia Flyers are turning to an old friend to turn this franchise around.

Daniel Briere – formerly known as Danny – was a fan favorite and a key cog in the Flyers’ last real successful run during his time in Orange and Black from 2007 to 2013. While the bookend years weren’t great, Briere led all players with 30 points during the improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010.

The jury is still out on Briere in the front office, though. All signs point to the interim tag being removed from Briere’s current title but only time will tell how he’ll fare.

The good thing is that Briere knows what Flyers hockey is all about. You can no longer succeed in the NHL by being the Broad Street Bullies. You need a combination of skill, speed, and size – with an emphasis on the first two – to be a true Cup contender in today’s NHL.

Someone else that knows something about being a Flyer is Jeremy Roenick. Roenick scored one of the most iconic Flyers goals in the last 20 years with his Game 6 overtime winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2004 to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

While Roenick and Briere were never teammates on the Flyers, the alumni network is vast and the two have undoubtedly shared some thoughts and stories over the years.

Roenick is all-in on Briere as the captain of the Flyers’ ship. He spoke glowingly of Briere while appearing on the Sports Gambling Podcast on Thursday afternoon:

(21:05 in video above)

“Danny Briere, baby. Danny Briere’s going to fix this team. The guy’s been there. He knows what it is to be a Philadelphia Flyer. He knows talent. It’s about time that they got somebody into that position that was actually in the game that actually played in Philly that knows what it is to be a Philadelphia Flyer. And Danny Briere, I think, is the best choice that they could’ve had to be general manager and fix what we all want to be is one of the best teams in history, the Philadelphia Flyers. Bring them back to where we expect them to be and that’s winning.”

Danny Briere, baby. He’s our baby.

The first bit of JR’s quote makes sense. Briere does know what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer and he knows talent as shown by his success in the NHL.

Briere has also worked his way up the ranks a bit. He ran the day-to-day operations for the upstart Maine Mariners starting in 2017 and was named a special assistant to the general manager for the Flyers on February 8, 2022. Just over a year and a month later, Briere was named the interim general manager after the firing of Chuck Fletcher.

The next bit of the quote is interesting, though. The Flyers have been known to keep it “in the family” so to speak with former players getting jobs on the coaching staff or in the front office with no real prior experience.

Bobby Clarke brought Philadelphia its only two Cups as a player and is easily the most iconic figure in Flyers history. However, his attempts as a general manager fell short during two stints – 1984 to 1990 and 1994 to 2006.

Clarke then gave way to Paul Holmgren, who helped keep the Flyers afloat and got them back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010. All the while getting them in salary cap hell, which only continued and led to him being “promoted” to President with Ron Hextall taking over.

Hextall is probably the best comparison for Briere. He’s a former Flyer and was a fan favorite. He had experience in the front office and helped build up the Los Angeles Kings team that won two Stanley Cups – one with Hextall still in the organization.

Perhaps Roenick wasn’t a fan of how Hextall ran things in Philadelphia? That certainly wouldn’t be an unpopular or new opinion. It could also be a shot at Fletcher, who failed miserably during his time in Philly – we’ve been over that plenty and will continue to rake him over the coals this summer I’m sure.

Ultimately, it could be none of the above and just pure speculation. The main takeaway is that Roenick is all about Briere in the front office. Nevertheless, it’s good to see former Flyers backing Briere as the guy to lead this franchise back to the promised land – hell, I’d settle for a playoff berth at this point.

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