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MONTREAL — A playoff foe that Daniel Brière and the Philadelphia Flyers would have liked to avoid is the Montreal Canadiens.
The Flyers not only lost all four regular-season meetings to the Canadiens, by a combined score of 15-6, but also Brière was abused by the Montreal faithful at the Bell Centre because he spurned a lucrative free-agent deal to sign with the Habs last summer.
Brière had one measly assist in his two games in Montreal and only one more helper in the two defeats to the Canadiens in Philadelphia.
"It's going to be crazy up there," Brière said after his team scored its seventh-game overtime victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. "I'm just ecstatic the way we battled back."
The Flyers' Daniel Briere will be looking to pick up his game against the Canadiens Thursday night. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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Brière has battled back himself. He didn't exactly win over the Flyers' fans with his play in the middle part of the regular season, but the native of Gatineau, Que., found a formative partnership with Vaclav Prospal, acquired at the trade deadline, to finish with a flurry. Brière had points in 14 of his final 15 matches: nine goals and 17 points.
In the playoffs, he's been even better. Brière leads the Stanley Cup playoff scoring race after the first round with five goals and 11 points, including three winning goals.
"Every time we face a team, we focus on the best player," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "Daniel won't be any different, and we'll also focus on [Flyers defenceman Kimmo] Timonen."
The Canadiens' faithful showered Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara with boos in the first round, and no doubt they will bombard Brière with chants and scornful taunts every time he touches the puck.
"If Zdeno got it pretty bad, I can't imagine what it's going to be like for [Brière]," Canadiens forward Christopher Higgins said. "Any boost we can get, we'll take it."
Last summer, when Brière became an unrestricted free agent, eight clubs made serious pitches. He eventually reduced that list to three: the Canadiens, Flyers and New York Rangers. But after the Rangers signed Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, it became a two-horse race.
After careful consideration, Brière selected the Flyers because he had two friends on the team, goaltender Martin Biron and sniper Simon Gagné, and he felt the trades Philadelphia made last season gave them a brighter future than the Canadiens.
So Brière's agent, Pat Brisson, delivered the bad news to Montreal general manager Bob Gainey, who responded by offering an even better deal than the eight-year, $52-million (U.S.) contract Brière signed with the Flyers.
But Brière didn't flinch or use the Canadiens' offer to get a better deal from the Flyers. He wanted to continue his NHL career in Philadelphia. This set off a wild summer for Brière. One Montreal newspaper report said he didn't sign with the Canadiens because they wouldn't guarantee him a spot on the first line.
A couple of Montreal radio morning men known for their prank calls telephoned Brière and pretended one of them was Canadiens president Pierre Boivin and asked the new Flyers forward to explain his decision.
The Flyers will be on the exhausted side at the Bell Centre tonight because this will be their third outing in four days. They took yesterday off as they made their way to Quebec.
If the Canadiens, now Canada's lone team in the playoffs, learned one valuable lesson in their first round, it was that the regular season loses its meaning in the playoffs. The Canadiens had beaten the Bruins eight times in the regular season and yet were extended to the maximum seven games in the playoff series.
"We know how dangerous this team can be," Montreal captain Saku Koivu said. "They are physical and they have great special teams."
Montreal rookie goalie Carey Price hasn't called his old mentor Cristobal Huet, now with the Washington Capitals, for some advice on the Flyers.
"I sent a text to him wishing him good luck before [game seven]," Price said. "We know a lot about Philly, but I haven't talked to him. I may call him."
