Danny Briere is Excited About Working with John Tortorella
New Flyers general manger Daniel Briere will have his hands busy this summer. He will be evaluating which players on the team need to stay and who the Flyers need to move on from. He will have to see if young stars, like Ronnie Attard, are ready to come up and perform on a full time basis. He will see if any players the team has can be moved in trades and which ones to add in free agency. There are players to evaluate in the draft as well as plans to improve the Flyers future; not just for this year but for many years ahead.
One thing Briere does not have to do is find a new head coach. Briere is all in on John Tortorella. In an interview with NBC Sports’s Michael Barkann, he shared his opinions on the Flyers coach. Here are some takeaways:
Torts
He was impressed with him last year during the coach’s interview process. He said he knew him before as a coach, in the minors and playing against him. He was really blown away by how he evaluates players and how he truly puts his everything into coaching.
Honesty
One of the things about Tortorella that comes up is that he can be “fiery”. Briere sees that as being honest. Look, none of us likes being called out by our bosses when we mess up. It’s a fact of life. Briere sees what Tortorella does and sees that he cares, not only about the team, but the player as well. It may not always come out with roses, but it is well intentioned. An honest evaluation of a player is something that is necessary. If they don’t fit, they don’t belong. It might not be nice, but it’s the truth.
Working with Jones and Torts
Based on comments here and before, this is going to be a triumvirate of leadership. Keith Jones, Briere, and Tortorella will all have a say in where this team is heading. There is a tremendous amount of trust that is being built here and they all share vision. A team with vision, a shared vision, is going to be successful. And working together, there are three guys who know what it will take to get this team back up and running again.
Coming and Going
About three minutes in, Barkann talked about players who will not only be staying but will be (maybe) leaving as well. Briere admitted that this is just as important as getting talent onto your team because Tortorella can see things that they may not see in the press box. He is with the players more, so he can see some of the other things in how the players relate to the system and each other. As a result, they will rely on him and his opinion.
Danny Loves Philly
Remember, when Briere was one of the hottest names out there on the free agency market, he chose Philadelphia. And after he retired, he stayed, in several capacities, with the Flyers organization. He was attracted to what Ed Snider had built and would love to bring that back to this team. Having been here for 17 years now, he sees himself as a “native Philadelphian”.