[Phils20]

Flyers send Briere to Phantoms for two-game conditioning assignment

By ED MORAN
Philadelphia Daily News
morane@phillynews.com
Danny Briere is aware that his return to the Flyers' active roster means someone has to go. There isn't enough salary space to bring him and his $6.5 million back without exceeding the league cap and making roster adjustments. Yesterday he said he wasn't willing to see moves made before he was sure he had fully recovered from the groin and abdomen injuries that have limited him to nine games this season, so he agreed to a two-game conditioning assignment with the Phantoms.
"I'm just excited to get back and playing some games, to test it out and see where I am," Briere said. "We all know the situation here and some moves will need to be made when I'm ready to come in the lineup, so the last thing I want is to force the team to make some moves and find out that I can't go, that I can't play.
"The American League is not that far behind the NHL. It's competitive and it's going to be a good test."
Briere is scheduled to play with the Phantoms tonight against Worcester and Friday night against Lowell, both at home.
"We are doing this just to make sure everything is OK with Danny," general manager Paul Holmgren said. "This will give him the opportunity to play in some games prior to rejoining the Flyers. He will play two games with the Phantoms . . . He was absolutely receptive to this."
Briere has not played since Dec. 2. He has suffered repeated groin-related problems and earlier had abdominal surgery.
He was placed on long-term injury, which freed up room for the Flyers to bring back defenseman Randy Jones without making a significant roster move. The continued injuries to Flyers forwards have kept the ceiling within view, but even with Josh Gratton and Jon Kalinski going on the long-term list, the team will still need to clear space. That will mean sending another player down to the Phantoms, or sending rookie defenseman Luca Sbisa back to junior hockey.
If Briere plays these two games and then stays out of the Flyers' lineup through the game against Atlanta next Wednesday, Holmgren can wait until Jan. 26 before making any decisions.
Briere has not played in the AHL since the 2000-01 season when he was in the Phoenix Coyotes' system. But he feels that going back is the right step given his and the team's situation.
"It's funny because I thought about it and I didn't think it was possible because I thought the team had to activate me," he said. "And then a couple of days later I talked with Paul Holmgren and he kind of asked me what I thought of the idea and I told him I thought the same thing but thought it just wasn't possible."
Holmgren went the same route when Jones returned from hip surgery last month.
"He looked into it and realized that when you are about to come back from an injury that you can go and figure out if you are ready to play or not," Briere said. "With the situation we have here with the Phantoms in the same city and the same practice facility, it's a perfect setting for myself.
"I'm trying to get better, to improve, to get back to where I can be and I'm not there right now. Hopefully those two games can help me in that department.
"But it's mostly mentally, just to see how I can compete and if I am strong enough, to see how the stomach and the groin react from the added pressure. In practice I can skate as much as I want. When you know what you're doing you can protect it. If you know where you're going, it's a lot different than playing games, and that's why I'd like to test it out first."
The Flyers have been playing winning hockey and have good chemistry - which a player move could disrupt.
"That's why I think it's important to see if [Briere] is healthy," said coach John Stevens. "If you make adjustments to get him in and then he comes back and plays one game and is not healthy, that's why it makes even more sense to get him in a game." *