Philadelphia Flyers

Mercyhurst University announced Monday that Carson Briere was removed from the men's ice hockey team after video showed him pushing a wheelchair down the stairs at a bar in Erie, Pennsylvania.

A statement on behalf of Mercyhurst University and Mercyhurst Athletics. pic.twitter.com/GQ8W3Bd8qi

— Mercyhurst University (@MercyhurstU) April 3, 2023

Briere is the son of former NHL player and current Philadelphia Flyers interim general manager Daniel Briere.

Briere and men's lacrosse player Patrick Carrozzi were charged with criminal mischief, conspiracy to commit criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, per The Athletic. Briere was suspended from the hockey team.

In a video that was posted on social media, Briere and two other men are seen at the top of the stairs at Sullivan's Pub and Eatery on March 11. Briere sat in the wheelchair before pushing it down the stairs.

The owner of the wheelchair had been helped down the stairs by bar security to use the bathroom, and while she was doing so, Briere pushed her wheelchair down the steps. Briere and a friend were removed from the bar.

"There is no excuse for my actions, and I will do whatever I can to make up for this serious lack of judgment," Briere said in a statement in March.

A statement from Mercyhurst University. pic.twitter.com/QNhwcMYVfM

— Mercyhurst University (@MercyhurstU) March 15, 2023

The Athletic reported that a criminal complaint noted pushing the wheelchair down the stairs "caused the left brake handle to not function properly, the plastic molding on the right arm rest to break, the rear handle is slightly bent and the wheels are experiencing drag moving forward."

The woman said the wheelchair cost about $2,000.

Briere and Carrozzi are scheduled to be in court May 22.

"I was shocked to see Carson's actions in the video that was shared on social media yesterday," Daniel Briere said in a statement. "They are inexcusable and run completely counter to our family's values of treating people with respect. Carson is very sorry and accepts full responsibility for his behavior."

Mercyhurst University hockey player Carson Briere, the son of interim Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere, is under investigation after being captured on security camera footage pushing a woman's wheelchair down a flight of stairs at a bar on Saturday night.

Mercyhurst University said in a statement, via TMZ Sports:

"Late this afternoon, Mercyhurst University became aware of the disturbing video in which one of our student-athletes is seen pushing an unoccupied wheelchair down a flight of stairs at a local establishment. Our Office of Student Conduct and Department of Police and Safety are investigating."

Mercyhurst Athletics announced Wednesday following an initial investigation that the three student-athletes shown in the video, including Briere, have been placed on interim suspensions from their athletic programs.

Statement from Mercyhurst Athletics. pic.twitter.com/qkO2szewhi

— Mercyhurst Lakers (@HurstAthletics) March 15, 2023

On Tuesday, Twitter user Julia Zukowski published security camera footage that shows Briere and another man walking up a flight of stairs before engaging in a short conversation. Briere is then seen on video sitting in the wheelchair before shoving it down the stairs and entering the bar area.

Zukowski added that the wheelchair was left at the top of the stairs because the owner of the chair "physically had to be carried down to use the restrooms," which were only located on the lower level.

https://twitter.com/_legless_wonder/status/1636198893804191748

"I am deeply sorry for my behavior on Saturday," Briere said in a statement. "There is no excuse for my actions, and I will do whatever I can to make up for this serious lack of judgement."

Daniel Briere added:

"I was shocked to see Carson's actions in the video that was shared on social media yesterday. They are 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."

Zukowski has since set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to replace the victim's damaged wheelchair. Donations totaled more than $5,600 as of Wednesday afternoon.

Briere joined the Mercyhurst hockey team in 2020 after being dismissed from Arizona State's hockey program as a redshirt freshman following the 2019-20 season.

According to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, Briere was dismissed for "a clear violation of team rules." A source told Wyshynski his "dismissal wasn't the result of a single incident but rather repeated behavior for which he received multiple warnings."

The 23-year-old told College Hockey News in 2021 that he "wasn't taking hockey seriously" while playing for the Sun Devils.

"It wasn't anything bad, it was just not being committed to hockey, I was more committed to having fun at school," Briere said. "Too much partying, that's probably the best way to put it."

Before taking over as the Flyers interim general manager, Daniel Briere played 17 seasons in the NHL from 1997-2015, suiting up for the Flyers, then-Phoenix Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. He tallied 307 goals and 389 assists in 973 games.

On the verge of missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season, the Philadelphia Flyers are making changes in their front office.

The Flyers fired general manager and co-president Chuck Fletcher on Friday morning, and Daniel Brière will take over as general manager on an interim basis.

OFFICIAL: The Flyers have released Chuck Fletcher from his duties as President of Hockey Operations and General Manager. Daniel Brière, currently serving as Special Assistant to the General Manager, has been named Interim General Manager. https://t.co/xALLfVcFnh

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 10, 2023

Giana Han and Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer first reported the news.

Fletcher took over as Philadelphia's general manager in December 2018 after Ron Hextall was fired.

The Flyers made the playoffs during Fletcher's first full season on the job in 2019-20. Their 89 points were the fourth-most among Eastern Conference teams. They defeated the Montréal Canadiens in the first round before falling to the New York Islanders in seven games in the second round.

That turned out to be the high-water mark of Fletcher's tenure. They did finish over .500 during the 2020-21 season (25-23-8), but finished sixth in the East Division.

The bottom dropped out for the Flyers with a 25-46-11 record in 2021-22. It marked the first time they finished last in the division since 2006-07 and was the second-worst single-season winning percentage (.372) in franchise history.

Fletcher and Flyers governor Dave Scott both pledged to make significant changes to their roster in January 2022 in an attempt to get the franchise back on track. Their only significant additions during the offseason were Anthony DeAngelo and Nicolas Deslauriers.

DeAngelo has 34 points as a defenseman, but his plus-minus of minus-28 ranks 754th out of 757 players this season. Deslauriers is a winger who has 11 points in 65 games.

The Flyers have been better so far this season compared to 2021-22, but their 24-30-11 record ranks seventh in the eight-team Metropolitan Division.

Brière has been working with the Flyers as special assistant to the general manager since February 2022. The 45-year-old spent six seasons in Philadelphia as a player from 2008 to '13.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo has been suspended two games for spearing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry in the groin, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday following a hearing.

The incident occurred during the third period of Philadelphia 5-2 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. DeAngelo was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct.

The NHL Department of Player Safety explained:

"Well after the whistle is blown, DeAngelo circles back toward Perry, pulls back his stick and drives the point of the stick blade into Perry's groin with a stabbing motion, causing him to fall to the ice. This is spearing. It is important to note that DeAngelo does not engage with Perry in any way prior to spearing him, choosing to deliver this strike while Perry is not looking at him.

"What causes this play to rise to the level of a suspension is the premeditated nature of the foul against an unsuspecting opponent well after the whistle, the area of the body where the spear was delivered and the force of the blow."

Tony DeAngelo received a 5 minute major and game misconduct for spearing Corey Perry. https://t.co/R45zFkSOoX

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 8, 2023

"I haven't seen the clip of what happened," Flyers head coach John Tortorella told reporters of the incident after the game. "Guys in the room said it was pretty obvious what happened."

He added: "That's the line you walk, as far as going over the edge. I want him to have his personality, to have that competitiveness. A couple of guys I did sit, I wish a little of that would rub off on them. But again, I haven't seen it, but I think he may have crossed the line."

DeAngelo also told reporters after the loss that he didn't mean to catch Perry in the groin.

"He tried to slash my stick out of my hands a second beforehand. He talks all game," he said. "I asked him to fight, he doesn't want to fight. He'll tell you he's asked me to fight for years. I don't say no. But wasn't trying to give him a shot [where it landed]. Replay probably looks worse."

DeAngelo is in his first season with the Flyers after spending the 2021-22 campaign with the Carolina Hurricanes. He has 10 goals and 24 assists in 59 games this year, but he also boasts a minus-28 rating.

The 27-year-old made his NHL debut with the Arizona Coyotes in 2016-17 and spent a little over three seasons with the New York Rangers before the franchise waived him following an altercation with goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.

DeAngelo was previously suspended three games in 2017 for abuse of officials while playing for the Coyotes.

He was also twice suspended while playing as a prospect in the Ontario Hockey League for violating the league's policy to "keep homophobic, racist and sexist language out of the game."

DeAngelo will miss games against the Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins. He'll be eligible to return to the lineup on March 14 against the Vegas Golden Knights. In the meantime, Justin Braun figures to slot in on Philadelphia's third defensive pairing.

The Flyers sit well out of a playoff spot with a 24-29-11 record. They're seventh in the Metropolitan Division with 59 points.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers might be in very different positions in the standings this season, but they do have one thing in common: management teams that do not seem to have any sort of coherent plan for what they are doing.

They both demonstrated that through the 2023 NHL trade deadline this past week.

In both instances, it all seemed like a big missed opportunity for what needed to be done.

Or what could have been done.

Or perhaps even what should have been done.

It should be especially concerning for each team given the aggressiveness and moves made by their counterparts in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.

Let's start in Pittsburgh, where the best moves made by general manager Ron Hextall seemed to be him erasing some of his own mistakes from the past two years.

All season the common refrain coming out of Pittsburgh was that the Penguins didn't have the resources in terms of prospects or young assets to entice a team to trade with them. Their salary-cap situation would not give them the flexibility to add somebody who could make an impact.

When it comes to the former (the assets to trade), the cost for some of the top targets ended up being minimal and the sort of packages the Penguins could have easily matched.

Ottawa got defenseman Jakob Chychrun without giving up a single player or prospect. The New Jersey Devils landed Timo Meier without giving up any of their best young players off the NHL roster and none of their top prospects. Outside of the price that Tampa Bay paid to Nashville for forward Tanner Jeannot, there were not really any overwhelmingly high prices paid for teams to upgrade.

As far as salary-cap space was concerned, the Penguins actually managed to clear a significant chunk of salary-cap space both this season and in future seasons by waiving forward Kasperi Kapanen (and having him luckily get claimed), trading Brock McGinn, trading Teddy Blueger and sending defenseman Mark Friedman to the American Hockey League.

All of those moves gave the Penguins $6 million in salary-cap flexibility for the trade deadline and cleared more than $5 million off the books for next season. Combined with all of the other salaries they have coming off the books after this season, that would have given the Penguins a significant amount of salary-cap space to work with to build around their core.

Instead of taking advantage of that opportunity both now and in the future, Hextall traded a second-round pick for Mikael Granlund and his $5 million per year salary for the next two full seasons with no salary retained. He basically just lit that salary-cap space on fire and completely undid the work he put in to create it.

There is nothing wrong with Granlund as a player in a vacuum, and he might even have some positive value to the right team in the right situation. But is that team Pittsburgh? On paper, he solves none of the Penguins' issues.

He doesn't fit the third-line center spot, he isn't a strong goal scorer, he doesn't skate as well as he used to, he is not very effective on the forecheck, he is another player over the age of 31, he makes more than $5 million per year and he isn't good defensively. He has good vision, he can pass the puck and he is a smart player, but he does not really move the needle for them now or in the future. It was just a wasted opportunity.

Especially when just a few days earlier Nashville traded a better winger with a better contract in Nino Niederreiter for the exact same price (a second-round draft pick).

After that, Hextall added two more rentals in Nick Bonino and Dmitry Kulikov, giving them two more players over the age of 30. After the additions of those two, the Penguins now have 15 of their 23 roster spots going to players over the age of 30, with Rickard Rakell set to join them.

Nothing about their moves makes any sense, from ignoring their needs to wasting any new salary-cap space they find to bringing back their core of veterans with an aging team but not being willing to trade their first-round pick to help them out.

The mismanagement has not been limited to the western side of the state of Pennsylvania, because things are looking even worse in Philadelphia, where the team is not only bad right now, but it also lacks any sort of coherent plan.

The Flyers talked a big game before the season about being aggressive this offseason but, outside of hiring John Tortorella and bringing in Tony DeAngelo, didn't really do anything to meaningfully alter the direction of the team. They didn't even make an offer for top free agent Johnny Gaudreau, were seemingly not involved in any other major players who changed teams and have just been rearranging deck chairs for the past two or three years.

Management refuses to use the word rebuild, even though it is exactly what the franchise needs.

Tortorella seems to be the only person involved with the team who has been willing to speak about how far away the Flyers are from competing, which is odd because that sort of messaging usually comes from the general manager.

Chuck Fletcher admits calling the Flyers plan in early 2022 a “retool” was “probably a stupid comment.” Goes on to explain how calling this a “rebuild” scares him. #Flyers #FueledByPhilly pic.twitter.com/SMDds2N3zT

— Russ Joy (@JoyOnBroad) March 4, 2023

Instead of leaning into a rebuild at the deadline, and after general manager Chuck Fletcher said they would be sellers, the only move the Flyers made was to trade Zack MacEwen for Brendan Lemieux and a fifth-round draft pick.

They did not trade pending unrestricted free agents James van Riemsdyk or Justin Braun. They did not shed any of their big salaries on defense that are problematic going forward. They did not move anybody who could bring back a meaningful return.

Not trading van Riemsdyk was the non-move that seemed to draw the most criticism because it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that he would go and was the most logical trade chip the team had. For him to still remain in Philadelphia after the deadline just seems like awful work by Fletcher and Co.

Like Pittsburgh, there seems to be no semblance of a plan. Only in this case, it might be worse. At least the Penguins for now can fall back on the idea of being a playoff team, even if it's a flawed playoff team that might not be Stanley Cup-caliber. The Flyers are just toiling along in mediocrity. Not good enough to be a playoff team, not outright bad enough to be a top lottery team. They also do not seem to realize what they are with bizarre asset management.

In 2021, they traded a first-round pick for Rasmus Ristolainen and re-signed him to a long-term deal despite poor defensive metrics across the board.

Rasmus Ristolainen, reportedly signed to a 5x$5M extension by PHI, is a defenceman who has continually performed at a very poor level throughout his nine-year NHL career, particularly defensively. #BringittoBroad pic.twitter.com/RK3PD7eU1K

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 10, 2022

They traded two draft picks to get Arizona to take on the remainder of Shayne Gostisbehere's contract, and then a year later gave up three more draft picks to acquire DeAngelo, who is arguably a worse version of Gostisbehere, and then paid him more money. It is all baffling stuff.

Tony DeAngelo will be a healthy scratch. That might help the Flyers' team defence a tad. pic.twitter.com/fjhR1qE1hd

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) December 9, 2022

The Hurricanes are still the class of the division, while the Devils have improved by leaps and bounds and might have the best young talent in the division. The Rangers were in the Eastern Conference Final a year ago and loaded up at the trade deadline. For all of the Capitals' flaws this season, they at least seem to have a plan on how to transition into their next phase.

The Penguins and Flyers, meanwhile, just spun their wheels over the past two weeks.

Philadelphia Flyers' head coach John Tortorella stood up for Ivan Provorov after the defenseman made the decision to boycott the organization's Pride night for religious reasons.

"Provy did nothing wrong," Tortorella told reporters Thursday. "Just because you don't agree with his decision doesn't mean he did anything wrong."

Tortorella's comments were met with backlash:

https://twitter.com/hemjhaveri/status/1615551629851521024

John Tortorella once said he would bench any player who didn’t stand for the US anthem. So what have we learned here https://t.co/uHoFxG2pKv

— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) January 18, 2023

"Ivan Provorov made a decision not to participate in an event that was important to our team and our fans. As a result, we, as a team, made a decision not to play him, out of respect to the LGBTQ+ community and all our fans."

The end. That's all he had to do. All he had to say.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 18, 2023

You come to expect people like Provorov in hockey. It's the lack of accountability that's so frustrating and disappointing. Tortorella respects Provorov being true to himself? Really? That's what you're going to say in that moment? It's all just so ridiculous and sad.

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 18, 2023

While Tortorella did say in 2016 that he would bench any player who didn't stand for the playing of the national anthem, he attempted to walk back those comments in 2020.

"I would hope that if one of my players wanted to protest during the anthem, he would bring it to me and we would talk about it, tell me his thoughts and what he wanted to do," he said. "From there, we would bring it to the team to discuss it, much like it's being discussed in our country right now," he said.

He further clarified his feelings on that particular situation on Thursday.

"I learned a lot through that experience," Tortorella said. "My feelings toward any type of protest to the flag during the anthem, it disgusts me; to this day, it disgusts me. It shouldn't be done. Those are my feelings. I can't push those feelings onto someone else. So I was wrong in saying that back then. I didn't realize I was But once I went through it all, who am I to push my feelings onto someone else? Same situation here."

Provorov, who is Russian Orthodox, sat out the team's warmups before Tuesday's matchup against the Anaheim Ducks because the Flyers wore Pride-themed jerseys and wrapped their sticks in rainbow tape.

"My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion," he told reporters after the fact. "That's all I'm going to say."

The Flyers were aware ahead of time that Provorov was planning to boycott the warmups and Tortorella said he never considered benching him for the game.

"Why would I bench him? Because of a decision he's making on his beliefs and his religion?" he said. "It turned out to be a great night for Pride night."

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov decided against participating in a pregame skate Tuesday on LGBTQ+ Pride Night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly.

Every other Flyers player took part and wore warmup jerseys emblazoned with rainbow-colored names and numbers in celebration of Pride Night.

Provorov still played in the Flyers' 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, and while speaking to reporters afterward, he said his choice to not wear the pride jersey was because of his desire "to stay true to myself and my religion," which is Russian Orthodox.

The Russian defenseman added: "I respect everyone. I respect everybody's choices."

Flyers head coach John Tortorella supported Provorov during his postgame press conference, saying: "With Provy, he's being true to himself and to his religion. This has to do with his belief and his religion. It's one thing I respect about Provy: He's always true to himself. That's where we're at with that."

On Wednesday, the NHL released a statement on the matter, noting that players have the right to choose which initiatives they want to support:

The @NHL has responded to ESPN's request for comment on @NHLFlyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, who declined to take warmups last night because he refused to wear a Pride Night jersey.

From the NHL: pic.twitter.com/Q6SlKQwmWM

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) January 18, 2023

The 26-year-old Provorov was born and raised in Russia before making the move to the United States to play in the USHL and then Canada to play juniors in the WHL.

Provorov was selected seventh overall by the Flyers in the 2015 NHL draft, and he has gone on to spend his entire seven-year NHL career in Philadelphia.

On Tuesday, Provorov led all Flyers defensemen in ice time at 22 minutes and 45 seconds, and while he did not record a point, he had one shot on goal and a plus-1 rating.

Provorov has had an uneven season for a Flyers team that has perhaps exceeded expectations with a 19-19-7 record.

He has two goals and 13 assists for 15 points in 45 games to go along with a minus-7 rating, 83 shots on goal and 12 penalty minutes.

Provorov and the Flyers will return to the ice Thursday night when they host the struggling Chicago Blackhawks.