Through just three games, the Philadelphia Flyers have shown us a little bit of everything. So far, we've witnessed an overtime loss to the defending Eastern Conference champions, a blowout loss to Florida and an incredibly hard-fought win at home against those very same Panthers.
As the whirlwind continues in this 2015-16 season, let's look at a few headlines making the rounds in this edition of Between the Pipes.
Danny Briere returns to the Flyers to assist President Paul Holmgren – [Sean Leahy – Puck Daddy]
Briere confirmed to the media that he would in fact be returning to the club 'unofficially' to work with Holmgren on a variety of things. A fan-favorite, Briere has been a regular at the Wells Fargo Center during the preseason, just one year removed from retiring as an active player. The move doesn't come as a surprise as Briere has maintained his South Jersey home and has always been forthcoming in his desire to remain in the area. Regardless of what role he may play, it's great to have Danny back with the Orange and Black.
Jaromir Jagr thankful for his season in Philadelphia – [Dave Isaac – Courier-Post]
The 43-year-old Jagr, hockey's version of Julio Franco, is back for yet another NHL season with the Florida Panthers, a club that wasn't even founded when he played his first professional season. With such a long and successful career, one has to wonder how much better his numbers would look if he had not played in the KHL for three seasons. That aside, Jagr actually credits his one season with the Flyers – his first since returning from Russia – with kick-starting his NHL career once more due to the quick pace and puck-possession game that the Flyers play. While 'Jags' is thankful for his 73-game stint in Philadelphia, the Flyers faithful can be thankful for him as well considering he had his hand in the continued development of captain Claude Giroux.
Craig Berube attends Flyers home opener to scout for Hockey Canada – [Randy Miller – NJ.com]
Kudos to Berube for saying that it didn't feel awkward returning to Philadelphia just a handful of months after being relieved of his duties as head coach. While he hopes to return to coaching again, his purpose now is to do some scouting for Hockey Canada GM Doug Armstrong. Monday's game at the Wells Fargo Center will likely not be last that 'Chief' attends considering he still makes his home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Though his system ultimately did not work in Philadelphia, he does possess a good hockey mind and will be best-served by remaining in the game at some capacity. I, for one, was always impressed with how he continued to analyze the opposing team from the bench during pre-game skates, even after he was elevated to head coach.
Zach Hopkins is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @healedbyhockey.
