Flyers' Danny Briere Says Sean Couturier Isn't Completely Healthy
Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere revealed to the Snow the Goalie Podcast that captain Sean Couturier has been battling injuries.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports - Flyers' Danny Briere Says Sean Couturier Isn't Completely HealthyPhiladelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere revealed to the Snow the Goalie Podcast that captain Sean Couturier has been battling injuries.
Couturier has averaged 18:30 time on ice this season. That is a lot of minutes for a guy who didn't play a single game in the 2022-23 season. Through January, he had been averaging over 19 minutes per game.
"In a sense, it was good to give Sean the chance to, maybe, recuperate a little bit more," Briere said. "I know when we say that, he doesn't want to be scratched."
After yesterday's game against the Boston Bruins, Couturier said that being healthy scratched is behind him, but from what Briere says, he might've not been healthy during his 'healthy' scratch.
"Early on, we were asking a lot of him. He was playing on the powerplay. He was facing all the top lines. He was first on the penalty kill. Sean was really beat up, too. If you remember, you go back to earlier in the season, Sean was missing some practices here and there," Briere explained. "It wasn't just to recuperate from playing 22 minutes [a game], he was really banged up. I think at one point, he had five different injuries that he was dealing with, and he was still playing."
Hockey players are known to be warriors and play through many injuries. For a guy like Couturier to play through multiple injuries after missing an entire season takes true guts and determination.
Briere also discussed why he was okay with head coach John Tortorella's decision to scratch the recently made captain.
"To start with John, it's not his job to be best friends with the player. It is his job to get the most out of him," Briere said. "Now, you can agree or disagree on how he goes about it, but at the end of the day, that's his job. That's what he's paid to do. That's the technique that he's using."
Briere admitted to a bond with Couturier because they played together. He kept his GM hat on when he backed his head coach.
"There's a bond there, and there's a respect between the two of us. But I think Sean hasn't played well enough the last month of the season," Briere said. "The encouraging part for me is how he played in the first half. We know it's there. Coming out of a two-year hiatus it wasn't an easy situation. We know Sean can still be a good player. He proved that in the first part of the season. He played a lot of heavy minutes and is that what caught up to him? I don't know but he lost a little bit of his jump lately. It's still there, and that is the encouraging part for me."
Couturier played well against the Bruins in a more reserved third-line role. He played 13:09 and didn't register a point. Tortorella praised his entire line after the game, saying, "They played well."
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