By Rob Parent | [email protected] | The Delaware County Daily Times

That semblance of excitement created by his Flyers team last season until a late season swoon knocked them out of a playoff position? That anticipation for this season that almost naturally followed?

Briere wishes he were wrong, but he wasn't fooled.

"I kind of knew," said the still-somewhat new general manager, who during his long NHL playing career played on some outstanding teams and some brutal ones.

"Last year, we gave Torts (now ex-head coach John Tortorella) and our staff a lot of credit for taking the players to where they did, and being in a playoff position at the trade deadline. Where we were in our rebuild and timeline, we felt we couldn't pass up the assets we were getting in return for Sean Walker. I know it hurt us, but thinking of the long term future, it was something we couldn't pass up."

Moving solid defender Walker was the lone 2024 trade deadline move of significance, but it seemed to only expedite a spin out of contention for a Flyers team that would go through an eight-game losing streak when it could least afford to.

But what the club had accomplished sparked optimism in training camp last September, and not just for the fans. The players and even Tortorella had elevated expectations, which when voiced in the media gave Briere pause. While he said he "loved" the optimism shown from his team, Briere said that for him and team president Keith Jones ... well, they knew better.

"It was tough reading some of the comments that this year is going to be the year, but I knew in my gut that this year we were going to go through another tough year," Briere said. "I knew we were still not out of the woods, that we were still in a deep-down rebuild you've seen this year.

"For me and I think for Jonesy, we knew there was a good chance we would take a step back, and unfortunately it happened."

By Thursday morning, the Flyers had regressed to the point of oblivion, having lost 11 of 12 games, including a 7-4 loss in Chicago Sunday and a 7-2 clubbing in Toronto two nights later.

Thus, Briere and Jones finally pulled the plug on Tortorella late in his third season as head coach. While he may have been prescient about the fortunes of his team, Briere said he didn't foresee firing Tortorella a couple or few weeks ago. In fact, he added, "It really got serious probably in the last few days, I would say."

But with each passing loss leading up to this week, the relationship between Tortorella and the front office perhaps soured beyond repair.

"I felt it was time," Briere said. "You're going to ask me is there one thing that happened, it's not one thing. It's a series of things that have happened, and probably a little bit more in the last three weeks, and it's escalated since right around the trade deadline and right after that."

While a pair of trades sapped the locker room of veterans Scott Laughton, Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost and added little in return, indeed whatever the Flyers still had going for them quickly evaporated. That loss of energy seemed to include the head coach, who after the Tuesday night loss said he was "not interested" in coaching a young club on such a losing streak.

Briere wrote that off as Tortorella speaking out of angst. Said Briere: "Getting shellacked there in Toronto ... the embarrassment that we all felt."

Coincidentally, Tortorella was out of a job less than 48 hours later.

So what's next? Career assistant Brad Shaw is in place as an interim, but Briere will likely have his hiring eyes trained elsewhere.

The usual assortment of "name" head coaches who are available will be raised, a list that may include long ago Flyer Rick Tocchet, currently the head coach in Vancouver. He'd be a popular possibility ... if the Canucks allow him to be one.

But Briere said several times in his post-firing praise-Tortorella press conference Thursday that the Flyers are a young team. Their leading young star, Matvei Michkov, is a rookie with loads of talent and a lot to learn. Therefore, a young, teaching-oriented head coach might be made to order.

"I'm not sure what we'll be looking for (with) a coach. One thing I can say is we have a young team, so a coach that can teach is going to be important to start with," Briere said.

As for a head coach who could perhaps identify a little more closely to young guys than the 66-year-old Tortorella or other elder replacements?

"Not necessarily," Briere said. "We're not going to close off any coaches because of their ages. If they're the appropriate coach we're going to keep everything open. We don't want to limit ourselves. But at the same time if a young coach fits the bill, then yeah. we might go for it."