Pittsburgh Penguins Michel Briere First NHL Goal

[Pensfan3566]

In my opinon best pen of all time because of the heart he puts in to his game, or from what I have seen at lest

[gatherer47]

Two more Pen announcers from the early 70s were Bill Hamilton on tv and Jim Forney on the radio.

[RRaquello]

Wow, Dean Prentice on the Pens. And is that Ken Schinkel (#12) fishing the puck out of the net? Oh, the memories.

[PruePeyton2]

Damn, just read about his story. In a coma for 11 months? That's horrible. Imagine if he lived... I'm certain he would have been a revered hockey player like Gretzky or Leuimux. Its so tragic. But on a lighter note, not only did Briere inspire hockey players on the ice, his story is still inspiring others present day. Pretty bold legacy.

[BuzzsawtheHedgehog]

What a promising Penguin. It's a shame what happened to him in the early 70's. Michel was a promising all star, and if he didn't die, he would've led the Pens to an early Stanley Cup in the 70's. Still players like Les Binkley, Andy Bathgate, Pierre LaRouche, and Rick Kehoe were examples of good players for the 70's Clubs. God bless your soul, Michel. I hope you've been watching the Stanley Cup victories that your team has won. The Pens will NEVER forget #21!

[weaselsuit]

The entire game is not available. This clip was taken from a long circulated Minnesota North Stars highlights recording that was rumored to be sourced from the coaches office. There are no complete game broadcasts on it, but there are highlights of MANY games from 1968-1972 mostly. Highly recommended.

[justinwillow]

post the whole game!

[KliphsHockey]

Please post the whole game!!!

[later66]

the craziest thing about luc bourdon's death was the versus segment about it and how well they intertwined his story with briere's especially considering they were already at the mellon arena when luc died. there's a clip of it on youtube if you look hard enough.

[AllanR2D2]

I forgot about Michel Briere until today. But I remember when he was killed and when the Pens retired his number soonafter...wow...poor kid. Thanks for posting this. Though I never saw Briere play, this brings back so many tragic memories of that era in Pittsburgh.

The broadcaster sounds a bit like the late Jack Fleming

[Wodey25]

Well, they only retired it in 2001 when Lemieux un-retired, but if you came into Pittsburgh asking for number 21 before that, you'd be told why you couldn't have it...

[timothyarts]

Thanks big chill, Oh what a bonanza!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuperSonicSpeedTeam]

Its about time someone put up vidos of Michel Briere. I looked EVERYWHERE! Thank you! Michel was only there for a year, when the accident happened. This is the saddest thing ever! He was going to his wedding, only 21years old, a very promising guy, his ambulance hits a kid on a bycicle, he suffered from a coma, then died in the hospital. Even though it seemed all hope was gone, he kept on fighting. An inspiration to all. Thanks again!

[thelanceman]

Interesting footnote: When Michel Briere was in his auto accident in Canada, the ambulance going to pick him up hit a kid on a bicycle and killed him. The kid was a big fan of Briere's. Can only wonder what would have been...

[a7b7c78]

Are you kidding!!! That kid was a fan of his? If that is true, that has to be one of the worst tragedies in history, not just sports history. Unbelieveable.

[timothyarts]

Hi does anyone know who was the fist pen broadcaster. I think I remember him saying "OH what a bananza " when the pens scored.

[BIGCHILL3993]

Yes that voice belongs to Joe Starkey!!! not the writer for the trib!!..The pens were on KDKA in the 70's

[tomrudebusch]

The announcer on this clip was actually the North Stars tv announcer Hal Kelly, the older brother of the Blues late Hall of Famer Dan Kelly.

[timothyarts]

who were all the pens announcers before mike lang?

[BIGCHILL3993]

TV--Sam Nover-Greg Benedetti, Terry Schiffhauer..on WIIC TV-11 . Only once back in the 70's did they ever televise anything further west than St. Louis, and that was in 1977 Jan 20th from Vancouver when Dennis Owchar layed out Mike Robitaille with an elbow at Center ice in the PNE!!..Radio was Joe Starkey (not the writer or relation of course) and Gary Morrell for one year on KQV while Mike Lange went on sabbatical for one year in 1975.

[RobDog65]

You saw how Briere's teammates reacted after he scored? The guys loved him because he was cocky, but backed it up. Sad what happened to him...

[adgo22]

Ken Broderick in goal not the Gumper as Gump was not left handed.

[Grunt11b10]

Had the honor of seeing "Mike" play the Wings

that year at Olympia

[buddmann]

Car accident in I believe 1970

[Discoboythegreat]

yes, but he died in 1971

[doogwood]

was that lorne the gump worsley who allowed that goal,,,,shame on u gumper!!

[retsom]

thats a shame what happened to Briere

[meignelson]

On a sad note... If Briere hadnt passed away, then we would have never been bad enough to draft Mario.

[Discoboythegreat]

this guy just died 10 km from my city! malartic will never forget one of is ONLY famous person