Exactly what is going on has been a bit of a mystery all season; Briere has been limited to only nine games. He already has had abdominal surgery and suffered two groin tears; the injuries are believed to be related.
Briere suffered the latest setback Dec. 2 when he played 7 minutes and 41 seconds against Tampa Bay. He was placed on long-term injury and last week played three games with the Phantoms as a sort of test and conditioning assignment. He was believed to be on his way back to the Flyers when he suffered this setback.
"I am very disappointed,'' Briere said. "It's been frustrating not knowing what is going on, so we have decided to go in and check things out."
Briere skated yesterday morning and barely participated in the practice. Afterward he said, "I don't feel good. It's the groin, the stomach. That's the problem right now; nobody really knows.''
Holmgren has been noncommittal about when Briere would return to the Flyers. The GM saw him play for the Phantoms for the first time on Sunday.
"I didn't see him the first two games," Holmgren said. "I saw him Sunday and he looked OK. Then Monday he felt a little worse and today he felt a little more worse.
"He's been struggling with it in his own mind and we spent a great deal of time [Tuesday] afternoon talking about it and [yesterday] we just decided to go this direction."
The best-case situation would be that the doctors find his problem is only scar tissue breaking up; the worst would be if there needs to be more extensive surgery, possibly an abductor release, which is a procedure associated with some forms of groin and abdominal injuries.
