Inside the Flyers: After surviving crash, it's a new day for Briere

You can understand why high-scoring Flyers center Danny Briere plays with a carefree attitude these days.

When you have survived a potentially fatal car accident - with your youngest son by your side in the front seat - you tend not to take hockey too seriously.

Don't get the wrong impression. It's not that Briere isn't ultra-dedicated to the sport. It's just that a near-death experience has left him counting his blessings and not bothered by the little things in life, such as the inevitable scoring slumps.

Briere and his 9-year-old son, Cameron, survived a crash with a tractor-trailer on June 17 near Binghamton, N.Y. Briere, a Haddonfield resident, was driving on Interstate 81, headed to visit his parents in suburban Ottawa.

A New York State Police officer said that Briere was "a little drowsy" and that his black 2010 Range Rover drifted into another lane and clipped the side of the tractor-trailer, which jackknifed and tipped over. Briere's SUV then swerved and hit a guardrail.

Briere, 33, will not comment on the accident - or whether he agrees with the police account. He and his son, along with the driver of the tractor-trailer, were taken to a hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released.

When you look at photos of Briere's totaled SUV - the rear of the vehicle, where Briere's son frequently sits so he can watch a movie, was crushed by the impact - it's shocking no one was injured seriously.

"My son didn't have a scratch on him, which is unbelievable," Briere said after practice Friday in Voorhees. "There was definitely someone watching over us that night."

Briere, who received a ticket for an unsafe lane change, said the accident had changed his life.

"It makes you realize you have to appreciate everything that's going on in the moment," he said, "and not waste so much time thinking about the past. Try to live in the moment as much as possible."

Entering Saturday night's game against upstart Toronto, Briere led the Flyers with four goals in six games, and he was the only player to have scored on the team's 2-for-27 power play.

Perhaps Briere's impressive start is a carryover from his superb 2010 postseason.

Then again, his carefree, happy-go-lucky attitude might also be a reason for it.

The attitude stems from surviving the crash and overcoming some unrelated personal problems that had weighed on him.