PORTLAND, Maine — The rink at the edge of town is as nondescript as any other minor-league practice facility, with one exception.
Down on the ice, still the smallest person on skates, Danny Briere is gesturing with his hand and his stick, explaining some of the intricacies of working along the boards to 26-year-old Terrence Wallin, a Yardley native and assistant captain of the ECHL’s newest team, the Maine Mariners.
It is an odd place to find a retired star who earned about $70 million over 17 NHL seasons, including six with the Flyers. It smacks of a hard-luck, hardship story, but Briere, 41, is anything but that – unless you consider his frustration with unloading his New Jersey Shore house to be hardship.