Daniel Briere announces retirement after 17 seasons

Longtime scoring centerman Daniel Briere announced his retirement from the NHL on Monday, penning his farewell in a column for French-Canadian newspaper Le Droit.

Briere cites family and, more specifically, his three teenage sons as the impetus behind his decision.

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The 24th overall selection of the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996 made 973 regular-season appearances across 17 seasons, scoring 307 goals and 696 points. His greatest impact, though, always came in the playoffs, where he scored at nearly a point-per-game pace with 53 goals and 63 assists in 124 games.

He didn't win a Stanley Cup in his career, but he led the Philadelphia Flyers to within two wins of a championship in 2010, totaling 30 points during the team's unlikely postseason run.

Following his trade from Philadelphia, he was unable to establish a prominent role with an organization. He struggled to find his footing in his only season with his boyhood club, the Montreal Canadiens (though he had another impactful spring), and spent a large portion of last season watching the Colorado Avalanche from the press box.

Briere, 37, will speak at a news conference Tuesday in Philadelphia.