Midday Minutia - The One That Got Away

With the Stanley Cup Final over and the draft coming up this Friday, I figured today was a good day to shift into draft gear with the Midday Minutia.  Today I'm combining last Wednesday's MM topic on leading scorers along with the post Travis did on the 1996 Draft last week. 

As mentioned on Wednesday, Shane Doan led the Coyotes with 60 points this past season.  During the same recent campaign the Coyotes 2nd selection and the 24th pick from the '96 draft, Danny Briere, netted 68 points.   An unpleasant thought, made worse when you realize that Wayne Gretzky and Michael Barnett, who weren't fans of the forward, got little in return for Briere when they traded him to Buffalo.  Gretzky made it clear at the time of the trade that he saw Quebec native as a marginal player.  Turns out he was dead wrong. During his time with the Sabres and Flyers, diminutive forward has averaged .94 PPG (points per game).  That's a higher rate of points per game than Doan, who averaged .82 PPG has for the same period of time. 

If those numbers don't make you pause to think what could been then how about the 93 points in 91 playoff games he's produced since leaving the Valley.  People, myself included, have spoken repeatedly about how the Coyotes need another scoring threat.  Turns out they had one all along and just didn't realize it.