A college hockey player whose father is an NHL team executive sparked outrage by pushing a disabled woman’s wheelchair down the stairs of a nightclub after she needed a ride to the bathroom.
Carson Briere, 23, is a junior on the Mercyhurst University hockey team in Pennsylvania, and was given a second chance after he was kicked out of Arizona State University for, in his words, “too much partying.”
His father is Daniel Briere, 45, a former NHL player who scored more than 300 goals in his long career. Briere was named interim general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers five days ago.
A Twitter user aware Tuesday’s stunning video, writing: “I usually don’t post anything serious on my Twitter, but something happened Saturday night and I just can’t bear the thought of this kid getting away with it.” In the video below, he is a student at @MercyhurstU and currently on the @HurstMensHockey team. Carson Briere.
The video shows two young men wearing backwards baseball caps, one supposedly a Briere in the white cap, walking up the stairs to a party and briefly sitting down, talking to a couple of partygoers.
A college hockey player whose father was a former National Hockey League star and now a team executive sparked outrage over a video showing him pushing a disabled woman’s wheelchair down the stairs at a party during the weekend.
Carson Briere, 23, is a junior on the Mercyhurst University hockey team in Pennsylvania, after being kicked out of Arizona State University for, in his words, “too many parties.”
Finally, the man in the white hat is seen to be sitting in a wheelchair. He slides forward into it, stands up, and it viciously pushes him down a flight of stairs.
The user, who goes by Julia, added: “The chair was left at the top of the stairs because she physically had to take it down to use the toilets.” They are only on the ground floor.
The outrage was immediate on social media and within hours, the university had posted a statement on Twitter Thursday night in responses to the video.
“This afternoon, Mercyhurst University learned of a disturbing video showing one of our student-athletes pushing an unoccupied wheelchair up a flight of stairs at a local establishment. Our Office of Student Conduct and the Department of Police and Security are investigating.
The school’s hockey season had ended at the time of the incident, having finished eighth in its conference and failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
This is not the first time Briere has faced discipline issues on campus.
In 2019, Briere and another player were “dismissed” from the program at Arizona State University “due to a violation of team rules,” according to the Walter Cronkite Sports Network.
Briere, who has received invites in the past to the Flyers’ youth development camp, had never played for the fledgling program, having gone through the NCAA’s ‘red shirt’ process, where college athletes often don’t play for a full season to extend your eligibility.
The video shows two young men wearing backwards baseball caps, one supposedly a Briere in the white cap, walking up the stairs to a party and briefly sitting down, talking to a couple of partygoers.
Finally, the man in the white hat is seen to be sitting in a wheelchair. He slides forward into it, stands up, and it viciously pushes him down a flight of stairs.
Briere, pictured here for Mercyhurst, came to school after being kicked out of Arizona State University.
Carson’s father is Daniel Briere, 45, a former NHL player, seen here in a game against the New York Rangers in 2011.
He spent the rest of that school year playing junior hockey in Canada before transferring to Mercyhurst.
Briere moved from a large public state school in Arizona to Mercyhurst, a small program at the 2,700-enrollment private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania.
A 2021 interview on college hockey news which he titled getting a ‘second chance’ went into what Briere felt were the reasons for his dismissal.
‘I was going out; I wasn’t taking hockey seriously. It wasn’t a bad thing, I just wasn’t committed to hockey, I was more committed to having fun at school,” she said. Too much partying, that’s probably the best way to put it.
He claimed they had taught him a lesson from his experience at Arizona State that he had put into practice at his new school.
Carson Briere in action for Mercyhurst in a game against conference rivals Air Force
Started a GoFundMe and exceeded its goal of raising money for a new chair
‘It made me realize that once you get to this level, it’s a job, right? It’s not just something you can do for fun,” she said. “Obviously you have to have fun while you’re doing it, I think that’s what keeps people going, but also knowing when to do things and when not to.”
‘It’s just growing up in general. I honestly think it was a great lesson for me, it helped me become a more complete hockey player and see life and everything from a different perspective.”
The victim, who owns the wheelchair, allegedly “would like to remain anonymous until legal action can be taken,” according to the Twitter user who posted the video.
TO GoFundMe has started and exceeded their goal of raising money for a new chair.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Mercyhurst and the Philadelphia Flyers for comment.
