Briere to undergo surgery

From NHL.com

Flyers' Briere to undergo corrective eye surgery
Monday, 05.18.2009 / 5:04 PM / News

The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that center Danny Briere will undergo corrective eye surgery on Tuesday, May 19, according to club General Manager Paul Holmgren.

Dr. Michael W. Fung, from Society Hill Ophthalmic Associates, will be performing the surgery at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.

"The procedure is called PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) and takes about seven minutes per eye," said Dr. Fung. "He will see results fairly quickly, but the difference between PRK versus LASIK is that the visual outcome will take a few weeks before he gets to his final visual outcome as opposed to LASIK where he would be seeing better in a couple of days."

"There were times during the games this season it was kind of annoying when I was wearing contact lenses," said Briere. "They would get dry and start to bother me a little bit sitting on the bench. They told me it was a safe procedure and would be safe to play hockey so I am going to get it done."

Briere, 31, recorded 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 29 regular season games for the Flyers in 2008-09, while also posting four points (1G,3A) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games.

He missed 53 games during the regular season due to a groin injury and underwent exploratory surgery on January 22 to his groin/stomach area. Briere was assigned to the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, for conditioning purposes on January 14, where he recorded a goal and four assists for five points in three games.

Flyers left wing Simon Gagne had the same procedure performed by Dr. Fung on May 5. "He is doing really well," said Dr. Fung of Gagne. "He is seeing most of the 20/20 letters without glasses or contacts at this point and he is about a week or week and a half out."