American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Springfield Falcons. In his first professional season in 1998, he recorded 92 points in 68 games and was awarded the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as top rookie, as well as being named the AHL's First Team All-Star center. He is the third leading scorer in Falcons' franchise history. Brière's training regimen became newsworthy in 2001 when it became known that, in order to overcome his diminutive size (at 5 ft. 9 in., he is comparatively small by NHL standards), he had begun off-season strength training with Canadian World's Strongest Man competitor Hugo Girard, who shares Gatineau as a hometown. He earned a consistent NHL roster spot in the second half of the 2000–01 season and spent his first full season with the Coyotes in 2001–02, recording 60 points. Buffalo Sabres At the 2002–03 trade deadline, the Coyotes traded Brière to the Buffalo Sabres alongside a third round pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Chris Gratton and a fourth round pick in 2004. After playing with SC Bern of the Swiss Nationaliiga A during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he returned to Buffalo and emerged as a bona fide NHL star, beginning with a 58-point season in just 48 games during the 2005–06 campaign. Brière was kept out of the lineup for 32 games due to an abdominal injury suffered in January that required surgery and a two-game suspension following an inadvertent high-stick to Boston Bruins defenceman Brian Leetch. Completing the season with the Sabres healthy, Brière helped lead the club to their first post-season berth in four years. During this time he earned the nickname "Cookie Monster" from Sabres play by play announcer Rick Jeanneret for his notoriety for shooting top shelf, "where momma hides the cookies." Playing on a rejuvenated team that included stars Chris Drury, Thomas Vanek and Brian Campbell, the Sabres advanced to the conference-finals, paced by Brière's team-high 19 points. In the off-season, Brière filed for salary arbitration, which resulted in a one-year, $5 million contract that the Sabres agreed to on August 5, 2006. The following season, Brière scored two hat tricks. His first came on December 5, 2006, against the Tampa Bay Lightning's goaltender Marc Denis. His second came shortly after, on January 30, 2007, in front of a home crowd at HSBC Arena in a 7–1 victory against the Boston Bruins, with two