Daniel Briere is headed back to Europe for the second time in five months, agreeing to a deal with SC Bern of the Swiss league Wednesday.
Last spring, the shifty Buffalo Sabres centre helped Canada to its second straight gold medal at the IIHF men's world championship in Prague, playing on the top line with Dany Heatley.
Briere was one of four NHLers to find their way overseas Wednesday. Centre Steve Reinprecht signed with Muhouse in France, joining Calgary Flames teammate Steve Montador, who had signed there last week.
Also agreeing to deals Wednesday was forward Konstantin Koltsov of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who signed with Dynamo Minsk in Belarus, and speedy winger Vladimir Orszagh of the Nashville Predators, who joined Banska Bystrica in Slovakia.
There's now 178 NHL players in Europe, with more to come. The majority of those players have lockout clauses in their contracts that permit them to return to the NHL if the labour impasse ends in time to salvage a season.
The Czech league leads the way with 49 players, including Jaromir Jagr of the New York Rangers, followed by Sweden at 40 and Russia at 38.