Flyers' Cole Bardreau continues comeback from fractured neck
If overcoming adversity leads to success, center Cole Bardreau should have a solid NHL career. Signed by the Flyers as a free agent last year, the 5-foot-10, 193-pound Bardreau - who fractured his neck while playing for Cornell in 2013 and was nearly paralyzed - looks like he has a future as a scrappy third- or fourth-line player.
If overcoming adversity leads to success, center Cole Bardreau should have a solid NHL career.
Signed by the Flyers as a free agent last year, the 5-foot-10, 193-pound Bardreau - who fractured his neck while playing for Cornell in 2013 and was nearly paralyzed - looks like he has a future as a scrappy third- or fourth-line player.
"He's tenacious, irritating, hard-working," general manager Ron Hextall said after watching Bardreau at the Flyers' development camp in Voorhees the other day. "Plays hard and plays physical."
After a slow start with the Phantoms last season, Bardreau regrouped and finished with 13 goals and 17 assists in 54 AHL games.
"He was really quiet the first 20 games. . . . but then he was back to the Cole Bardreau we saw at Cornell," Hextall said. "I think he is going to be a role-type of player. He made terrific strides last year and hopefully it continues, and at some point he takes a run at the big club."
Bardreau, who turns 23 on July 22, suffered a fractured vertebra in two places in his neck during his sophomore season at Cornell. The injury occurred a short time after he and Shayne Gostisbehere helped Team USA win the World Junior Championships.
Coming off the World Junior win, Bardreau said, he was "feeling awesome" and that "my confidence was high."
And then, in a game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bardreau's promising career nearly ended when he fractured the C-7 vertebra in the front and back of his neck.
"It was kind of just a cutback play in the corner. I got a little bit of bad ice and a nudge from behind," the Fairport, N.Y., native said. "I went into the boards awkwardly and I felt a little numbness in my fingers, but by the time my trainer got to me it went away and it was something I thought I could shake off as the game went on."
So Bardreau continued playing.
Two days later, he still had neck pain, and Cornell's trainer suggested a precautionary X-ray.
"So I walked into our local infirmary with my backpack on like nothing was wrong, then ended up leaving on a stretcher and went to the hospital," Bardreau said.
Bardreau underwent an MRI and CAT scan and it was determined he had fractured his neck.
"Since I was able to finish the game and I could take some contact, [I was told I] could get away with a stiff neck brace for three and a half months," he said. "I couldn't carry any weight, and had to get a roller book bag for myself."
When he returned to the ice, it took Bardreau a while before he regained his strength and got back into a skating rhythm. "But it kind of happened at a good time, when I was able to get clearance right as the summer started, so I had the whole summer to gain back my strength and get back on the ice and I had a pretty good turnaround from there," he said.
Bardreau played two more years at Cornell, and spent part of the 2014-15 season with the Phantoms. Last year was his first full AHL season.
"I thought it went really well," he said. "Obviously the biggest change in college is probably the amount of games, going from 30 games to 76 can be quite a bit of a grind, but I thought I did a pretty good job in transitioning and I'm looking forward to another year."
Coaches in the organization have "let me know I have to bring the energy" to be an effective player, said Bardreau, adding he models his game after Ryan Callahan's and tries to "bring that edge every night, the compete level, an in-your-face kind of guy that can also have a little scoring touch at the other end, too."
Last season, Bardreau just wanted to contribute to the Phantoms. "But this year, the goal is to try and get a few games up with the Flyers. It's important for me to come in with that mind-set, and it's going to help me along the way."
Breakaways. The Flyers announced they had signed a multiyear agreement to remain affiliated with the ECHL's Reading Royals. . . . After more drills and a three-on-three tournament Monday from 3-5 p.m. in Voorhees, the final day of camp will be held in Stone Harbor on Tuesday.
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