Read looking to bounce back after two subpar seasons
Which version of Matt Read will be in the Flyers' lineup this season - if, in fact, he beats out several camp challengers and earns one of the winger spots?
Which version of Matt Read will be in the Flyers' lineup this season - if, in fact, he beats out several camp challengers and earns one of the winger spots?
After starting his career with three solid seasons, Read has looked slower and has been unproductive the last two.
Two years ago, he was hindered by a high ankle sprain and scored a career-low eight goals, but he was healthy last season and still managed just 11 goals.
The Flyers, short on offense, desperately need him to regain the form that saw him average about 23 goals (including a pro-rated total in a lockout year) in his first three seasons.
"I feel great," Read said after one of the sessions at the Flyers' training camp in Voorhees. "It was kind of a long summer. Going to the gym every day and doing the extra stuff and waiting for the season to start. I'm excited to get going and keep getting better."
Read, 30, worked with a personal trainer in Minneapolis over the summer. "He put me through some drills, working on edges, working on doing tight turns and keeping your speed," he said. "You do it for conditioning, as well."
A one-time star at Bemidji (Minn.) State, a tiny Division I school that Read helped lead to a stunning spot in the NCAA Frozen Four during his sophomore year, the winger has regressed since an impressive rookie season, when he had 24 goals and 47 points in 2011-12.
Those numbers still stand as career bests.
Read said he needs to "focus on my skating and use my speed a little more. Just be more tenacious out there and win puck battles and go to the net as much as I can. That's where all the goals are scored."
Second-year coach Dave Hakstol likes what he has observed in the first couple of days of camp.
"I see the payoff of what I think has been a pretty good summer for Reader," Hakstol said, adding he thought Read was in "great shape" and looked "fast and sharp."
The Flyers camp is disjointed because seven of their players competing in the World Cup have not joined them yet. In the first two days of camp, Read has played right wing on a line with diminutive free-agent center Andy Miele and left winger Michael Raffl.
"They make things a lot more comfortable for a guy in my situation," said Miele, adding that he signed with the Flyers because "my best opportunity was here."
Miele, 28, who will likely start the season with the AHL's Phantoms, starred at Miami (Ohio) and won the Hobey Baker Award as the nation's best college player in 2011. He had 18 goals and 62 points for Grand Rapids in the AHL last year.
The 5-foot-8, 173-pounder doesn't see his size as a detriment.
"The game is obviously changing because of the rules changes a while back," he said. "It's moving toward more speed and skill. It's a playmaker's game and that's kind of the way I play."
In 355 career AHL games, Miele has 311 points, including 106 goals. The Michigan native has two points in 15 NHL games, all with the Coyotes.
At the very least, he gives the Flyers some organizational depth down the middle.
@BroadStBull www.philly.com/flyersblog