Flyers' Del Zotto glad to be back on ice
Michael Del Zotto admitted that it was difficult to stay upbeat. The Flyers defenseman missed the final 28 games of last season plus the playoffs with a wrist injury. Then in an Oct. 6 exhibition game at Madison Square Garden against his old team, the New York Rangers, Del Zotto, 26, injured his left knee in a collision.
Michael Del Zotto admitted that it was difficult to stay upbeat.
The Flyers defenseman missed the final 28 games of last season plus the playoffs with a wrist injury. Then in an Oct. 6 exhibition game at Madison Square Garden against his old team, the New York Rangers, Del Zotto, 26, injured his left knee in a collision.
Now in his third season with the Flyers, Del Zotto was sidelined until he returned Saturday in a 5-4 loss at Montreal.
"It's tough any time you have an injury, but when you have injuries back to back, it makes it that much more difficult," Del Zotto said Wednesday after the team's optional practice in Voorhees.
Still, he didn't ease back into action. Del Zotto played 17 minutes, 36 seconds against Montreal. In a 3-2 shootout loss to the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, he played 21:09.
While he has had to shake off some rust, Del Zotto wasn't concerned about his endurance.
"Conditioning has never been an issue for me," he said. "That is something I take pride in, how hard I work off the ice, so it was never an issue of coming back and not being in shape or being able to handle the minutes."
He said the biggest adjustment is getting used to making defensive reads. Del Zotto also realizes that he must be patient.
"Coming back I want to keep it simple until I get the confidence I had last year before I was injured and until I get my game to where it needs to be," he said.
Last season, he had four goals and nine assists in 52 games and averaged a career-high 23:24 per game.
"He is good in our offensive zone, but he is also really strong in the defensive zone, especially on two-on-ones," goalie Steve Mason said. "He has a good stick to take away passes across the backdoor plays and things like that."
On a young defense, Del Zotto's experience is a real benefit, Mason said. "He's coming in with [more than] 400 games of experience and that is invaluable as well."
The number is now 435 in the regular season, and Del Zotto is hoping to add to that total without any further interruptions.
Notes
The Flyers will play back-to-back games Friday in Toronto and Saturday at home against Minnesota. . . . The last eight Flyers games were decided by one goal and they were 4-3-1 in those games. . . . The Flyers loaned forwards Scott Laughton and Roman Lyubimov to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With the move, the Flyers have no extra forwards, which means Nick Cousins will play Friday unless another move is made.
Cousins, a healthy scratch the last two games, has a goal and three assists in 10 games this season. "I feel the last five or six games I played was probably some of my best hockey of the year and even going back to last year some of the better games even from then," Cousins said. "Then you get taken out and you don't really know what to think and it is tough mentally. But you have to move past that and be mentally tough and stay positive. And if and when my time comes, I will be ready."
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