UNIONDALE, N.Y.Worry about Sean Couturier, if youd like. Or perhaps Zac Rinaldo or Brayden Schenn.
You can be concerned about some of the Flyers rookies as the season drags on, if you insist. After all, history shows that young players often hit a wall as teams race toward the postseason. Most rookies havent played 82-plus games like they do in the NHL, so if you must worry, by all means, go ahead.
Just dont make Matt Read the focus of your anxieties.
Im not so worried about Matt because hes older, coach Peter Laviolette said ahead of the Flyers 3-2 win over the New York Islanders Thursday (see game story). Hes 25 years old. Hes played a lot of hockey. Hes maturephysically hes mature. Hes done a nice job.
Read is certainly a special case, as far as the Flyers rookie class is concerned. Whereas the other first-year players that have spent time on the teams roster hover between the ages of 19 and 23 or so, Read is closer in age to players whove been in the NHL for at least a few seasons. To put it in perspective, hes older than Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek.
I still feel 25, Read said. I wish I was still 18 and could be young and everything, but I feel great out there. I have the same amount of energy as I did at the beginning of the year, I cant really notice a difference at all. It is a longer season, but the things you do off the ice help out a lot.
Whatever the formula, Read has found continued success. His 19 goals are second in the league among rookies, behind only Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche. Hes in fourth place among rookies in points, with 39. If he makes a strong push toward the end of the season, he could become a strong candidate for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHLs top rookie.
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I follow it a little bit, but I havent been paying attention to it at all, said Read of the Calder race. Its the end of the year where every game counts and its all about winning hockey and doing whats best for your team. I guess you worry about that a little bit at the beginning of the year and it took away from the hockey and Im more concentrated on being a team player now.
Perhaps Read is coping so well with the Flyers lengthy season because hes prepared and educated in a way different from his teammates. Thursdays game was the Flyers 70th of the season, and Read posited he hadnt played more than 50 or 60 in a single year before.
An exercise science major at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, though, Read has a deep understanding of the stresses put on ones body through the course of an NHL season. He makes sure to spend extra time and effort recovering from the exertion of each game and practice.
I went to school for all that stuff, Read said. So I kind of have a background and knowledge of that stuff outside of hockey, the physiology of your body and how it wears down over time.
The Flyers have 12 games left to play in the regular season. Reads offensive production may have slowed down a bit in recent weeks (he has one goal in his last seven games, and shortly before that had gone 12 games without finding the back of the net). But with the playoffs right around the corner, it isnt unrealistic to expect the gritty forward to find his second wind.
At least, he thinks so.
Not being in the playoffs before, I hear you step up your game a lot more, he said. I couldnt tell you if having young guys on the team is a negative effect or be a positive thing for us. I just think having great veterans on our team, theyll show us the ropes and well learn as much as we can from them and well go from there.
E-mail Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com