Philadelphia Flyers’ right winger Matt Read to play in Sodertalje, Sweden during the lockout
There are now six National Hockey League (NHL) players who have signed for Allsvenskan, Swedish Hockey League, since the NHL lockout, as Philadelphia Flyers’ forward, Matt Read has signed to play for Sodertalje Sportklubb hockey team.
26-year-old Read, who is currently associated with NHL team Philadelphia Flyers, who feature in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference on the top hockey league.
The underated player was signed by them in between last year as a free agent, in a three year entry level contract on 24th March 2011 and made the roster of the team six months later on 5th October 2011.
Although he was not rated very high last year but he managed to score points regularly last season, as he scored points in five consecutive games, after scoring his first point, goal against New Jersey Devils’ experienced goaltender Martin Brodeur.
The right winger also scored 4 points, 3 of them were assists and one was a goal, as he played a major role in a comprehensive 7-2 win against Ottawa Senators. He is also regarded as one of the most accurate players as he was second most accurate player
in All Star Super Skills competition. The only player who was more accurate than him in the competitions was Jamie Benn of Dallas Stars.
The Calgary, Alberta born player would be eager to play some hockey in the Elitserien Hockey League, for the Swedish side where he would have some help from Canadian players who are already playing them, as Fernando Pisani, a fellow right winger and Jason
Strudwick, a defenseman are already part of the Sodertalje setup.
But still Read would be hoping for National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) and NHL to reach an agreement as soon as possible so that he can return to the home league where he had enjoyed a very successful last season.
After playing 4 years of the college hockey in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Read went to Adirondack Phantoms in the American Hockey League (AHL) and made an instant impact, which earned him a call from Flyers, who he represented in
79 games, scoring 24 goals and 23 assists for total of 47 points.
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