Matt Read is heading home. The Flyers forward will leave Södertälje SK of HockeyAllsvenskan in Sweden on Saturday, the team’s last game before they hit a 10-day break.
He’ll return to North America with 20 games under his belt, and he’s already guaranteed more than a point per-game average in those games regardless of how he performs in the final two.
Bill Meltzer translated the official press release from Swedish. It’s full of high praise SSK’s Peter Nygårds. Almost a little too much praise, to be honest. Sorta creepy.
“Read has shown a fantastic commitment to his hockey, to his friend Emil Billberg and to the team. He played for compensation that didn’t even cover his own costs. And if it so happens that the lockout ends and he doesn’t come back, we want to express our huge gratitude and respect to Matt, who we didn’t even know a couple months ago. We hope at the the same time that our fans come out and show their appreciate tomorrow against Oskarshamn. We know that would mean a lot to Matt, because he’s really come to appreciate the SSK fans.”
Read played with Carl Hagelin for time, and he also had a chance to play four games with Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann and a few games with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler.
