Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Flyers' Read concussed, timetable uncertain

Breaking news just prior to the Flyers-Canadiens tilt.

Paul Holmgren confirmed to CSN Philly's Tim Panaccio that forward Matt Read does indeed have a concussion and will not play at least through Sunday.

"He's still not doing too good. We'll keep monitoring him. Initially, we didn't think that, but I would say it's safe to say he has symptoms," Holmgren said, still slightly hedging his bets. "He doesn't feel right...he has trouble with rapid eye movement, stuff like that, he can't look for a pass...We're trying to do certain things each day, things he could tolerate but we'll be careful until he starts to feel a little better."

Read has been out the last half of the club's six-game road trip due to what the team initially said was the nebulous "upper-body injury" after appearing to take an elbow to the head in the first period of a 4-1 win at Calgary on New Year's Eve.

Holmgren shook his head and issued a measured response when asked what specifically caused the injury, saying "When you get hit hard, even in the upper body, your brain's rattling around inside your head. I can't explain it. As far as we've come in diagnosing those types of injuries, we have a long way to go."

In addition, a Flyers insiders reported that Read had passed all concussion protocol, including the baseline test.

The Flyers host Tampa Bay on Saturday and take on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Read has picked up 10 goals and 19 points in 39 appearances this season. 

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