July 11, 2008

Boston, Mass. - Bemidji State University sophomore forward and 2008 College Hockey America Rookie of the Year Matt Read (Ilderton, Ont.) is currently participating in the second annual Boston Bruins' Development Camp.

Read is one of 26 skaters invited to the camp, which began July 8 and concludes tomorrow (July 12), at the Bruins' training facility, Ristuccia Arena, in Wilmington, Mass.

The idea of the camp is to provide players with intensive instruction from professional personnel and have an experience that indoctrinates them into pro hockey without the worry about making a cut.

After a day of physical testing of the athletes, the five-day camp has included on-ice drills teaching by the Bruins' coaching staff and competition for roughly three hours per day followed by media availability and off-ice workouts.

In addition to training, participants have also been treated to a trip to Fenway Park to watch the Boston Red Sox come from behind to defeat the Minnesota Twins July 9 and a competitive evening of bowling in addition to other team-building activities.

The participants were also split into groups to engage in charitable work with Greater Boston Food Bank and "Cradles to Crayons," which works to provide basic essentials for low-income and homeless children need to be safe, warm, ready to learn, and valued in Quincy, Mass.

For Read it is chance to shake the rust off and lace up his skates along side of some of the best young hockey talent in from around the world.

"It is great to be out there. I love hockey and the opportunity to be out here with a whole bunch of guys who have done well for themselves," commented Read to BostonBruins.com Thursday. "...it is a wonderful opportunity that they presented me with, and so far it has been great.”

Camp participants not only include the likes of the Bruins' most recent No. 1 pick Joe Colborne, but also seasoned NHL players such as Manny Fernandez and Patrice Bergeron.

Read capped the 2007-08 regular-season as BSU’s leading scorer with 9-18=27, while he recorded a game winning goal, registered one of BSU three short-handed goals on the season and matched 2008 Second Team All-CHA pick Travis Winter to lead the team with a +10 plus/minus rating. One of five BSU skaters to log time in each of BSU’s 36 contests, he also paced the team with 18 assists, posted a pair of multi-assists games, and led the team with six multi-point outings. His 27 points as a rookie seat him alone in fifth place on BSU's Division I-era rookie coring list.

His team-high 7-14=21 points in CHA play was not only tops among newcomers league-wide, it also ranked as the league’s fifth-leading scoring total.

Read was a three-time CHA Rookie of the Week honoree, while earning the league’s offensive player of the week laurel Jan. 14.

Read and the rest of the BSU men’s ice hockey team open the 36-game 2008-09 campaign October 10 at Minnesota State.

--bsu--