Hopefuls

NEW YORK - In the grand scheme of things, a backup catcher is not crucial to a team's success. The Phillies possessed two backup catchers during the season's first month, and one had to go Sunday when Carlos Ruiz returned from his suspension. Humberto Quintero's locker was cleared early in the morning. The Phillies chose Erik Kratz as their backup and designated Quintero for assignment. They hope to retain Quintero in the organization, but that requires his passing through waivers unclaimed.

READING - The gang, such as it is, will be back together Sunday in New York. Catcher Carlos Ruiz returns from his 25-game suspension for using the banned substance Adderall and the Phillies hope it becomes a trigger point for a team that has stumbled out of the starting gate for the second straight season. Returns, of course, have become as commonplace for the Phillies in recent years as they are the day after Christmas. They were able to survive and recover from the lengthy absences of shortstop Jimmy Rollins in 2010 and second baseman Chase Utley in 2011.

OTTAWA - Given the way it started in October, even Jason Akeson probably couldn't have predicted tonight's finish to the season. Imagine leading the Phantoms in scoring last season and training relentlessly during the summer, only to find out that you were demoted to the neglected depths of the ECHL. The Flyers simply said Akeson - who netted 55 points in 76 games in his first profesional season - was a victim of numbers, since the likes of Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier and Zac Rinaldo were filling up top six forward positions.

Brandon Copeland enjoyed a stellar senior season with Ivy League champion Penn and continued the momentum during offseason workouts. Now the Penn defensive end hopes to hear his name called in the NFL draft this weekend or to be signed as a priority free agent. Copeland, a first-team all-Ivy League player this past season, would be keeping up a family tradition if he does indeed enter the NFL. His grandfather Roy Hilton played 11 seasons in the NFL as a defensive lineman, nine with the Baltimore Colts (who have since moved to Indianapolis)

Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo calls his township's five-mile waterfront a "mishmash" of uses. There are light industry and chemical storage; parks and older apartment houses; riverside cottages and the 18th-century Andalusia estate. But on 45 open acres on State Road just over the Philadelphia line, tucked between a truck yard and small warehouses, the mayor sees the future taking shape. A builder will start building and selling the first of 600 homes, including townhouses, condominiums, and 16 customized, million-dollar houses.

THE RANGERS insist they are focused much more on their drive toward the playoffs than ending the New Jersey Devils' postseason hopes. With a thorough 4-1 victory Sunday, the Broadway Blueshirts took care of both. Ryan Callahan scored a goal in the opening minute and another in the third period, and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves as the Rangers eliminated the Devils from the East playoff race. Callahan provided the lead 34 seconds in, Derek Stepan added a goal in the first period, and Taylor Pyatt snapped a long drought in the second for the eighth-place Rangers, who are inching closer to a playoff berth.

DENVER - A crowd of marijuana smokers expected to swell to 80,000 gathered Saturday in Denver to mark the counterculture holiday known as 4/20 on the first celebration since Colorado and Washington state made pot legal for recreational use. Reggae music filled the air, and so did the smell of marijuana, as revelers gathered by midmorning in a park just beside the state Capitol. Few police were in sight, though public marijuana use is still prohibited here. "People aren't afraid to come out and celebrate it the way they used to be," said Charles Bade, 52, of Denver.

Philadelphia will try to borrow or refinance more than $1 billion over the next nine months in the face of contentious tax reform, rising pension and public school costs, a flat private-business sector, tough labor negotiations, and the lowest credit rating among the largest U.S. cities. That's why Mayor Nutter and business executives invited 150 bond marketers, some of the giant institutional customers that own Philadelphia debt, and firms that invest in other big, higher-rated U.S. cities for closed-door presentations on the city's prospects Thursday.

Cyber charter schools, watch out. The Philadelphia School District is coming for your students. Come September, the district - pending School Reform Commission approval Thursday night - will launch the Philadelphia Virtual Academy, an online school for city sixth through 12th graders. The move could net the financially distressed district millions of dollars. This year, about 6,000 city students are enrolled in cyber charters, at a cost to the school system of about $60 million.

Consecutive wins have revived playoff talk for the Flyers. But they still face long odds in earning one of the eight Eastern Conference spots. Coach Peter Laviolette accurately described the Flyers' plight after Tuesday's 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. "We're in a hole," he said. "We put ourselves here, and we accept that. " And it's a huge hole. But the Flyers remain alive. The Rangers own the eighth and final spot with 46 points. The Winnipeg Jets also have 46 points but, like the Flyers, have played 43 games, one more than the Rangers.