Van Riemsdyk

When the Flyers face struggling Ville Leino and the offensively challenged Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, they still will be without James van Riemsdyk. But the 22-year-old Flyers left winger appears to be making strides in his comeback from a concussion. Sidelined for more than a month, van Riemsdyk wore a regular jersey - meaning he was able to absorb contact - and spent time on the top line during Wednesday's practice in Voorhees. He replaced the flu-ridden Jaromir Jagr on a line with Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell.

The Wells Fargo Center was deathly quiet. It was as if the energy had seeped through cracks in the walls and dissipated in the South Philly air. There was a good reason for this. Two good reasons, in fact, and both were early Buffalo goals from near impossible angles that got through the leg pads of Flyers goalie Brian Boucher. With barely enough time to clear their throats, the orange-draped crowd sat stunned, and you could almost see the Flyers' shoulders sag. This wasn't the way the Flyers had promised to start Game 5 of what has evolved into a fascinating first-round Stanley Cup playoff series, especially the day after Sabres coach Lindy Ruff had called them whiners.

PITTSBURGH - After skating through the first two games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal without arguably their most consistent playoff performer from last spring, help may soon be on the way. According to Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, James van Riemsdyk began skating Sunday - rehabbing from foot surgery - and is a possibility to return to practice with the team as early as Saturday. Van Riemsdyk's status for a return in the first round remains up in the air. Van Riemsdyk, 22, has not played since fracturing his foot on March 1. He underwent surgery to have a plate inserted in his left foot, for stability and strengthening, on March 6. The original prognosis was for JVR to miss 4 to 6 weeks.

Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk will not need hip surgery and should be ready "well before training camp," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said Friday. "After consultation with various doctors regarding James' hip injury, we have come to the conclusion that surgery is not necessary," Holmgren said in a statement. "We will treat James' hip with alternative therapies and nonsurgical procedures. It is expected that James will be 100 percent well before training camp begins.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - James van Riemsdyk scored two goals in the first period and completed his first NHL hat trick in the third to help the Flyers remain alone atop the Eastern Conference with a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum. Jeff Carter staked the Flyers to the lead at 8 minutes, 11 seconds, and van Riemsdyk made it 2-0 just 22 seconds later. Blake Comeau got the Islanders within a goal, but van Riemsdyk scored again before the period ended.

TAMPA, Fla. - At any given point during an NHL season - and especially as it progresses - the trainer's room may be a more popular hangout for players than the locker room itself. Players skate through various bumps, bruises, strains, sprains and cuts during an 82-game grind that lasts from September through April, most often without anyone catching wind of an injury, without anyone knowing other than the player, his teammates and management. Kimmo Timonen , for one, battles through chronic lower-back pain.

JAMES van Riemsdyk arrived at the Flyers practice facility in Voorhees, N.J. for a noon meeting yesterday less than 12 hours after returning from Buffalo on a postgame charter. Van Riemsdyk was feeling fresh, not at all sluggish from a bone-crunching hit along the boards with 6:20 to play in Buffalo. In fact, van Riemsdyk even skated briefly in an option practice to shake off any lingering cobwebs, a normal game-day routine to get his blood flowing. He arrived at the Wells Fargo Center at his normal time last night, fully expecting to play in last night's 4-3 shootout loss to the Devils.

JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK said he would be crazy to not want to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Whether or not van Riemsdyk actually makes his first playoff appearance of the year on Friday night in Pittsburgh remains to be seen, but he said after skating on Thursday that the decision was out of his hands. "It's always a fun time of year to play and it sucks watching from the sidelines," van Riemsdyk said. "This is the time of year, no matter what, when your number is called, you suck it up and deal with [the pain]

NASHVILLE - James van Riemsdyk became the fifth Flyer sidelined with a concussion this season. The 22-year-old left winger missed Saturday's game in Nashville and was replaced by Matt Read on a line with Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds. "It's really unfortunate. I thought we've had some good chemistry," Simmonds said. "We've been playing well the last couple weeks. " Read, who entered the night with 13 goals, had recently been on the fourth line. "Reader is a great player, obviously," Simmonds said.

TORONTO - Centers Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier have suffered through sophomore slumps, but they played major roles Thursday as the resilient Flyers outlasted the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3, at the Air Canada Centre and increased their season-best winning streak to four games. "We're both trying to step up," Schenn said after the Flyers climbed to within two points of the eighth-place Rangers in the Eastern Conference. "We're getting the opportunity, playing on the power play and playing with good players.

JVR had dreamed of his return, but his nightmare was coming true. James van Riemsdyk sat in the penalty box midway through the third period. He had held and he had hooked and he had drawn two minor penalties, and the Flyers had just cut his Maple Leafs' lead in half - into the first power play. He envisioned maybe winning the game himself; something dashing, down the left boards, late, giving the Flyers get a whiff of what they wasted. Instead, thanks to him, the Flyers whittled the lead to one. Worse, he had another 2 minutes to watch, and to wither.

For the sixth time this season, the Flyers have a chance to reach what coach Peter Laviolette calls the "starting point" - the .500 mark. The Flyers (9-10-1), winners of three of their last four games, finally can reach the international symbol of mediocrity if they can defeat improved Toronto and their old pal, James van Riemsdyk, on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. "We had a couple of chances to go to .500 this year," captain Claude Giroux said. "We have to make sure we get those wins.

James van Riemsdyk scored two goals to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs past the visiting Buffalo Sabres, 3-1, on Thursday night, spoiling the NHL head coaching debut of Ron Rolston. Rolston, who until Wednesday was the head coach of the AHL's Rochester Americans, was hired as the Sabres interim coach following the club's decision to fire Lindy Ruff. Van Riemsdyk's power-play goal at 14 minutes, 28 seconds of the third - the ex-Flyer's team-leading 11th - gave Toronto breathing room after Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller stopped Van Riemsdyk with a glove save earlier.

TORONTO - It has taken him a dozen games, but James van Riemsdyk is finally getting used to seeing himself in the fabled blue and white of the Maple Leafs. If it feels like the Flyers and van Riemsdyk parted ways forever ago, you aren't wrong. He was dealt on June 23, not long after the NHL draft wrapped up in Pittsburgh. The NHL lockout left him in limbo. He wasn't allowed to wear the Maple Leafs logo, but he wanted to ditch his familiar Flyers equipment and start over. "A weird, kind of in-between feeling," van Riemsdyk said.

TORONTO - When the Flyers sent left winger James van Riemsdyk to Toronto for defenseman Luke Schenn last summer, both players were considered underachieving former first-round draft picks whose careers might be jump-started by a change of scenery. A little more than three weeks into the season, that's exactly what has happened. Both are thriving with their new teams. Schenn, 23, has become one of the cornerstones of the Flyers' defense and is in their top pairing with Kimmo Timonen.

PITTSBURGH — Brayden Schenn was floating on a glass-smooth Shell Lake in Saskatchewan on Saturday afternoon when his phone rang. The Caller ID on his iPhone said it was his older brother, Luke, but Brayden wasn't sure what he could possibly want. But with the excitement in Luke's voice, Brayden knew exactly what was happening. It was something he thought a lot about, especially after watching the NHL draft on Friday night, when he heard the news about Penguins forward Jordan Staal being reunited with his older brother, Eric, in Carolina.

PITTSBURGH - In a trade that was rumored since last season, the Flyers dealt left winger James van Riemsdyk to Toronto for rugged defenseman Luke Schenn on Saturday. Schenn, 22, will be reunited with his brother, Brayden, a 20-year-old Flyers center. We're pretty close," Luke Schenn said in a conference call with reporters. "It's surreal right now. It's hard to describe how cool this is. " The younger Schenn "couldn't believe it," Luke Schenn said. "He told me it was a dream come true.

AFTER HEARING his player's name kicked around in trade fodder over the last few months like a shingle in a hurricane, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said he addressed the rumors with James van Riemsdyk. His advice? "He should take that maybe as a compliment that he keeps reading his name like that," Holmgren said. "I like James. I think he has a tremendous future in the league. He's one of our most gifted goal scorers. " For the most part, van Riemsdyk has shrugged off the rumors.