Van Riemsdyk Out Tonight

Rookie forward James van Riemsdyk will not be in the lineup tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins because of a head injury he suffered in Tuesday's home opener against Washington.

The Flyers have yet to call van Riemsdyk's head injury a concussion but say that he passed all of his baseline tests on Wednesday at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees.

Van Riemsdyk said that he did not have any headaches or pains overnight on Tuesday and did exercise lightly on the stationary bike on Wednesday.

The Flyers were cautious to send van Riemsdyk back on the ice on Tuesday; he only skated two shifts after Milan Jurcina sent him crashing into the boards. Van Riemsdyk, who has 3 assists in his first 3 NHL games, said he "didn't feel 100-percent right" and just wanted to "play it safe."

It may be a smart move to keep the impressive rookie off the ice against Pittsburgh as the Penguins have one of the most physical defense corps in the league. It isn't worth losing van Riemsdyk for the season with a lingering head problem … we all know how nasty those can be. Just ask Simon Gagne. Or Eric Lindros.

That means that both Riley Cote and Arron Asham will be in the lineup tonight, filling in for van Riemsdyk and Blair Betts – who will be out for at least four weeks with a separated right shoulder.

I will post the lines when I get them tonight at the Wachovia Center.

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