FLYERS GO WITH JERSEY BOY

COLUMBUS - Just after the Chicago Blackhawks took Patrick Kane with the first pick in the NHL draft, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren stood at the team table and began huddling with the scouting staff.

For almost 4 of the 5 minutes allotted to teams between picks, the Flyers stood at their team table and talked in front of the makeshift stage at Nationwide Arena while NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stood and waited at the podium.

As the minutes ticked off, Bettman stepped forward and announced that the Flyers had 1 minute to make their selection.

Was a decision hanging in the balance?

"No," Holmgren said after the Flyers used the second overall pick to select New Jersey-born power forward James vanRiemsdyk. "I don't know what that [delay] was. As soon as Chicago was done, we had our pick up there. I don't know what was going on with the NHL's computer system."

The Flyers, Holmgren said, were sure of what they were doing.

Kane, 18, a smallish forward from Buffalo, was on their list. So was Kyle Turris, the 17-year-old Canadian center.

But vanRiemsdyk was who the Flyers wanted all along.

"When we finalized our list in early June he was the number one then," he said. "I'll be honest. We liked Kane, we liked Turris, we liked vanRiemsdyk."

And with that, the Flyers ended weeks of speculation on what they would do with the pick they had earned by finishing at the bottom of the league.

Instead of trading for an established player or moving down in the draft for more picks, the Flyers selected a kid who grew up in Middletown, N.J., and, like the Devils' Jim Dowd, started his playing career in an old barnlike rink in Brick Township. Fifteen of his hometown buddies chanted his name after the pick was announced.

"Hearing them call my name was amazing," vanRiemsdyk said. "It's something I'll never forget. I had a pretty strong feeling it was going to be the Flyers, but I guess you really never know until draft day. I'm just happy that they took me at No. 2."

It marked the first time in NHL history that U.S.-born players went Nos. 1 and 2 in the draft.

"That's also something that's just really amazing," vanRiemsdyk said. "It just shows that American hockey is taking huge strides and it's another huge step for American hockey. I'm pretty honored and happy to be a part of that."

So who is this kid who went unheralded in the weeks leading up to the draft? Early in the year, all the talk was about Russian Alexei Cherepanov and center Angelo Esposito, another Canadian. Both dropped in the rankings while Kane and Turris rose. Cherepanov fell to No. 17, where he was taken by the New York Rangers. Esposito went to Pittsburgh at No. 20. Turris was taken third overall by Phoenix.

But Holmgren kept his eye on vanRiemsdyk.

"I saw him a little bit last year and a little more this year, but he just continued to get better for our staff as the year went on," he said.

Likened to a younger John LeClair, vanRiemsdyk, 18, is a 6-3, 200-pound left winger who likes to play his game along the wall, in the corners and in front of the net.

"I don't think he's done growing yet. He's going to get a lot bigger," Holmgren said. "All three of these kids are very close and we would have been happy with any of them and at some point you have to make a decision and [vanRiemsdyk] ended up on top of the list.

"Obviously his size helped. I think he's a very good skater and he has good hands to make plays. He's a well-rounded player."

He led his U.S. National under-18 team in scoring with 63 points on 33 goals and 30 assists in 63 games and made his debut at the 2007 World Junior Championships, helping Team USA to a bronze medal.

He was named the best forward in the 2007 under-18 world championships.

VanRiemsdyk began playing in Brick Township, and then high school at the Christian Brothers Academy before switching to the United States Development Program when he was 15.

It was a move he said that changed his life.

"If it wasn't for that I probably would still be playing New Jersey high school hockey and just club," he said. "That was a big calling for me and it was like a lightbulb went off in my head that said, 'If you want this dream, you've got to go for it.' It was an easy decision."

Next season, vanRiemsdyk will attend the University of New Hampshire.

Realistically, it will be 2 years before this new Flyer makes it to the NHL. Both he and the Flyers agree he has not reached his physical potential nor developed enough as a player.

VanRiemsdyk will major in business at UNH. "I need to work on getting stronger and faster and stuff like that, developing more and more as a player," he said. "I don't think you can ever stop getting better.

"I'm really looking forward to going to school there. There will be some pretty big expectations on me but I want to get there and work hard and do whatever the teams wants me to do to get wins.

"They have a pretty special group and they're hoping to have a pretty successful season." *