The Frog and the Ryno: Ron Wilson Plays It Safe With Leafs Blueline Returns

As the Maple Leafs ran through practices and drills yesterday at the Lakeshore Lions Arena, Luke Schenn and Niklas Hagman sat on the sidelines watching their teammates run through the paces, thirsting to be on the ice with them.

Luckily for the Leafs, the pendulum has at least swung to and fro.

The team is likely to have the services of Mike Van Ryn and Jonas Frogren just in time for Friday's tilt in Buffalo against the Sabres.

It isn't a foregone conclusion however, that the two will be in the lineup.  Their fast healing time has coach Ron Wilson slightly skeptical.

Frogren, originally expected to be out on month, has deemed himself ready to play after only two weeks on the sidelines, something that has Ron Wilson wanting to be cautious.

"We're going to get (Frogren) another MRI and make sure he's not covering up because he wants to get back in there," Wilson said. "The injury he's had was supposed to be about a four-week injury and he's only looking at two weeks right now."

Van Ryn will also have to undergo testing to see if he is fully cleared to return, however it won't be an MRI or an X-Ray that will determine the steady London, Ontario native's fate.

He will undergo tests, likely today, to determine whether his concussion has completely gone away.  Van Ryn says he feels symptom free, but will still undergo a test to get the final results.

"It's a whole bunch of random questions to see if you get confused," Van Ryn said. "Lasts about an hour. I don't feel I'll have any problems with it. I didn't really feel I had a bad concussion or anything like that. I don't think there's be any problems and hopefully I'll be in (tomorrow)."

Frogren is still very much a rookie, who at the age of 28, is trying to prove he belongs in the National Hockey League.

Van Ryn meanwhile, will likely assume the role he had before the injury.  One of the Leafs best two-way defenseman before injury befell him, Van Ryn should see time on the power play, as well as the penalty kill.

While two Leafs appear on their way to happy returns, the mood wasn't as cheery with Luke Schenn and Niklas Hagman. 

Both were injured in Saturday's loss to Washington, and are frustrated with their injuries.

Schenn is nursing an MCL injury which he says is sore, but other than that he feels he is on schedule to miss two weeks, possibly a month.

He will also wear a brace for the first time in his career and said the whole injury thing was "new" to him.  Schenn rarely missed time in junior and is chomping at the bit to be back on the ice with the Leafs.

He also said he wasn't sure what had even happened during the collision to hurt his knee.

"He didn't hit me knee-on-knee or anything" the Leafs rookie stated.  "I don't know, maybe he just flattened it the way it bent after the hit."

Meanwhile, Niklas Hagman remains out with a slight concussion that the team is calling a "headache."

While being out with a headache may sound like a lame excuse for a tough hockey player, it is exactly proper terminology that will allow Hagman to return as soon as possible.

It is an NHL rule that once the the word concussion is mentioned, a player must be free of symptoms for one full week before returning.

By calling it a headache, the Leafs avoid a headache, and get Hagman into the lineup probably two or three days faster than the NHL definition suggests.

Quotes used courtesy of Toronto Star and Toronto Sun respectively.