Date Published: 12-14-2022
Photo Credit: Gabe Washel
James van Riemsdyk has been a player that could produce more, and show more in Philly. He’s a goal scorer and can be streaky at times. Somehow even with his streakiness the majority of the time he ends up with 20 to 30 goals per season. This year is a year that he was searching for consistency, and then boom he got hurt. van Riemsdyk came back, and Tortorella has been praising him since, “”He’s a seasoned pro, he gets it. Before he got hurt he was playing really well,” Tortorella said yesterday during pre-game.
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The reason I included that quote above is JvR has been on a tear since coming back from injury (2g,3a in his last four games played), and he is also providing a net front presence on the Power Play. He provided a big net front presence goal last night against the Colorado Avalanche, and brought the big club within one. JvR is great at deflecting pucks, and he seems to be skating better while making himself look bigger:
“He’s a pro. He’s a steady influence for us,” John Tortorella said about James van Riemsdyk on December 11 before the game.
JvR needed a bounce back year to prove that he is not dead weight. He was very inconsistent last year, but managed to pot over 20 goals again somehow. JvR even registered nine Power Play goals last season, so he couldn’t have envisioned a better start to the season, “We all like the team that we have, and I think we have a good of chance as anyone and now we have to go out there and execute and show it and play to our potential,” JvR said back in training camp. “Ultimately, we are all excited to be a part of a team like this and that is the most important part.”
van Riemsdyk is a class act, and he knows full well that there was another gear he could get to. This is his moment to turn make fans believers. Sports is a crazy business. One moment a player could be down in the dumps, and the next he/she could have a bigger role. Enter JVR, a guy who knows how to put the biscuit in the basket. This is now JVR’s chance at redemption with the Flyers and the fans of Philadelphia, after winning over his coach Tortorella.
