James van Riemsdyk’s career started with the Philadelphia Flyers and it was a baptism under fire of sorts. He was still a newbie when the Flyers went on their amazing Stanley Cup run in 2010. JVR played on the third line with Claude Giroux and Aaron Asham. He gives credit to many mentors such as Chris Pronger, Danny Briere and Ian Laperriere. They all made huge sacrifices for the game by taking pucks to the face. Sadly Pronger’s and Laperriere’s careers ended due to those injuries.
Early on, JVR learned it was important to be physical and to finish his forechecks in the right position. JVR had learned how to be competitive from the best. Additionally, his six foot three inch body is perfect for screening goalies. Often he can be found around the net not just blocking the goalies’ vision but scrapping for the puck. JVR can score in just about any situation. He can deflect, score off the face and power play. His size and skating ability make him a solid force on the penalty kill as well.
JVR gives credit to his training regimen as well as his recovery efforts. He uses workout bands, eats right, gets plenty of rest and employs breathing techniques. The technique he uses before any game is used to clear his mind and body. JVR will make sure his posture is perfectly straight while breathing to shake off anything that would prevent him from focusing and being at his best. His post-game technique is deep belly breaths so that he can wind down after a long fought game which ensures he will get plenty of rest. Part of his training is using exercise bands to increase his muscle strength. JVR has stated that his natural curiosity is what leads him to
find various methods to train and recover. He is open minded to anything that would boost his performance.
Now he is married and a father. That gives him a little extra motivation to play well. It helps to have a cheerleading squat at home. One cannot argue with his stats this year as he has played thirteen games, scored seven goals with eleven assists to tally eighteen points. His career stats are quite impressive, as per the NHL he has played a total of 754 games, scored 254 goals with 245 assists to tally 499 points. JVR is on a tear and his stats are sure to go through the roof this year.
More thoughts on the Fletcher Presser from yesterday:
One question we have received a lot is why certain Flyers players were on the ice for practice yesterday and some were not. Here is the answer from Chuck Fletcher:
“We’ve been in a league-mandated quarantine for the past seven or eight days. However, not every player has the same quarantine start date, depending upon various factors, contacts, etc. We have a group of players that were eligible to return to the ice today and we have another, I believe, eight that will be allowed to practice tomorrow.”
Taxi Squad roster flexibility:
“The six can temporarily increase. If a player that’s loaned to your taxi squad is required to have a period of isolation or quarantine due to COVID protocols, you can exempt that player temporarily and replace that player. Right now, obviously our entire team has been in quarantine as I mentioned for the last week. We have other players because of COVID or contact-tracing with COVID are either in isolation or quarantine. There’s a lot of moving pieces right now. Clearly, there’s a lot of work on a day-to-day basis for Barry Hanrahan.”
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