James van Riemsdyk Shows Long Awaited Signs of Life

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

After a December filled with injuries, rumors and poor production, Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk had become a popular target for criticism from fans and media alike.

But Thursday night, van Riemsdyk showed signs of moving past his poor conclusion to the 2011 calendar year.

The 22-year old forward scored two goals in a 5-4 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks, including the game winner with only 33 seconds remaining in the contest.

“It’s exciting to contribute. Some bounces haven’t necessarily gone my way most of the year, but it feels good to contribute and help the team win,” said van Riemsdyk.

But bad bounces haven’t been the only reason for JVR’s struggles. Van Riemsdyk had opened the 2011-12 season well, scoring 16 points in his first 20 games before being sidelined with an abdominal injury for two weeks. He returned on December 7th against the Buffalo Sabres, but was clearly a different player. After starting the season on a 60 point full-season pace, van Riemsdyk scored only three points in his first twelve games back in the lineup.

In an interview with CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio on December 22nd, the young forward refused to deny a lingering injury.

“I don’t want to get into all this kind of stuff; it can be a slippery slope. I go out there every game working as hard as I can. That’s all I really can do. That is pretty much it.”

The coaching staff obviously noted JVR’s struggles, as he was briefly demoted to the 4th line at the end of December. But Peter Laviolette praised van Riemsdyk’s performance against Chicago.

“JVR was good. It was his best game. I liked that he was skating to be physical. He banged bodies out there. You start moving your feet and looking for targets, and all of the sudden you find yourself in the game, on the puck, around the play, and he got going.”

Scott Hartnell noticed Van Riemsdyk’s strong performance, as well.

“If you look at our whole lineup today, we had four lines and I think every one, every line got a goal. For [JVR] to step up and have a big game, it’s good for him. I think he needed it, so yeah, hats off to him, he had a big goal there at the end.”

In van Riemsdyk’s opinion, his stellar game was not due to improved health, but increased comfort.

“I don’t think I have felt this comfortable and confident on the ice as I had at points last year. I think I am still working towards that for whatever reason. I think we had some good chemistry on our line tonight and that definitely made it a lot of fun out there.”

The recent return of Brayden Schenn from a concussion has given JVR a new center. So far, the results have been impressive, to say the least.

“We meshed out there and we really had instant chemistry,” van Riemsdyk stated. “Sometimes you can feel that out there and it feels pretty good when it happens. Now, we just have to keep getting better with it.”

Still, JVR’s standout effort tonight was only one game. In order to live up to the expectations that accompany his $25.5 million contract extension and 2011 playoff emergence, van Riemsdyk will be expected to contribute on the scoresheet on a regular basis.

“It is all part of the game and all you can control is working hard no matter what is going on. That’s all I am going to continue to do.”