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Meltzer's Musings: James van Riemsdyk |
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There were many things that went wrong for the Flyers during the 2011 playoffs. One of the things that went right was the play of James van Riemsdyk.
The 22-year-old, who was a healthy scratch in a pair of November games, was downright dominant for much of the team's 11-game run. It was not just the seven goals he scored. It was the way he shot the puck at will and used his rare combination of size and agility. JVR's two-goal performance against Boston in the second game of the Eastern Conference Semifinal was one of the most spectacular individual efforts by any player in the postseason this year.
The 2010-11 season was a learning experience and, ultimately, a success for van Riemsdyk. Coming off an uneven rookie season that started well and then tailed off (but which also saw his Flyers team reach the Stanley Cup Final), van Riemsdyk spent the summer working out at the gym to add muscle and skating at the Flyers' training facility in Voorhees, N.J. There were expectations that van Riemsdyk would explode into stardom in his second NHL campaign.
It didn't start out that way. Van Riemsdyk was held without a goal in the first 17 games of the regular season before scoring the game-winning goal in a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Montreal on Nov. 22. With the weight lifted off his shoulders, he went on to score goals in three straight games. The player tallied 13 goals after New Year's to break the 20-goal barrier for the first time in his young career, finishing with 21 goals. He notched his first career hat trick on March 26 in a road game against the New York Islanders.
There is a widespread sentiment around the NHL that JVR has only just begun to tap into a well of almost boundless potential. The knocks against him have always been that he doesn't play mean enough and doesn't make enough use of his strength to wear down opponents and set up his finesse game. An unassuming and laid-back type off the ice, van Riemdsyk dialed up his intensity level in the 2011 playoffs, and made believers out of former doubters.
That said, I think there is still room for JVR to become much more consistent. He was as invisible as the rest of the team in Games 3 and 4 of the Boston series. At the World Championships, he had a few excellent shifts (and a goal against Switzerland) in his two games but was largely a non-factor over the latter half of the Americans' shutout loss to the Czech Republic in the medal round quarterfinals.
During the regular season this year, there were times where it seemed as though JVR had turned a corner and realized that he needs to drive to the net and use his strength rather than being content to play along the perimeter. But he still needs to do so with much greater consistency. He did so -- with tremendous success -- in the Buffalo series and the early portion of the Boston series. Now he needs to follow it up next year in the final season of his entry-level contract.
My very early prediction for JVR next season is that he will still have stretches of games where you hardly notice him. There will be times when he plays a bit soft and smaller than his size. But there will be fewer of these stretches and they will be shorter in duration.
I think it's fair to expect JVR to advance to the 30-goal level next season and call it a disappointment if he falls short. I think to ask 40 goals from him next year (as at least two pundits have said) is stretching it and setting the bar a little too high. Van Riemsdyk is still developing player as a player. He has a way to go to regularly be the type of player we all marveled at in Game 2 against Boston. But the potential is there in spades.
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Fans of the 1980s era of Flyers hockey will have a chance to meet two of the team's all-time great goal-scoring forces today. Brian Propp and Tim Kerr will be at the Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne PA to sign autographs.
They'll be there from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.
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Today on NHL.com, I will take a look at the stellar play of St. Louis Blues forward Patrik Berglund at the World Championships in Slovakia. The Swedes will take on archrival Finland for the gold medal tomorrow.
Team Finland features three former Flyers: defensemen Lasse Kukkonen and Ossi Väänänen and forward Mika Pyörälä. The Finns will be looking for their first gold medal since 1995, which currently stands as the country's only senior level gold medal in major international competition.
I can hardly express what it would mean to the Finns to win another gold medal, especially at the expense of the Swedes. The 1995 gold (which was won in Stockholm against Tre Kronor) and the members of the team are every bit as venerated in Finland as the Miracle on Ice team members are in the USA, even though it was not nearly an upset of the same proportion. The Swedes, meanwhile, will be looking for their ninth gold medal and their first since winning both Olympic and WC gold in 2006.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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