James van Riemsdyk

James van Riemsdyk
Born	(1989-05-04) May 4, 1989 Middletown Township, NJ, USA
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Toronto Maple Leafs Philadelphia Flyers
National team	United States
NHL Draft	2nd overall, 2007 Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career	2009–present

James "JVR" van Riemsdyk (born May 4, 1989) is an American professional ice hockey left winger who plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

James Frederick^[1] van Riemsdyk attended Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey before transferring to Ann Arbor, Michigan for his sophomore year to play for the U.S. National Team Development Program. Prior to that, he played from Mite to first year of Midgets for the Brick Hockey Club in Brick, New Jersey. As a youth in the greater New York area, van Riemsdyk was an avid New York Rangers fan.

Van Riemsdyk was drafted second overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft - following fellow American Patrick Kane, marking the first time in league history that Americans were chosen first and second overall in the same draft.

On April 1, 2009, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that van Riemsdyk would forgo his final two years of college eligibility at the University of New Hampshire to sign an entry-level NHL contract for the 2009–10 season; he spent the remainder of the 2008–09 season playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms on an amateur tryout contract.^[2]

It was during the 2009–10 preseason that van Riemsdyk began making an impact. Initially expected to spend the year in the AHL or at-best earn a spot midway through the season, van Riemsdyk seized the attention in the Flyers' annual rookie game against the Capitals with 4 goals and an assist in the Flyers' 7–3 rout of the Capitals' rookies. As he moved into the preseason, van Riemsdyk proved himself one of the most consistent members of the Flyers outfit, once again seizing the attention with two goals against the Detroit Red Wings in a 5–2 Flyers victory.

Van Riemsdyk was included in the Flyers' starting 2009–10 roster to play on a third line with prolific sophomore Claude Giroux. He scored his first NHL point in his first game, recording an assist on a powerplay goal by Mike Richards in a 2–0 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. His next game saw a return to his roots in New Jersey, where he contributed two more assists against the New Jersey Devils. He suffered a minor concussion shortly after that due to a hit by the Capitals' defenseman Milan Jurcina in the Flyers' home opener and missed two games, but would return quickly. He scored his first goal on October 24, 2009, against Tomas Vokoun of the Florida Panthers.

James van Riemsdyk had an impressive month of November for a rookie, scoring four goals and five assists. Three of the four goals were game-winning goals. He was named the NHL's rookie of the month in November 2009.^[3]

2012 playoffs

During the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Philadelphia Flyers (who finished in 7th place in the Eastern Conference during the regular season) found themselves down 3 games to none against the 6th-place Boston Bruins. Philadelphia mounted a comeback, defeating the Bruins in game 7, marking just the third time in NHL history a team has won a series after being down by 3 games. With 2:50 left in the first period, van Riemsdyk scored his first career playoff goal, and the game's momentum shifted to the Flyers. Philadelphia went on to win the game, 4–3, and the playoff series, 4 games to 3. Not since the New York Islanders came back from a 3–0 deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975 had a team won 4 games in a row to win an NHL playoff series. For van Riemsdyk's momentum-changing goal, he was named the impact player of the game.

On February 15, 2011, in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning van Riemsdyk recorded his first Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, an assist, and a fight in the Flyers' first victory over the Lightning in the season series.

On March 26, 2011, in a game against the New York Islanders, van Riemsdyk recorded his first career NHL hat trick in the Flyers 4–1 victory over New York in front of some of his aunts and uncles, and his mother. Two of the three were scored in even-strength play, while the third came on a power play.

In the opening round of the 2011 NHL Playoffs, van Riemsdyk had a very strong series and was a key to the Flyers' 4–3 series win over the Buffalo Sabres. van Riemsdyk tallied 4 goals in the series, including the eventual game-winner in the seventh game to help the Flyers advance. He followed that series up with 3 goals in 4 games against Boston as the Flyers were swept by the Bruins. Despite only playing in 11 games, van Riemsdyk finished third in the entire postseason in total shots with 70 (behind only Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks) and led the postseason in shots per game.

The Philadelphia Flyers re-signed forward James van Riemsdyk to a six-year contract extension worth $25.5 million.

Van Riemsdyk, who was entering his third season in Philadelphia, provided the length of the extension on his Twitter. Van Riemsdyk was scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2011–12 campaign. He finished the 2010–11 regular season with career highs in points (40), goals (21), and plus/minus rating (plus-15).

In the 2012 season Van Riemsdyk broke his foot requiring surgery.

Toronto Maple Leafs

On June 23, 2012, Van Riemsdyk was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Luke Schenn.

On November 24, 2012, Van Riemsdyk participated in "Operation Hat Trick", a charity hockey game held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City to raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims.^[4]

During the lockout shortened 2012–13 NHL season with his new team, van Riemsdyk hit his stride and scored 18 goals and 32 points while playing in all 48 games. The Leafs would make the playoffs for the first time since the 2003–04 NHL season, but fell in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup finalist Boston Bruins in seven games. Van Riemsdyk finished the playoffs with a team leading 7 points in 7 games.

International play

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for USA
World Junior Championships
Bronze	2007 Sweden
IIHF U18 Championships
Silver	2007 Finland
Gold	2006 Sweden

Van Riemsdyk's first international experience came in the 2007 World Under-18 Championships (U18) in which he played a limited role in winning the gold medal with the United States. In 2006–07, he scored 33 goals and 30 assists for the US Under-18 National Team, and represented the United States at the 2007 World Junior Championships (WJC) in Sweden. He followed up his inaugural WJC by winning the scoring title at the 2007 U18 with 5 goals and 7 assists.^[5] He was named to the tournament all-star team, named the top forward, and garnered MVP honours, as the United States won silver, losing against the Russians in the final.

He had a great showing at the 2008 WJC where he led the entire tourney in scoring with five goals and six assists. Despite his efforts, USA did not medal, finishing fourth. However, he was named to the WJC all-star team in 2008. He continued his strong international play with six goals and four assists at the 2009 WJC as the US finished fifth in his final international tournament to date.

Personal life

Van Riemsdyk has two younger brothers, Trevor and Brendan van Riemsdyk. ^[6]

In 2012 James Van Riemsdyk appeared in the movie This is 40 alongside Scott Hartnell, Ian Laperriere and Matt Carle.

Awards and honors

• Named to the IIHF U18 Championships All-Star Team in 2007^[7]
• Named top forward of the IIHF U18 Championships in 2007
• Named MVP of the IIHF U18 Championships in 2007
• Named to the World Junior All-Star Team in 2008
• Named NHL Rookie of the Month in November 2009

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2006	United States	U18			6	0	1	1	2
2007	United States	WJC			7	1	0	1	2
2007	United States	U18			7	5	7	12	4
2008	United States	WJC	4th		6	5	6	11	2
2009	United States	WJC	5th		6	6	4	10	4
2011	United States	WC	8th		2	1	0	1	2
U18 totals					13	5	8	13	6
WJC totals					19	12	10	22	8
Junior international totals					32	17	18	35	14

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James van Riemsdyk.

• James van Riemsdyk's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• James van Riemsdyk at Hockey-Reference.com
• James van Riemsdyk's player profile at NHL.com
• James van Riemsdyk's player profile at TSN.ca
• James van Riemsdyk on Twitter