James van Riemsdyk's dream of revenge turns nightmarish
JVR had dreamed of his return, but his nightmare was coming true. James van Riemsdyk sat in the penalty box midway through the third period. He had held and he had hooked and he had drawn two minor penalties, and the Flyers had just cut his Maple Leafs' lead in half - into the first power play.
JVR had dreamed of his return, but his nightmare was coming true.
James van Riemsdyk sat in the penalty box midway through the third period. He had held and he had hooked and he had drawn two minor penalties, and the Flyers had just cut his Maple Leafs' lead in half - into the first power play.
He envisioned maybe winning the game himself; something dashing, down the left boards, late, giving the Flyers get a whiff of what they wasted.
Instead, thanks to him, the Flyers whittled the lead to one. Worse, he had another 2 minutes to watch, and to wither.
"I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone," he said.
The Leafs killed off the second penalty and won, 4-2.
"I'm glad they bailed me out there," van Riemsdyk acknowledged.
He did little himself; one shot on goal in 20 minutes, 49 seconds of ice time. Shadowed by Zac Rinaldo, who clobbered him in the first period and ran him into the Flyers' cage in the second, van Riemsdyk was a nonfactor, as he was many nights wearing the Flyers colors on the same ice. Rinaldo was pleased.
"I wouldn't want myself breathing down someone's neck all night," Rinaldo said.
"I'm glad to get this out of the way," van Riemsdyk acknowledged.
Sometimes, karma visits quickly.
Because, earlier Monday, JVR couldn't help himself.
Like a spurned lover coming back to the scene of the breakup, van Riemsdyk returned to the Wells Fargo Center, flaunted his extreme makeover and his sexy, new mate.
"When I was here in Philly, I was able to perform," van Riemsdyk insisted, perjuring himself without shame. "I've gotten those opportunities a lot more frequently here, so far."
The Flyers used the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 to draft JVR, a big, friendly New Jersey kid with enticing potential. He joined an organization deep in talent, geared to ease the kid into a power forward role.
He played on teams with Danny Briere, Chris Pronger, Simon Gagne, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, sturdy coattails for a youngster to grab.
But van Riemsdyk never quite caught on.
By last summer, at 23, van Riemsdyk was weary of the drama. He welcomed the trade to Toronto that had been rumored for months.
After 20 games into his second NHL life, JVR might be the Maple Leafs' MVP. His 6-3 frame has a leaner 200 pounds on it, and his soft features have grown chiseled.
He entered Monday night sixth in the league with 11 goals, two behind the leaders, and was tied for the team lead with 15 points. That's right: Van Riemsdyk moved to perhaps the toughest hockey town in the world, and, relieved of pressure, he has thrived.
"It's nice to go to a place you feel like you're really wanted," he sniped. "You think they have some plans for you."
This was Monday, after the Leafs' brisk morning skate. Van Riemsdyk had every right to crow a bit. He worked hard for this moment, sat on 3 extra months of pins and needles, through a lockout that delayed his vengeance. On a young team on a different track, JVR has seen time on the power play and even on the penalty kill.
"That's something I've always known I could do," he said. Now, he is "relied upon . . . by the coach. Which is always nice, they show that confidence in you."
He was wrong, of course.
He was given plenty of chances to earn reliance and confidence when he was a Flyer. He never did.
There's nothing wrong with that.
John LeClair - like JVR, a big college kid playing short of his potential - exploded when the Canadiens traded him to the Flyers in 1995.
Perhaps the same will happen for JVR.
Van Riemsdyk had played against his former team 2 weeks earlier, and had scored a meaningless goal in a meaningless game, compared with this one. Monday night marked his first return to the site of failures and humiliations; of benchings and losses; of unfulfilled promise and unmet expectations.
Van Riemsdyk can try to rewrite his history all he likes.
To get a defenseman such as Luke Schenn, teams simply do not trade first-round picks like the player JVR described:
"Every time I had opportunities to produce, I did produce."
No. No, he did not.
He wasn't tough enough, aggressive enough; Patrick Kane enough.
It is JVR's misfortune to be the player who fell to the Flyers in the 2007 lottery, in which the Flyers had more than twice the chance of the Blackhawks to win the No. 1 overall pick, and with it take Kane.
After JVR shined in moments of the 2010 playoffs, it was his earned fortune to be a healthy scratch in two of the six Stanley Cup finals games, which Kane's Blackhawks won in six.
It also was JVR's bad luck to be raised in a dysfunctional dressing room with a petty captain (Richards), a bully veteran (Pronger) and a vapid, pretty-boy sniper (Carter). His former coach, Peter Laviolette, is cut from stone; his former general manager, Paul Holmgren, from rawhide.
In that soil, a sensitive, thoughtful kid was supposed to blossom? Not likely. Not when saddled with the typical problems a young player has - rationed ice time, strength issues, pain.
"Dealing with injuries, dealing with different things that were out of my control [playing time, trade rumors], it tests your mental toughness and what you're all about," van Riemsdyk said. "I'm lucky to have a good support system around me that helped me through all that. I definitely learned a lot from the experience."
He roomed in Philadelphia with his best friend from childhood. His parents lived right up the highway. They attended Monday night.
They heard a half-full arena split cheers and boos when van Riemsdyk name was announced.
It was not that big of a deal.
Just like when he was a Flyer.
Columns: Philly.com/MarcusHayes