On The Ice with Isaac: JVR, Fighting in Hockey
It’s a good thing James van Riemsdyk is used to big hockey markets. Philadelphia prepared the former Flyer well for Toronto, where after two games his season already had a turning point.
Since the newly acquired left wing hadn’t hit the scoresheet yet, Leafs coach Randy Carlyle expressed his interest in having van Riemsdyk hit the “dirty areas” in what the local media described as a big, pump-up meeting.
“I think it got blown up into a bigger thing than it was,” van Riemsdyk said. “It was never actually a meeting. It was one of those things where I was doing some things right, but there was definitely some things I could have improved on. It wasn’t anything earth-shattering that was said.”
In his third game of the season, van Riemsdyk turned in a three-point effort that included a pair of goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now he’s got a team-high seven goals and nine points in his first 12 games with the Leafs, seemingly atoning for his last season as a Flyer before being traded to Toronto on June 23 for Luke Schenn.
Dave Isaac covers the Flyers for 97.3 ESPN and The Courier Post. Reach Dave Isaac at disaac@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @davegisaac.
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