There are some people who feel like they were born to be in a hockey locker room.
James van Riemsdyk is one of them.
He’s lived a full life as an NHL player, going from the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 draft to a 16-year veteran of the league. He’s played in such hockey hotbeds as Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto, carving out a career that’s included 1,035 games, 315 goals and 638 points.
Yet even after a strong season a year ago as a depth player on an excellent Boston team, van Riemsdyk was without an NHL contract until just days before training camps opened in September when he signed a one-year deal to join the Blue Jackets.
He may be the second-oldest player on the team at age 35, but van Riemsdyk knew he still had good hockey in him. More importantly, he knew he still wanted to play the game that he loves.
“The way I approach it is a 24/7/365 type of thing. I love it,” van Riemsdyk said. “I know how important this is to me and how much I love to play that I want to make sure I can get everything out of it that I can. I try to approach everything in that way. That’s why it’s a lot of fun.”
Nearly halfway through the season with the Blue Jackets, van Riemsdyk has posted four goals and nine points in 24 games, but just as importantly, he’s been the steady veteran the team was hoping for when he inked that contract in September.
Nowhere has that been more obvious than in the different roles he’s played on the team. Early in the season, he ended up on an energy line with Sean Kuraly and Kevin Labanc, and that trio was excellent at playing an aggressive forechecking style of hockey that could turn the momentum of games.
He then found himself as an occasional healthy scratch, but van Riemsdyk was put on the team’s top line with high-scoring forwards Sean Monahan and Kent Johnson nine days ago in Vancouver, and since then, he’s had four points in six games.
As someone who’s been around a time or two, van Riemsdyk knows that coming to a new team often means finding your role, and he’s made the most of every position he’s been in.
“Obviously as a competitor, you want to be in there every night and think you can make a difference,” he said. “I definitely have that confidence in my ability to be able to help the team win and be successful and stuff, but ultimately you have to control your approach and just do what the day asks of you.
“You always expect coming to a new team that sometimes there is a little bit of a curve for things to play out and stuff like that, so you just try to have a good approach every day and stay confident and put your best foot forward every day.”
Head coach Dean Evason said he’s been happy with what the veteran wing has brought to he table.
“He’s done everything that we’ve asked of him,” Evason said. “Has he been in different roles or positions on our hockey club this year? Yeah. If you play six minutes or 16 minutes of 26 minutes, then you have to get ready to play in those situations and play the same way. He’s done that. He’s worked his butt off and he’s earned that right to play.”
Evason also noted that the New Jersey native is also a vocal guy both on the bench and in the team’s locker room, and that’s another benefit of the signing. The Blue Jackets brought in a number of veteran players this offseason to help serve as role models for a young locker room, and van Riemsdyk said that’s become a staple of what he brings to the table as he’s advanced through the years.
“I’ve definitely enjoyed that over the last few years of my career, to be honest,” he said. “All of a sudden, you look around and you’re one of the older guys. It happens fast, and you’re one of the guys that sets the example of how things are done, and I think a lot of times you have to live it every day. You can’t just be telling people what to do; you have to have that good approach in how you go about your craft.
“I remember coming into the league who rubbed off on me, and it was guys who played a long time – how they approached their craft, how they thought about the game, how they tried to get better every single day. It’s been great; we have some guys, especially some of the younger guys, that are like sponges and are asking questions about different guys I played with or different situations in the game.”
He also noted that he’s been happy to land in Columbus, where he’s skating with such players as Monahan, Boone Jenner and Zach Werenski, all of whom he knew a little bit before he arrived. While all van Riemsdyk really knew during his previous travels to the city was dinners at in the Short North, he’s been welcomed with open arms and learned a lot so far.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Getting to meet some of the young guys, it’s a great group. They really made me feel welcome and included me a lot early on, especially when I was here solo without my family for that first month or so. I think that helped me get comfortable quicker because I was able to go out to dinner with a lot of the younger guys that first month or so.
“It’s been a great place to live, great for the family.”
