James Van Riemsdyk has had a very up and down career since being drafted number two overall, one pick after the Legendary Patrick Kane in the 2007 draft. Has he lived up the number two pick hype? Is he a superstar or has he ever been? Outside of 1-2 years in Toronto in which he was a prolific goal scorer, the numbers would say no. However, he has been nothing but solid night in and night out for the Boston Bruins this year.
While he might not have the goals some would expect, just seven goals in 34 games this season, JVR does have 18 assists and 25 points on the year. Last night in the 4-1 win over Columbus he had three points with one goal and two assists and quietly became the fastest Bruins to record his first 25 points with the club since Marc Savard in 06-07. This can be surprising given the numbers of superstars the Bruins have had; however, this is proof of JVR's consistency.
Throughout his career, and continued in Boston, JVR's teammates always comment on his intelligence on the ice and his willingness to do the «dirty» work in front of the net. Never afraid to provide screens for his teammates, look for tip ins and rebounds. Those «Garbage Goals» are all the same to JVR, they show up the same in the stat line, and help provide his teams with wins. The unselfishness to JVR's games is another way he endears himself to his teammates. He also is on a line with Bruin's rookie Georgii Merkulov, providing the much important veteran presence to the rookie, and again willing to do the dirty work for him, while he lets the rookie's skill show through.
Is JVR ever going to be a 50-goal scorer? No, The Bruins have David Pastrnak for that, JVR does all the things that go unappreciated in the NHL and perhaps it's time we start to appreciate those things as the Bruins are rolling right now and JVR is a part of that!
