Yahoo Sports Blue Jackets' Forward van Riemsdyk Reflects On His Time With The Maple Leafs
Recently, James van Riemsdyk appeared on Morning Cuppa Hockey with Jonny Lazarus and Colby Cohen and reflected on his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Columbus Blue Jackets forward spoke very highly of his time with the Maple Leafs.
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”As far as my bread and butter for my skill sets and things like that, I think that was obviously such a great fit playing in Toronto. And it was kind of through a couple of different evolutions of the team too. Obviously, my first few years, me and Bozy were kind of attached to the hip for all six of those years, which was great. I think our styles complemented each other so great. Just how we thought the game, the different sort of things that we both were good at just meshed together so well. And then having someone like Phil Kessel on the right wing for the first three years of that was amazing. He doesn’t forget to tell me that, ‘Don’t forget who made you a player in this league, James,’ when he feels like he needs to tell me that. But he was great.
Then the last few years of that, it was kind of 50/50 between Connor Brown and Mitch Marner at five on five and then playing a lot with Mitch Marner on the power play. But I think just stylistically between having those guys on my line, the hockey felt almost easy in a way where you just kind of were in that state of just playing where you didn’t feel like you had to think too much or overthink it. I was really able to play to my instincts there. Just the way we all kind of thought the game and played together and had that kind of chemistry that made it a lot easier. So definitely looking back, Toronto was definitely where that all kind of came together nicely for me.”
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van Riemsdyk also talked about the infamous Game 7 loss in 2013 against the Boston Bruins.
”We came into that year with kind of something to prove as a team. That was my first year there, but the team didn’t have a great year the year before. Obviously, we wanted to make the playoffs. We accomplished those goals. We were down three-one in that series, forced it to seven. Feel like we have it and then obviously it just slipped away from us. But yeah, that one still hurts to think about. That one was really tough, and I don’t think we’ll ever get over that one.”
After that, he was asked about his thoughts on the Maple Leafs' core and if he thinks they can get over their playoff drought. The answer he gave showed a ton of love for his former teammates.
”Sometimes it takes some time to go through some different things and experiences. And it’s hard, especially with the way the format of the playoffs is now. You have tough matchups. For the last five, six years in [the Atlantic Division], you had three of the top six or seven teams in the league every year. So usually in the first round, one of those top teams is going to have to get knocked out, and that’s just the way it’s gone. Certainly, it’s tough, but those are not guys that I would bet against. I think they’re special players, and they have that special quality about them. Obviously, it hasn’t gone their way yet as far as the ultimate goal. Tough to predict when that will be, but those are guys that you’d want to have in your corner and want to have on your team any day of the week.”
Now van Riemsdyk will focus his attention on the Blue Jackets and help them push for a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
You can watch and listen to the entire podcast here.
What's Next - The Jackets are on the road to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
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