James van Riemsdyk to join United States of America at World Championships
Although the Philadelphia Flyers were one of the most dominating teams in the 2010-11 regular season, they were unable to carry the same momentum into the play-offs.
The first half of the play-offs proved to be pretty good but the semi-finals were no more than an embarrassment for the team. The Flyers were defeated by the Boston Bruins 4-0 in a crushing performance.
However, there were some positives that could be taken out from the Flyers this time. One of them is them is the fact that James van Riemsdyk (JVR) is assured to become a star in the near future. Although he is only in his second National Hockey League season,
he displayed a dominating performance that put him among the best in the game.
For what he had done for the Flyers in the play-offs, he was offered a spot in the USA team that is currently in Slovakia for the 2011 World Championships. With the knowledge and game that he has, he is expected to be included in the starting line-up despite
lacking practice with the team before the medal qualification round kicks off.
Coming to the fact as to who discovered this talent, it was the USA National Team Development Program that should raise their hands. JVR has represented USA three times as part of the under 20, USA teams in the World Championships. Each time he has played
for his international team, he has come up with a lot of productivity for the team.
He has won a gold, silver, and, bronze medal while doing this. However, this was all at the under 20 level, now it is time that he moves on and starts to show the same productivity when it comes to the senior team.
He has already touched the Stanley Cup with the Flyers in the last season when they made it into the Finals but unfortunately lost to the Chicago Blackhawks. This time the Flyers were knocked out of the semi-finals by the Boston Bruins. The Flyers may have
not succeeded but JVR gained fame through his tireless efforts that he put in.
JVR didn’t have a great start to the season that witnessed him not scoring a goal in the first 17 games of the regular season. However, he was able to overcome this with a brilliant game winning goal against the Montreal Canadiens that saw the Flyers coming
back from behind to win.
He also scored his first hat-trick against the New York Islanders in March and ended the season with 21 goals to his name.
"The season was a little frustrating at times, but I just tried to stay positive and focused. If you keep getting scoring chances, the puck will eventually go in for you", said van Riemsdyk after the team clinched the Atlantic Division in its final regular
season game.
The USA is almost sure of a spot in the medal round and with JVR in the squad, the team becomes more diverse and has more depth. USA’s chances of winning a medal will be high.
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