Maple Leafs will look to van Riemsdyk in their search for goals
HALIFAX— James van Riemsdyk took part in his brother’s Stanley Cup celebration at home over the summer in New Jersey. He didn’t touch the chalice.
“No way,” said the Maple Leafs forward.
He’s smart enough to know that’s a no-no for hockey players who haven’t won the Cup. Younger brother Trevor, a defenceman with the Blackhawks, got that glory.
James van Riemsdyk’s only glory these days is being the Maple Leafs top goal scorer last season, edging Phil Kessel 27 to 25. It was the only time during Kessel’s Toronto tenure that he failed to lead the team in goals.
And now that Kessel is gone, van Riemsdyk will be expected to lead the Leafs’ offence again.
“That’s something you embrace as a player,” van Riemsdyk said Sunday as the Leafs decamped Halifax. “You want to be on the ice in those key situations. You want to be relied upon by your teammates and coaches to do a good job and make a big play when it’s needed.”
The Leafs open their pre-season schedule with split-squad games against the Senators on Monday night. Assistant coach Jim Hiller will handle the team in Ottawa while a Mike Babcock-coached team will face the Senators at the Air Canada Centre. Both James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier will play full games.
It’s clear the players are ready for real games. “Everybody is looking forward to it,” forward William Ny- lander said.
Maybe the coaching staff, more. They will finally get to see who can do what, with three games in two nighs. The Leafs visit Montreal on Tuesday.
“We want to find out about them,” Babcock said. “We’re going to see them play, we’re going to find out what we have. We’ll know way more (by Wednesday).”
The Kessel trade has reverberated through the roster, with implications both positive and negative.
Going up and down the training camp roster, it’s fairly difficult to figure out who is going to replace Kessel’s offence. P.A. Parenteau and Michael Grabner are possibilities, but the two former Islanders are both four years removed from their best goal-scoring seasons: Parenteau scored 20 and Grabner 34 in 2010-11. So who’s going to score? “That’s a good question,” said Babcock. “You need to score goals. But we’re going to learn how to play first. I’m going to concern myself with that.”
If Babcock sticks to his practice lines, then van Riemsdyk will continue to play with Tyler Bozak, on what is probably the Leafs’ top unit, with rookie Connor Brown on right wing.
“James looks great so far,” Bozak said. “He’s fast, strong, healthy. Hopefully I get a chance to play with him. I’m excited to see what he can do.”
“It’s pretty cool,” Brown said. “They’re pretty good players. To be thrown into the mix with them makes the game a little bit easier. I thought it was a good opportunity for me.”
Brown could well turn into a feelgood story for the Leafs. He is a sixthround pick, 156th overall, from the 2012 draft who has blossomed into a top-six talent and scoring threat.
“He’s surprised me, he’s a very good player,” Bozak said. “He’s super smart, really good hands. And he’s always in the right spot at the right time.”
Bozak at least starts camp as the top centre, a job he held in large part because of his chemistry with Kessel. When things have gone bad, though, many fans have turned on him. Some are even surprised Bozak didn’t get traded along with Kessel.
“I’ve been part of the rumour mill for six years,” Bozak said. “It is a business. I’m happy to be back . . . It’s going to be a fun year.”
While Bozak may carry the heaviest baggage from the Kessel era, Babcock doesn’t see it that way.
“When I look at him, I don’t see any baggage whatsoever,” the coach said. “He’s worked hard this summer. He’s ready to go, we’re going to make him a better player, he’s going to play with way more pace, being a 200-footer, going both ways.
“I like the plays he makes. I like his hockey sense.”