It’s a well-worn cliché in sports, but James van Riemsdyk, now playing in his 17th NHL season and first with the Detroit Red Wings, continues to hold status as one of the game’s most stand-up citizens.
A consistent contributor on the ice – the 36-year-old has reached the 10-goal mark in each one of his NHL campaigns – the winger recently earned rave reviews for his pre-game entrance at Bell Centre in Montreal.
van Riemsdyk celebrated his son Liam’s fourth birthday before the Red Wings road game against the Montreal Canadiens by dressing up as Batman on the way to the visitor’s locker room.
The team shared a photo of van Riemsdyk getting off the team bus dressed as his son’s favourite superhero, accompanied by a picture of the toddler sporting the same look.
“Happy Birthday Liam! I miss you so much! Love you, buddy,” van Riemsdyk said in the Instagram post.
As to who enjoyed the look most, Liam or James’ teammates, the man at the centre of the viral post offered another option.
“Oh, there might be a third – it might be me,” van Riemsdyk told NHLPA.com “It was pretty cool. When I was walking in, part of the reason why I'm kind of laughing when they get me on camera is off screen there are 15 of the guys just looking at me walking in, laughing at me.
“I think it'll be a fun memory, not only for my son and my family, but for me too. Just trying to make the best of some of the things that can be tough, as far as my family's back in Minnesota and I've been in Detroit.
“My family has had to make quite a bit of sacrifices in that way this year, so I'm very appreciative of them. My son obviously loved it. This year, more than any other year, I've had to miss a bunch of different things and just wanted to let him know how important he is to me. Hopefully, this is a fun memory for us years down the line.”
The former 2007 second overall pick of the Philadelphia Flyers might not be off the hook for unique pre-game entrances.
His daughter, Scarlett, might have a request of her own.
“My daughter, she's big into Frozen. The KPop Demon Hunters is pretty big in our household right now, too. So, we'll see. Her birthday is in early May, that's playoff time, so hopefully we're still playing at that time and then we'll see what happens. Stay tuned. We'll see what my daughter's thinking at that time, but now that I put that out there, that I was willing, she's going to ask me to do something similar for her birthday.”
Calls for costumes aside, van Riemsdyk has been equally impressive when he’s wearing his No. 21 jersey for the Red Wings.
van Riemsdyk, who signed a one-year contract with the Original Six team last July, has recorded 684 points in 1,121 regular-season games for Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston and Columbus, along with 36 points in his 82 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Mid-way through January, he has eight points in seven games. In December, he recorded a career-high four-game goal streak.
“Great group of guys [in Detroit]. It’s been exciting. I think so far to this point in the season, I think we've done a lot of good things.
“It’s crazier than any other year, as far as I can remember, as far as how many teams are still alive, and in the mix, and you're pretty much two wins away, from any given time, from being first, and two wins away from being last. We know how tight it's going to be, and what it's just going to take, just taking care of our own business, down the stretch from. It’s going to make for a lot of exciting games across the whole league.”
van Riemsdyk has embraced his veteran status.
“That's something I really enjoyed, especially these last few years. There's so much just to learn from some of these younger guys, and it was so much fun to be around them. I have a certain amount of experience that I feel can be helpful to, just a team in general, and I think that goes back to just doing things in a consistent fashion, doing things the right way.”
I've gotten to meet a lot of great, great players and people the last few years, especially some of the younger guys,” he continued. “That's been a lot of fun for me to kind of be in more of that, almost like a big brother role in some ways. It's been awesome.”
The New Jersey native, who played for the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, continues to fine-tune his game as the Red Wings look to net their first playoff appearance since 2016.
“The love and passion for the game, and curiosity, I guess, to just kind of explore different areas of how I can continually get better and find some longevity and consistency. I've definitely been enjoying things, the little things, I think, even more as you get older in your career. You appreciate things like that, and I'm just grateful for each day that you have in the league.
“What still drives me at this point is hopefully getting a chance to play in the playoffs, play for a Stanley Cup and win a Stanley Cup. So that's ultimately why I'm still playing, what motivates me and what drives me, but you’ve got to enjoy the process along the way too, to hopefully get there.”
Whatever he’s asked to contribute, van Riemsdyk is always game.
“Obviously, you're always going have your kind of foundation as a player, your calling cards as a player, but there might be little differences in between roles at certain times that you're kind of asked to do for the team, and just really buying into that. Also playing to your identity as a player and playing to the identity that the team's trying to do.
“So, I think, just kind of balancing all those things, that is an important thing. It’s been a lot of fun with the group that we have in Detroit.”