JVR Making Most of NHL Pause

As the Flyers player representative with the National Hockey League Players Association and a member of the NHL/NHLPA return-to-play committee discussing scenarios and parameters to finish the 2019-20 season, James van Riemsdyk is staying busy.

He has been involved in the increasingly frequent meetings the committee has held in recent weeks, and then keeps his Flyers teammates updated on the latest news. He is also the team's primary spokesman to the media in terms of matters related to the pause.

It has been a stressful time in that regard; sobering, too, because the staggering toll that the global Covid-19 has taken is more important than the absence or prospective close-range return NHL hockey.

In other regards, the time away from the rink has been a blessing on a personal level. In early May, James and wife Lauren celebrated the birth of their first child, a daughter named Scarlett Every van Riemsdyk.

The NHL pause has enabled the player to be present for every moment of the first six weeks of his baby daughter's life; precious time that he would not have been able to spend had the Flyers been simultaneously involved in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"It's been incredible. The silver lining of all this stuff is just the extra time I have been able to spend at home and be there for all the little moments. Kind of worry about being a dad first and foremost. That's been unbelievable. Obviously, everyone who has kids knows it's a life-changing sort of moment. It's something that's hard to even describe until you meet her for the first time. That's been awesome. A little bit sleep-deprived over the first couple weeks, but it's been great to be home and enjoy all that," van Riemsdyk said during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.

During the pandemic, the van Riemsdyk family has been awaiting the construction of a new house in Minnesota. The house should be finished within a few weeks. In the interim, they have been living with Lauren's parents while awaiting the house's completion. James' parents have visited from New Jersey, driving 19 straight hours and then self-quarantining before meeting their granddaughter in person for the first time. It is the first grandchild for JVR's parents, the fourth for his wife's side of the family.

" It's been awesome to be able to share this with them and it's been nice to have everyone here," he said.

Additionally, the duration of the NHL pause -- which took effect on March 12 -- has given van Riemsdyk time to heal the broken finger that sidelined him shortly before the onset of the stoppage.

"I have been able to play probably for a couple weeks, maybe a little longer now. Things are feeling pretty good. I wouldn't say it's back to feeling like it felt before, but it's certainly good enough to play. Again, using this time wisely to try to continue to get that thing back to where it was beforehand," he said.

How has JVR been able to balance the competing demands of the return-to-play committee, family time as a new father and the personal need to train in order to be ready for informal on-ice workouts and then an NHL training camp before games would resume?

"It's one of those things where it's just the times of the calls and the different stuff can be a little sporadic. That's been a thing where I am just trying to make as much time as I can for that. Obviously, it's an important thing to navigate through the different issues so ultimately we can try to find a safe way to get things going here. There's been some different talks and things like that, trying to sort through some different issues. It's trying to manage your time a little bit better now that you have a baby," he said.

In terms of the status of a potential return, van Riemsdyk said that much remains to be hammered out. Issues include whether there would be any regular season games rescheduled, how many venues will be involved, whether there would be a "play-in" format that would expand the post-season, the logistics of bringing players back for workouts and camp, quarantines for players crossing international borders, and more.

"There's a bunch of different formats being talked about. It's hard to really say what the leader is just because things can change. Nothing's really certain until it's certain. Things can change so quickly and they have on different things, things that were looked at early on, without getting into too much detail, are beyond feasible now. There's different things that can change, so it's hard to say that there's a real leader," he said.

"We're trying to keep as many options open and navigate through different things and hopefully come up with a vision that obviously first and foremost ensures the health and safety of everyone. Then from there, it's trying to find one that keeps the integrity and competitiveness that's so great about our game and so great about the Stanley Cup."