As the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker notes, new Red Wings forward James van Riemsdyk is a big fan of a former Detroit mainstay:
A veteran of 1,082 career NHL games, van Riemsdyk has made a living by being an effective net-front presence, a role that he’s not only accustomed to but has grown into over the years.
“I feel like the more I’ve done it, the more natural it seems to become,” he said. “And like I mentioned before, especially down the stretch and into the playoffs, it seems like that’s where you need to go to have the success and score the goals. So I think that’s ultimately why it’s for me, just an attractive place to be on the ice.”
Perhaps the most effective net-front presence in recent NHL history was former Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom, who made life a living nightmare for opposition goaltenders by routinely taking up residency at the edge of the crease.
van Riemsdyk, who scored 16 goals as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, acknowledged that he used to pay close attention to how Holmstrom parked himself at the front of the net.
“That was a guy over the years I watched and kind of how he went about his craft and pulled different things from him,” van Riemsdyk said.
