32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Bonus Pod: The James van Riemsdyk Interview

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman sit down with Boston Bruins forward James van Riemsdyk as they touch on a number of topics including, the Toronto-Boston rivalry, Brad Marchand, his comfort around the net, concussion treatments, and the perfect blade profile among other things. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Welcome to 32 Thoughts, The Interview, brought to you by the 2024 GMC Sierra Elevation. What you're about to hear, or rather who you're about to hear, is one of the best talkers and most thoughtful players in the NHL. James Van Riemsdyk, Bruins forward James Van Riemsdyk. Quite the career it's been for him so far. Second overall pick, we go in the way back machine. Philadelphia Flyers, 2007, only behind Patrick Kane. Stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs, then back to Philadelphia. Now with the Boston Bruins, where he hopes to lead them to a Stanley Cup.

In this interview we did with James Van Riemsdyk a couple of weeks ago when Boston rolled through Toronto, you'll hear him talk about the Boston-Toronto rivalry, Brad Marchand, some really interesting comments there, living around the net, concussion treatments, backpacks, the perfect skate blade profile, and so much more. Now, a quick heads up.

Around the 30-minute mark, we had an audio issue. It's airable, and we want you to be able to hear the full interview, but prepare your ears. The audio gets a little bit, how shall we say, goofy. Let's describe it that way. Bear with us. So enjoy this conversation with one of the game's best personalities, James Van Riemsdyk on 32 Thoughts, the podcast.

You've played on a lot of different hockey teams. What is unique about Boston, the team, the city, the experience, all of it? Yeah, I think having a lot of rivalry games over the years with these guys, whether it was in Philly or here in Toronto, I think you get a lot of respect for kind of the sustained success that they had for a while. And I think the more years you play, you kind of almost wonder a little bit more what it's like behind the, behind the scenes

there. And I think it's no accident being there, why they've had so much success. And I think a guy like, like Marshy really sets the tone for, for the, for the team and the group and you see how he approaches it. And I think looking back to guys like Bergeron and Char as well, I think they've just had a good foundation of guys that are obviously really good players, but I think looking back to guys like Bergeron and Char as well, I think they just had a good foundation of guys that are obviously really good players. But I think the way that they approach their craft and how they want to do things is pretty infectious to the rest of the group. So I remember asking Brad May this question once. I said, you know, in your entire career,

was there one team that you wished you had played for but never got to? And he said Boston Bruins. Is Boston one of your wish teams or were they one of those, I don't know if I can ever play their teams? You know, it was kind of double-sided. I always thought I could be kind of a good fit with kind of the different guys that they had and what I could do. But at the same time, it was part of some pretty intense rivalries

with Philly and Toronto. So in that sense uh going into free agency uh this summer when they called like it was definitely a team that i was like okay like this would be an awesome fit like if they are interested like i'm yeah i'm going so once they were right away once they call her that was fairly obvious choice and happy with how it's turned out so far so living in toronto i i grew up with a lot of people who are still leaf fans and you know the the standings are starting to look like it's going to be boston toronto again and i will say that a lot of leaf fans have trauma about this from the time that

you were there when you think about those series what what do you remember about them? Yeah, well, the first one, and I think it was what, that lockout shortened year. I think it was one where going into that season, I think we had a lot to prove. And that was my first year there as a part of the group. But it definitely felt, you could feel that chip on the shoulder of the whole team, the whole organization. So for us to get in the playoffs, I think Boston was the team. of the whole team, the whole organization. So for us to get in the playoffs, I think Boston was the team. I remember kind of Greg Cronin vividly in his Boston accent talking about the Boston Bruins in the preseason

and how that's the standard, that's the team we want to try to emulate a little bit. So for us to play them in the first round was definitely interesting from that perspective. But again, getting down in that series 3-1 and then fighting all the way back to Game 7 and then having kind of the tables flip where we have that huge lead and then the wheels started to fall off there. It still kind of hurts to look back on that

and obviously the run that they went on after that too. So you're like thinking maybe that could have been us. But yeah, I mean, just for that one that was a whole different sort of uh i guess similar in some ways but then obviously we had a few tough years and then have before we played them the second time i uh my last year there and same sort of deal where we kind of just kept kept at it kept fighting with it and then it just seemed to just at the very end they just just didn't have enough answers for what they were doing so so yeah kind of kind of maybe some similarities in in a way but I think obviously two different

kind of generations of the team you know just something you did there it always reminds me this is why I've learned that some people are great at what they do and some people are elite at what they do and for you to last as long in the as you have in the NHL you are great at what they do and some people are elite at what they do. And for you to last as long as you have in the NHL, you are elite at what you do. But you talk about something that happened 11 years ago and it's still bothering. You don't think about it a lot, but when it comes up, it still stings.

And only people who really care and want to be great at their craft think like that i'm amazed at that i'm impressed yeah you know it's i think too i think the longer you play even even though there might be more years that go by you almost you think of it almost as a missed opportunity in a way just because we were we basically i mean again when you have that lead with that much time left in the game like it should be fairly automatic i don't know what the i know now with analytics you probably get the statistics of how much, when you have that lead with that much time left in the game, like it should be fairly automatic. I don't know what the – I know now with analytics, you probably get the statistics of how much percentage chance you have to win the game.

But – and again, you realize how hard it is to even get to that point in the playoffs. So, yeah, that's why I think it starts to sting in some ways even more the more time that goes by. But, yeah, definitely one looking back on there's it definitely still hurts to look back at that what do you think momentum means in hockey like i'm of the belief and you can tell me whether i'm wrong that in the playoffs there's no such thing as momentum these are standalone games they're almost like these mini seasons from one game to

the next does it feel that way for a player? Does it feel that way for you? I think that's kind of an acquired skill. And I think I always look back, especially the last few years. I think you look at kind of Tampa and I feel like every single time when they've been in some series and some of these games over the last couple of playoff runs that they've had, it seems like there's times where they maybe look like the other team hasn't figured out and then it's like the next game like they they it's like they have a short-term memory where they forget about that so i think depending on your team i think not kind

of quieting all the extra noise that might come with certain things i think is a is a good skill to have is again with the previous game if it really doesn't go your way it's one game and it's on to the next one i think they've done a really good job but always responding in that way on their run it's just that that kind of just sits at the top of my head watching kind of the run that they were on the last few years and i think it's definitely a skill that can uh can be acquired you know you weren't here under char and bergeron i think we kind of understand what char's leadership was like what bergeron's leadership was like. What is Brad Marchand's leadership like?

You mentioned him a couple minutes ago. What's the Bruins like under Brad Marchand? You know what? He's been someone I've really enjoyed getting to know a lot better because I'm definitely a guy who, over the years, we had a lot of good battles, especially earlier in my career. I felt like we were taking big runs at each other every game and lots of chirping back and forth and um stuff like that but I think just kind of seeing

how he is and very comfortable in his own skin and true to true to himself as his own obviously coming after guys like Chara and Bergeron and he's obviously Marci's obviously a hell of a player himself going to be a future hall of fame player. But I think, again, he's staying true to himself as a person. And, again, I don't know those other two guys as well, but I imagine their personality types are a little bit different than Marci is. But I think he does it kind of in a way that's true to himself. And I think just his approach to his craft is something that you definitely notice when you get to play with guys.

You see the work that they put in. And, again, it's no accident why someone like him has been able to have success over the course of all these years. And yeah, now to see him settle, it seems like every game he's setting a record or climbing the Bruins list of points or games or whatever. So it's been a lot of fun to get to know him and play with him this year. You know, I was going to say every captain has rules of their own.

Teams have rules, but every captain has kind of rules that are tailored to them that they say this is important to me for us. What is one of Brad Marchand's rules that he's kind of set? That's a really good one. I think for him, he does such a good job. He is such an emotional player, I think, that there's times when maybe the team is a little bit sleepy and there's one shift where he'll go out there and like it's he's causing chaos. And I think it brings us into the game a little bit more.

So I would say just being bringing us into the like never letting us have a game that goes by where we're not like engaged in that way. I think this year we've done a pretty good job of that for the most part. I think obviously we had one last night that wasn't maybe that way. It wasn't the best, but for the most part up until this point, like I think we've done a really good job of that. And I think that starts with him because I think he is so, so emotionally invested in, in how he plays and what he does. And I think it is infectious for us all to be around that. One follow-up about your captain. If we took you back into time and played what you just said about your captain to 25-year-old James Van Reemstuyck, what would he say?

Oh, my God. I'd be more interested in what my dad would say. Because I know he'd be, my dad has this, has this, has this quote unquote list of his, of his his of guys that uh that he's like like i just don't just don't like watching whatever just don't like him and i think he would have been at the top of it so when i again it's funny like uh like i was just talking with him about this uh a few weeks ago but just how how great marshy's been and how awesome he's been and and my dad's like okay i can take him off the list now but uh but no it's it's uh it's crazy how your career comes kind of full circle in some ways

like that so um yeah it's uh that part's been really cool like i said for all those different battles over the years and now obviously on the same team fighting for that same common goal and um yeah it's been a lot of fun to learn from and play with. What's your dad's name? Franz. Franz. Okay, so who else is on Franz's list of – You knew that was coming. Yes, yes, yes. So I'll go back.

So growing up, we were big Rangers fans, so it was a lot of flyers on that list. So it was Eric Lindros was at the top of that list. So these are all guys I've gotten to meet over the years too. You get to meet them away from the game and stuff like that. So that's obviously been pretty funny for me. And even my dad, like, so like we grew up Rangers fans. All my like youth hockey coaches were with me at the draft for Rangers fans. So we're meeting the brass or the flyers at the draft.

And all these guys with all the bitter rivals with the Rangers that they're meeting. Dave Brown is another name that kind of stands out. So my dad's like meeting all these guys, and he's like, these guys are great. They're great guys. I would have never expected that. I'm like, yeah, they probably are. So, yeah, that part of it's always funny.

So when you got drafted by the Flyers, I mean, you had to know that the way that draft was going to go, you probably knew in advance. So did it take your dad a little bit of time to you know sort out or come to grips with the fact that james van riemseyk was going to be a flyer yeah i don't know if that makes him a little bit of a phony or what but he probably he was he was willing to forget it all pretty quickly so that was all uh that was all all in the past once once they once they drafted me so that was uh definitely uh definitely funny to see because i'm like me and my brothers are like looking at him when he's meeting some of these guys that we know like we're watching games

and he's yelling at the tv and whatever and then we're meeting them years later and and we're all laughing but uh no that's definitely uh definitely some funny memories you know one of the things that people always talk about one of the hardest things to do is score goals from distance i've always felt that scoring goals in tight is even harder because there's just such chaos around and that's where you really thrive and you're really creative. Whether it's tipping pucks, whether it's, you know, two foot goals, like all of it. I just think that that's a really underappreciated skill. You look so comfortable around the net. Were you always like that? I don't think I was always like that. I

think, uh, I think I always had the kind of tools to be naturally good at that. But I think again, going back to my first couple of years in Philly, two key guys for helping me really develop that. I think we're Chris Pronger and Joe Mullen. I can't countless shots that those guys took Chris Pronger before practice, we we'd be we'd be getting out there 15 minutes before and he'd be just firing them like basically behind my shoulders and i'm trying to like matrix out of the way and get a tip on them and then afterwards like i can't even like countless shots from joe mullen like we'd work on not only that but then just some hand stuff around the net yep and then we'd finish off every single morning skate with a drill he called the

mario where you have one foot on the goal line and he passes it from the middle and you have to hit And then we'd finish off every single morning skate with a drill he called the Mario, where you have one foot on the goal line and he passes it from the middle and you have to hit it from that tight angle. So that's still in my routine today where I have to get one of those before I get off the morning skate. The Mario. The Mario it's called. Yeah, so I don't know if he worked that in practice. I know he scored on a few goals like that.

I know I've seen some highlights of it over the years. And Joe has that very distinct accent, so he'd say it over the years. But Joe and Joe has like that very distinct like accent. So that's how you'd say it, like the Mario or whatever. So, so no, but I still have that as part of my routine. And yeah, it's definitely I think you don't realize coming into the league like you have to be deliberate in a sense about what you try to be good at, what you try to work on and things like that. So I think with prongs right away, like he recognized that. I think that I had some kind of abilities to be able to be good at that. And who knows if I would have maybe worked at that or realized I could have been as good at that without him kind of pointing that out. And then I think from there, I kind of

ran with that and was able to develop that over the years to get better at it. Let me take that one tiny step further here. You know, once upon a time, everything, you know, all tips were ramp tips. It's from the ice, it's tip up, and eventually goalies realized, okay, well, that's where the tips are going. Now, you know, I remember having a conversation with someone from another team about hip tips. And, you know, they want all the shots coming in at the hips,

and that's where they want players tipping pucks. Once upon a time, it was like, defenseman, keep it down, it down keep it down keep it down where do you like the puck i would say that's perfect like i would say anything like six inches or less off the ice is really hard for to tip obviously if it's on the ice it's fairly easy but anything from that like above your blade to like six eight inches i find those shots are harder to tip. So if they can get it over the, just over the pad enough, like, uh, from there, I think it has a good chance to go in if you don't tip it. And then I think that's easier sight line to be able to do something with it, whether it's tip it down, tip it up, um, or something like that. So I think definitely

that sort of middle range of the net is the sweet spot for that, but, uh, certainly higher than like eight inches or so. I'm going to totally go on a fishing trip here. I've always wondered, you know, the best players at tipping pucks in the game, how much eye training they do, because there's so much of it now, like vision training and a number of different sports. Is there anything that you do for your vision? Because I mean, I'll be honest with you. I think we all look at shots coming in from the point and these are all, these are all rockets. And how do you get sticks on it? How did Van Riemsdyk do that?

And how did Pavelski do that? And, you know, once upon a time, Wayne Simmons, how did they, Andrews Lee, how did they do that?

Anything you do with your eyes? Yeah, there is a, so there's a place I go in Minnesota in the summer. It's like a, kind of like a chiropractic spot, but they do a lot of like neurology stuff. So that's lots of training with

like your eyes, your vestibular system, things like that. So I think that's more general for performance and not necessarily just for the tipping aspect of it. But I think, again, as you see and you learn about things over the years, I think obviously having your kind of eyes be stable and working well and having the muscles in there, being able to do their job, it just kind of makes your body in a more, not relaxed state, but maybe stable state so that you can do all these things and have access to kind of your skills and your hands and your hand-eye coordination and stuff like that. And you're doing this in front of that where everyone's trying to hit you too. Like that's what, that's the freaky part for me. Like having your eyes that calm when everything around you is like sticks and elbows and gloves and goalies pushing you from behind yeah i've

always felt comfortable there i think just in the sense of when you i think when you have that contact sometimes when you know where the other guys are you feel a little bit less vulnerable or at least i do i don't know if that's a since i'm tall as well but i've always kind of felt like having those battles there and knowing where the the contact is coming from like i i don't feel vulnerable or exposed there i mean who knows if i would have felt that way 30 years ago with how the game was played but but now yeah exactly that's like i've never had battles like that in front of that like i did with him in practice so uh he got me ready for that but uh but no uh yeah i think um yeah that's something over the years I think you just get, you learn more and more of the nuances of the body positioning and, and things like that and timing and stuff. And I think that definitely helps you feel more and more comfortable there. Like when Sidney Crosby went through his concussion issues, he saw a doctor that worked with his vestibular system.

We actually did a story on that. And I think it opened a lot of eyes of people and players to other kind of different remedies and treatments that were available to you out there. How many players do what you do with this particular thing, do you think? Wow. So in Minnesota, at the place that uh is there there's a bunch of guys and um probably yeah i don't even like at least 10 or so just there and i know like again i

i trained with uh with andy o'brien for a bunch of years and i think that was another part too that really exposed me to all these different things and again getting to train with guys like Sid and Nate and again just kind of the level that they're dialed into and the things that they're trying to work on and stuff like that I think you just always learn from from different guys over the years I'll put Jason Spetz in that category too he was at a lot of those those veil camps and in Toronto training here with Andy um i think you kind of learn different things that might be able to work and what's what's new stuff that guys are doing and try to try to pick up what you can and see what works for you what is maybe a unique thing

that you started picking up that has prolonged your career i would say just the overall approach to, to, to that side of it. I think, uh, my third year in Philly, I had the concussion, I had the broken foot, um, and just injury wise, like wasn't really feeling great. So there was a little bit of a crossroads there as far as, um, going into that summer, as far as maybe the approach that I needed to take to, to take the next step. Um, in my career, I spent a lot of time here in Toronto, uh, working with some different, uh, like soft tissue people and stuff like that. And I think that kind of really helped me get the ball rolling and, uh, really treat that as a big part of my routine. And I think over the years,

you kind of go down some different rabbit holes with that and learn different things about it. But I think, uh, I think just overall, the mindset of that is, is just good to have if you want to play a long time and just helping yourself kind of figure things out. Um, whether you're trying to learn different skills and how you can train not only on the ice, but off the ice to help you accomplish that, um, is a big part of that. So I think being able to kind of go through that early in my career and learn the importance of all that was was huge and i think maybe even more and more curious about learning some of these different things and uh how you can try to make yourself feel as best as you can for each and every game so what is the kookiest thing that you tried that you even you said, OK, I've done this for X amount of time.

Either this is just not working or someone led me down the wrong path. You know what? There's like for all that stuff. I think there's a time and a place for everything. So like a lot of the stuff that I've done over the years, like there's still a time and a place depending on where you're at, if you have access to it or not. depending on where you're at if you have access to it or not but i've done some of the different stuff like the reiki before where they basically don't even that's like energy healing and stuff like that so i've done a lot of different things in that in that world that's definitely one of the ones where you're you're starting to question what you're doing a little bit but sometimes but again it's one of those things where you get off and i mean again you wonder if it's placebo or not but stuff like that's been around like forever yeah and it's like you get up and it's like you kind of

feel you feel different you feel a little mentally lighter maybe so that might be one of the most different ones and not maybe not one that that i've used all that often but there's i think again first there's lots of different stuff that i think has a different time time and a place and i'm willing to try just about anything in that world and seeing how it helps. See, I think this is all really cool. And the other thing I was told about you, so there are some famous backpacks in NHL history. And, you know, Brent Burns is probably carrying like machetes in there. Gary Roberts was well known for his.

But I've heard yours is pretty notorious too what do you carry in your backpack you know i pasta keeps asking me that he keeps wondering what's going on and i sees the backpack he's like what and he sees how big my bag is on even like the shorter road trips he's like what are you what is going on here so mostly in that it's just like different like vitamins things like that maybe a couple different uh like recovery tools or whatever just some pre-game warm-up stuff uh a breath work uh this little device i have for that so it kind of evolves over the years and change a little bit sometimes there's my ipad in there just to watch shows so that's pretty yeah pretty basic that's normal but

yeah there's some it's it's definitely evolved over the years to how much i have and how big the the backpack is so it's gotten a little bit bigger but um but yeah i think it's all part of that general mindset of just wanting to just wanted to be the best i can every day and the little things that you think might help you get there does anyone ever go in and try to steal anything like say what is this or what is that or i had the vitamins out the other day and uh yeah some of you guys were looking at me like what they hadn't seen me do it before and i almost kind of forgot that and they're like they're like what are you doing so i was at a tea i was at a team meal after a game and i and yeah some of the guys were laughing about that so how many vitamins how many vitamins

are we talking about here? Now it's not too many. I've done some different like cleanses over the years. In the off season more so where you're kind of taking a bunch of pills every day. But now it's not a ton. It's more of the basic. Just kind of like vitamin D, vitamin C, stuff like that. Do you do juice cleanses and things like that?

I've never tried a specific uh juice cleanse but i've done some of like the uh um what is it called like candida cleanse stuff yeah like stuff like that but uh you know the juice cleanse i've actually i know we're talking about jake gardner before but he was doing like a 72 hour water fast or something the other day he's like he said i made it and he just kept texting me updates he's like i made it to like hour 50 i'm like i'm done it's over so uh so no i'm willing to try all that stuff though i think again there's there's uh some value in all these different things and um i yeah i think if you don't tinker with that i think uh maybe something really works for you and it really helps so i'm all all about that. When you're done, whenever that is,

you could actually do, you could be like a wellness influencer and you could try all this stuff. I guarantee you, James, it could, it could really work. You know what? Maybe we get some content going with that,

trying all these different things. Like I said, I've met a lot of very smart, very interesting people, uh, over the years, kind of going down, uh,

learning about these different sort of uh whether it's treatment or um technique or training or things like that so definitely a lot of really cool stuff out there to that again it's kind of that blended uh line of wellness and performance right so it's all kind of under the same sort of, at least I view it kind of under the similar umbrella. Anything for your brain? Yeah, going back to the neurology place, like doing the different. As far as like vitamins and things like that? Oh, yeah, just more like the basic stuff. That's something I'd like to learn more about. more new in the sense of learning about this the learning about that and the impact of that and how

you can really help uh um help kind of sustain some of that because again obviously the game that we play is a physical violent game and you try to stay on top of all these things just to again so you're not only feeling good in the day-to-day of doing your job but you want to make sure you're feeling good when you're when you're done too so that you're not dealing with all this extra extra extra things when you're done playing. I think the better you can feel day-to-day now, I think at least I'm hoping that some of your longer-term issues might be more manageable than they would be if you did nothing.

I asked some of the Maple Leafs about you, and you know what they said, James, was whatever success that this group of Maple Leafs has, and I know you're hoping it's not as much this season, but it was due to the work that players like this group when they first arrived and you showed them the way and i i also heard that the leaves considered bringing you back years later because of how good you were with these players and i just wanted to ask what do you remember about them when they first arrived what were the lessons that you felt you helped teach them and did you know that toronto considered bringing you back later no i didn't know that and obviously speaking of my time here like i i loved every second of it and it was uh so great for for my career and um just getting a chance to kind of spread my wings a little bit more when i first came here and then it's funny

how it how it shifts fairly quickly like i always kind of those first three four years like you think you're one of the younger guys and all of a sudden you got 18 year old austin matthews and 19 year old mitch marner walking through the doors and uh you're one of the younger guys and all of a sudden you got 18 year old austin matthews and 19 year old mitch marner walking through the doors and uh you're one of the older guys now but i remember when those guys came in that first year how excited that we all were just because again like those those last couple years it was a little bit of frustration dealing with the team wasn't doing as well as we thought we we could have been doing we I thought we had some really good pieces still. We just kind of couldn't really put it all together,

maybe needed a little bit more depth. So to have that kind of infusion of that young group that came in, whether it was Mitch, Austin, Willie, Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, guys like that, I think we were just so excited about that and kind of the promise that we had all seen from them. And, again, speaking to the first time on the ice with someone like Austin in that summer in one of the captain's skates, you could see he was going to be the real deal pretty much right away.

I remember with Mitch getting to play with him. The first training camp, I can't remember where we went for that one, but you could see kind of how smart of a player he was going to be and how good of a player he was going to be. And he went back to junior that one year, and then I think the next year he was like one of the most dominant players on the ice right from the get-go too. So it's like seeing the growth that these guys had

and kind of the appetite that they had for wanting to be elite players and the work that they were willing to put in for it and how badly they wanted to get to that level I think uh was was pretty impressive right from the start I think sometimes it can take longer for younger players to figure that part of it out as far as figuring out their routines or how they're gonna work at their craft but I think especially for those for those three guys like they they were very determined and very driven driven to get to that point very early on. So that was kind of exciting to be a part of that from those early years of that.

You talked about how you knew they were going to be good. Did they have any moments where you're like, holy – I guess do you have any moments where you're like, okay, this is a rookie going to the nhl and they're really talented but they still got a lot to learn here like well you you wonder that from the start but i mean but like like austin obviously had four goals and it's the first game and then what were you guys doing during that game like i'm like like it's like i like you were shocked but you weren't't. Because like you'd seen, like I mentioned, like that first couple, like those captain's practices,

you could see like the puck would just like stick to him wherever he was out there. Like he would go into like a 50-50, and somehow he'd be like just pull the puck by the guy, and like the guy's like looking around like what just happened. Like the puck would be bouncing. Like he would get corralling pucks in his feet and corralling bouncing pucks things like that like he was so like he had a real like kind of gift for that something that like almost the way that he did

it was super different um uh than i had seen and how athletic and dynamic he was um in that way and then yeah i mean that year i think what what, that Austin had 40 goals that year. Mitch had, like, 65 points. And Willie was not far behind that either. So you could tell, like, when guys are coming in right away, and that's kind of their springboard into things. Like, you could tell, obviously, Captain Obvious, how good they were going to be. All right, key code time. I know you're a big SkateScribe guy.

True or false, James Van Riemsdyk is on the quest, pursuit for the perfect blade profile. That would be true. That would be, I think, just learning more about this stuff over the years and just the different things that can go into, like, again, I think especially for someone that's bigger and taller, like you want to be as stable as you can. And you want to be not leave anything on the table as far as you're skating. And obviously that could be speed. That could be quickness.

That could be whether that's turns or stops and starts. Again, I think especially as you get older, that becomes more important. You want to make sure that you're in a position that you're getting the most out of that as you can. So I think that's why I've been so into that the last couple years, especially to try to really get that honed in so that I can make sure that that's staying up to par. How much has it changed? What are you using right now? So right now I'm just using a pretty standard like 10-foot profile and then a longer part of my blade profile.

Okay. And that's a little bit different. I didn't even know that existed. Like if you would have asked me like what I came in the league using, I would have no idea. Oh, guys are freaky. I know, guys are freaky. Like once upon a time it was you would see guys with their sticks right and the blow

torches and like spend hours but now it's all the blades and guys are freaky about this now for sure and that's something too like i like the more i start to get into it then i start to ask other guys like what they're using and just seeing what works for them and a lot of guys maybe don't even know so that's i mean that's kind of a nice place to be too if like your style just works and it's good and it's a lot of good players that i've asked like some of them don't know and that's that's great so it's like if you try but you try to i think you try to see if there's a pattern anywhere too where i'm like oh you know maybe for bigger guys who got adult this way like maybe this is something i should think about trying because this works for him for this reason, and you give it a shot.

During the season, I don't think there's much with that. I think that's something to be consistent with, but then definitely summer, you're messing around a little bit more with that. I was told that Jason Spezza had a different profile before he escaped. Is that freaky? From what I know now, no. I would say that probably should be more of a standard

or really a common place, because not everyone is very symmetrical from the right to left side, say that's probably should be more of the standard or really a common place because not everyone is very symmetrical from the right to left side so you would think that if that's the case then you would probably need something that works a little bit differently for each each side and that's what I mentioned before with Patrick Kelly who's been yes unbelievable I haven't worked with him now for I want to say eight or nine years and he's definitely someone that's helped me a lot. And that's someone who...

Yeah, but before we go, describe him a little bit, because he's like the pegs between the boots and the pro and the... Yeah, so he basically helps customize the pitch of your, I guess your holder, you can call it your boot. So it's just driving fine. So again, it comes back to stability, balance, and all these things. So the more stable you are, obviously, the more athletic you can be. And stronger in your skates, you can be all these other qualities, right?

So he tries to help find that sweet spot for you for that. I think there's a lot of science and there's a little bit of feel to it when you get towards the end of how different you want to go with it and how far forward you want to be pitched and things like that. So he's definitely someone I've learned a lot from about those things. And I think again, like there's certain, there's certain skills on the ice. Like before I got adjusted, like by him, like it was like, okay, like my cross shoulders to my right or my turns to my right are not as smooth

and definitely not as fluid and again, just adjusting the thing. Like in going back to Spice talking about his different profiles, similar sort of thing where you're like okay like how do you find that balance and things like that stability so that you can do all these different uh movements that we can do out there so that's something that's uh definitely helpful there flies against like all knowledge that everybody has growing up from both of these games how you have to have the exact same skate on your right and your left yeah and the profile has to be the same, the sharpness, all of it has to be identical.

Like that flies in the face of all of us. Exactly. Are you that way about your stick as well? That way about your pattern? Are you one of the outermost, flat heel, toe curve guys? Like who are you with your stick? Yeah, I'm using his exact stick. So I've been working with Lil with him for a while now.

Probably. She's probably a similar amount of time, probably eight or so years. So I held off for a while. I think I only started using it maybe like three or four years. Yeah, it's a it's a working thing. But there's definitely a method to his madness for that. And then the more you kind of start to feel it and see it, and then you can start to notice it on other guys who maybe should maybe should think about addressing it but again i

think the way he kind of uh you use this it's like your tool so it's like if you're going out to yeah to rake leaves it's like you wouldn't have a shovel so it's like for again for the certain tasks that we need to do i'm actually picking picking pucks off the boards or making a play on your backhand or handling a puck on your backhand corralling a bouncing puck like there's obviously different attributes in your stick and your blade and your curve and your lie that um that can help you do that more efficiently and easily and obviously yeah that's that's the back of my mind. He changed the line too, didn't he? I knew something that was fairly similar to what he had, but I went full in on what he

liked and recommended for guys and I really liked it ever since and I think it's made a difference for me. What was the hardest part of the blade to get used to? Was it the toe? Was it the heel? I wouldn't say one thing because I used something that was fairly similar to it. So I just noticed there was nothing that I felt like was a drawback when I switched. It all felt like, okay, I can handle passes on my backhand easier now.

I can make backhand passes a little bit easier. I can handle pucks getting them on the boards now a little bit better. So there was nothing that really jumped out as like, like, oh, I gotta take a little more time to get used to this. It all felt pretty natural. Part of the reason why you needed weight. That's a big one, right? Yeah, that all felt better with that.

I felt like I had more range to pick up the box whether it was closer to my feet, further away, things like that. So yeah, that transition was all pretty pretty seamless for me okay so first of all you mentioned Pronger before what was the worst time you felt the wrath of Pronger that's an easy one that's like the first month or so of the year so yeah number, number 21, he's number 20. So our chain stalls are right next to each other. And as probably my parents and brothers can attest to,

I'm sometimes maybe not the most tidy. Oh, I appreciate that. So there's a very clear loss of that. The chain stall is almost like individual. There was no line in between, like a locker between, but like there was like pronounced edges of your skull. So I guess my shoes had found their way over onto his side and then after that my shoes found their way into the hot tub. But that was probably about it. That's pretty mild. I heard worse. It wasn't too bad. No, I know you had like, that's something that,

it's almost like a pinch me moment, like before, it was before that training camp, that was my first year pro. I was at the facility for what I was for most of the summer, and he was there too. I remember him like just like inviting me and a couple other guys over for like a barbecue at his house. And it's just like, the what, like thinking back, like on the

flip side of that you try to pay that forward with maybe other guys that are coming um younger guys just because that made me feel like way more comfortable and way more like okay i belong here sort of thing like like i need to like this is going to be potentially my teammate and so like almost like that ease a little bit of that anxiety going into like training camp and kind of feel like you're walking on a nice show like you felt a little bit more kind of comfortable with the guys and stuff like that so that was uh that was pretty cool um did you do trevor talk about ever playing together or anything like that like how much did you guys discuss that yeah you know what that's that was something that'd be amazing so uh

yeah we've talked about that a little bit obviously it hasn't worked out yet to uh you guys discussed there? Yeah, you know what? That would be something that would be amazing. So, yeah, we've talked about that a little bit. Obviously, it hasn't worked out yet to this point, but you never know in the future what can happen there.

But that would be something that would be pretty cool. I mean, now it's like my parents have pretty ideal stuff to see both of us. I mean, they're basically three and a half hours

from both of us, so that works out fairly easily for them. But if we're able to get the chance one day to play together, that would be super special. So we'll see. I don't see that can happen down the road. Okay, so let's just say that Boston and Washington are playing on the same night

and your parents, since they have an equal drive, and they're both at home, Who do they decide to see? You or Trevor? You know, like the Washington's are really in this playoff push. Like we want to be there for that one. Like we want to look at their difference in a little bit different spot in the standings or whatever.

So, so that's what we might decide for certain things. So there's no favorite here? Like there's no, there's... Yeah, my brothers would probably argue I'm the favorite. Well actually my brothers would argue I'm my dad's favorite. That Trevor is my mom's favorite and that my youngest brother Brandon is both their favorite. So I think they're both a little off that way. But yeah, I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the actual favorite. But I guess they think it's fairly obvious so who knows. Last one for me, you're coming up on your 35th birthday, do you have to drag you off the ice chains? Yeah you know as long as I'm still having fun and enjoying it and my body feels good and I think that

motivation I still enjoy that I don't even know like the grind of just day in, day out, trying to figure things out, trying to get better at certain things, trying to work at things. The curious mind. The curious mind. That's the very, I still love that part of it. Like I love, like that part,

like going into the off season, after a season, like obviously like that, trying to that first couple of weeks where you're trying to like, what am i going to work on this summer what i want to try to get better at what worked for me last year i still love that process like that that process for me is a lot of fun and trying to like try to tinker with different things that way to maximize myself i think because again it's the game can be very kind of honest in that way and it sounds like you know pretty much what worked and what didn't and you got to try to figure things out to try to be successful and things like that and obviously again the number one thing is getting a chance to win but i think trying to keep yourself

as an attractive player long enough to be on situations be in situations where you have a chance to do that um is that it's the balance of that as well too so so yeah that's what what drives me at this point getting that chance to win and I think I still enjoy that grind in that process of getting prepared to play and try to maximize the most out of my career and your abilities hmm you just spent a lot of time with us. We really appreciate it. This has been a lot of fun. Thanks so much. Yeah, absolutely.

Good luck. Good luck wrestling with the Bruins. Thanks for having me, guys. James Van Riemsdyk of the Boston Bruins. Really enjoyed that one. Hope you did as well. JVR really is the best. That was so much fun.

Thanks to him for making himself available. And thanks to Brij Singh and Travis Basciotta of the Boston Bruins Communications Group for making this one possible. New 32 Thoughts pod coming out Friday morning as per usual. Class dismissed. Conduct yourself accordingly until we speak again.