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2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game 4: Flyers mum on van Riemsdyk’s status

Image (1) JVR-thumb-250x166-12940.jpg for post 1943

Seeing the demeanor of both James van Riemsdyk and Dan Carcillo after this morning skate -- combined with the fact that Carcillo was benched in the third period Wednesday night -- speculation was fueled that JVR would be back in the lineup tonight.

Just don’t ask Peter Laviolette about it.

“Good try. We don’t talk about any lineups, you guys know that.”

JVR was just as mum about the situation.

“You’ll have to speak to coach, I’m not even sure,” he said, when asked if he was playing. “If you do get that chance to get in there though, you have to make the most of it and it’s going to be an exciting game and going to be another one of those games where it’s a must win for us. It’ll be the biggest one of the season and we’re going to have to come out flying.”

Carcillo wouldn’t answer any questions about his playing status, and while he certainly didn’t appear to be too pleased after the skate I doubt that either player knew whether they were playing or not at that time. Laviolette normally waits until after the skate and after talking to the media about what changes he might be making.

What was interesting was seeing how forthcoming JVR was, practically gushing about Carcillo’s performance in the past two games.

“He’s done a great job in there,” van Riemsdyk said. “He’s been skating, being physical and getting under their skin and those are the three things that he’s always been known to be great at. So he’s definitely done a good job doing that.”

Carcillo has certainly focused on getting under the Hawks’ skin, but the Flyers have proven to be at their most effective when their skill players and scorers are throwing endless shifts of offensive pressure at Chicago. Perhaps Carcillo helps with the team’s psyche early in the game, but you would think a player like JVR might be more effective the deeper into the game the Flyers get.