James vanRiemsdyk UNH Favorite movie: The Girl Next Door Favorite pre game meal: Chicken and pasta Favorite musician or group: Jack Johnson

Favorite television show: One Tree Hill, Friday Night Lights

Favorite video game: NHL 08

Favorite NHL player: Rick Nash

Best hockey memory: Winning u18 World Championship, playing at the World Juniors

How did you feel your transition from high school to Division I in Hockey East was? hard, easy? The transition for me was made a lot easier by playing last
year at the NTDP. Playing almost 30 Divison one college games as a high
school senior helped prepare me for my freshman year in college.

How do you stay mentally strong?

In your opinion, what is your strength in the game? Stick skills, hockey sense

Weakness? Strength

How do you overcome your weakness? I try to work on my overall strength a lot
during the year in the weight room and especially in the summer.

What is the best piece of coaching advice you have ever received?
The harder you work, the luckier you get

What is the most important skill for a forward to possess in your opinion?
To me, the most imprtant skill for a forward to have is smarts. There is
alot of thinking on the fly required to be a great forward and you need to
know what to do when these situations come about.

What was your path to Hockey East? I played youth hockey in NJ growing up followed by two years of high school hockey then for my junior and senior years of high school, I played for the NTDP in ann arbor, michigan.

What were you like as a youth hockey player? standout? grinder?
I was always one of the better players on my teams growing up but after moving out to Ann arbor, my game became drastically better.