Flyers' James van Riemsdyk overjoyed after birth of baby girl

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk is trying to take one of the biggest moments of his life in stride: having his first baby during a global pandemic.

JVR and his wife Lauren welcomed a baby girl, Scarlett Everly earlier this month.

"The silver lining of all this: I get to spend more time at home, enjoy all those little moments, great to be home for all that," Riemsdyk tells 6abc sportscaster Jeff Skversky from his home in Minnesota.

JVR also wants to be back on the ice, after all, playing hockey for the Flyers is his first love.

"It's been nice to spend the extra time at home, but ultimately hockey is what I love to do as well. If we can find a way that's safe and appropriate to get things going again, that would be awesome," he said.

Van Riemsdyk, who is on the NHL's Return to Play committee, is optimistic they will be able to finish the season at some point.

JVR tells 6abc that lots of different scenarios are being discussed on how they can finish the season and whether or not they go straight into a playoff format but first and foremost is the health and safety of everyone involved.

"The way we're gonna be able to do things is cognizant of different testing availability. We don't want to take any tests away from people that are at risk and the general public and put a strain on that," van Riemsdyk stresses.

If hockey can safely return, van Riemsdyk will be ready to return, too, after fracturing his right index finger in early March when taking a shot off his hand against the Washington Capitals.

He was expected to miss 4-6 weeks, but because the NHL was shut down he technically only missed three games.

"It doesn't feel normal like it did before but getting better and better every day and every week, so another silver lining to get things feeling back to normal to heal," van Riemsdyk says.

JVR is crossing his fingers everything is pointing in the right direction and the Flyers can make a deep playoff run.

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