Blackhawks' van Riemsdyk ready to step up in Keith's absence

BAM! Teuvo Teravainen takes a punch to the head.

OOF! Teravainen takes yet another sucker punch.

And that's when Trevor van Riemsdyk, a rookie defenseman playing in just his 24th NHL game, says enough's enough.

The incident happened in the waning seconds of the Chicago Blackhawks' 4-1 victory over Columbus on Saturday at the United Center. Defenseman Dalton Prout had taken exception to a mild bump by Vincent Hinostroza in front of the Blue Jackets' net and rode him to the corner, where a mini-melee broke out.

Seconds later, Teravainen was the victim of (BAM! OOF!) two sucker punches by winger Kerby Rychel. Van Riemsdyk proceeded to skate over and take the heat off Teravainen by getting in Rychel's grill.

"Teuvo's one of our most skilled, better forwards," van Riemsdyk said. "You don't want him to be involved with something like that. Those hands of his are worth a lot and the things he can do with them. I just tried to break it up a little bit."

Van Riemsdyk didn't exactly come out on top in the scrum with the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Rychel. But that hardly mattered to his teammates.

"I'm not the guy who is maybe (going to) be fighting first," Teravainen said. "So I was kind of happy he was helping out."

Said Brent Seabrook of van Riemsdyk: "He's matured quite a bit in the time that he's been in the NHL. It's been fun to watch him grow as a player and he's a great guy. He's there for his teammates - he showed that the other night - and that's the kind of stuff we need."

The poise and level-headedness that van Riemsdyk has exhibited on the ice is truly remarkable considering his youth and relative inexperience at the pro level.

Remember, just 13 months ago van Riemsdyk was in Blackhawks camp as an undrafted free agent. Two weeks later, coach Joel Quenneville's staff was so impressed with the Middletown, New Jersey, native that they awarded him a spot on the opening-night roster.

What followed was an injury-plagued campaign as van Riemsdyk played in only 18 regular-season games before finally returning for the final four games of the Stanley Cup Final.

And now?

Now - with the Hawks having to navigate the next 4-6 weeks without Duncan Keith - van Riemsdyk is practically being viewed as one of the senior members of the defense corps. Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Trevor Daley will all provide stability, but it's how van Riemsdyk, Viktor Svedberg and David Rundblad respond to the increased ice time and pressure that will determine just how successful the Hawks will be in Keith's absence.

If past results are any indication, the Hawks won't have to worry about van Riemsdyk meeting the challenge head on.

"We saw what he was able to do for us last year," Keith said just days before this season began. "He had a tough year as far as injuries, but he was able to play and step in in the Stanley Cup Final. For a young guy, a rookie, to be able to do that is very impressive.

"I think he's just got those natural abilities with his poise and composure out there that will take him a long way."

Quenneville wasn't exactly effusive in his praise of van Riemsdyk in the latter stages of camp, but has been more complimentary of late. TVR, who knew he had a rough game in the season opener vs. the Rangers, was hardly surprised by the mild criticism.

"There's no time for sulking or feeling sorry after (not) playing as good as you may have hoped," he said. "You can't think everything's going to fix itself. You've just got to work that much harder or just look into ways to improve stuff."

One day at a time; one step at a time. It's a motto that has served TVR well.

Now it's time for the whole team to build a bridge until Keith returns. And it starts Thursday night when the Florida Panthers invade the United Center.

"Obviously you feel really bad," van Riemsdyk said. "But you want to take it upon yourself … to be that much more ready, be that much more dialed in because it's going to take a team effort to replace him. No one guy can do that."

Nope. But it sure looks like TVR's ready to do his part.