VOORHEES, N.J. – One on board, two to go.
At 3 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, it became official: Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been named to the Finland roster for the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament in February.
Later in the day, it’s expected both Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim and right wing Travis Konecny will be named to the Canada roster for the international event.
After a couple injury-plagued seasons, Ristolainen has made a nice comeback this season.
In his first 3 seasons in Philadelphia, the 6-foot-4, 228-pound backliner was minus-9, minus-4, minus-6. This year: plus-1.
Also, he only played in 31 games last season due to a torn pectoral muscle. So far this season he has played in all 25 games.
>Tortorella: ‘It’s an honor to represent your country
In the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament, Flyers coach John Tortorella will serve as an assistant coach to United States head coach Mike Sullivan.
The two go back a long way together so it promises to be a lot of fun.
Sullivan has won a pair of Stanley Cups as head coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. Prior to that, Sullivan had served as an assistant coach on Tortorella’s staffs in Tampa, Vancouver and the New York Rangers.
“For me personally, I’ve had my chances,” Tortorella said. “I think other people need to get a turn. But when it comes to Mike Sullivan, who calls me, who started with me as an assistant coach, it’s kind of gone full circle.
“It’s something I’m very fortunate to have, to coach with him in a different role and support him. That’s what kicked it over for me. ‘Sully’ called and when he does, I’ll do anything for that. He means that much to me. Country, Sully, it’s a no-brainer for me.”
The United States will have its hands full up against the likes of Canada, Sweden and Finland.
Asked if he will be a good assistant coach, Tortorella shook his head. He used some colorful language to describe a pre-tournament evaluation of his “assistant” coaching skills.
“I think about that, I try to think about what my role is,” he said. “How I have to handle myself. But it’s an honor. . .the back nine of my career, pretty much close to being done with it. To be able to do it with your country with one of my best friends, it’s an honor.”
>Ersson a good possibility to play
According to Tortorella, goaltender Samuel Ersson is an “option” to start in Thursday night’s home game against the Stanley Cup defending champion Florida Panthers.
Ersson has been on IR since Nov. 18. He suffered a lower-body injury in a game at Carolina on Nov. 5. He’s been practicing a few days and has been medically cleared to play.
>Getting help for the power play
Tortorella enlisted the services of general manager Danny Briere along with former Flyers John LeClair and Patrick Sharp (both special advisors) to help out with the power play again the other day.
The Flyers, seeking to end a three-year slump in which they finished last in NHL power-play percentage the last three years (including an embarrassing 12.2 percent last year), got off to a quick start this season but a recent slump has dropped them to 26th in the league at 16.0 percent.
“Most of them were in for pro scouts meetings,” Tortorella said. “They were on the ice. They watched our practice. (Assistant coach) Rocky (Thompson, who oversees the power play) has had a meeting with them. It’s really neat. It (the power play) hasn’t improved as much as we would like. We would certainly like to see it more consistent.”
>Short shots
Captain Sean Couturier did not practice on Wednesday. Tortorella termed it a maintenance day.
