Ristolainen’s career finally rewarded with Olympic bronze medal

VOORHEES, N.J. – Please excuse Rasmus Ristolainen if he makes a big deal about his Olympic bronze medal with Finland.
After all, the 31-year-old Flyers defenseman has played 13 seasons in the NHL and never competed in so much as one Stanley Cup playoff game in his career.
Participating in the Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina, Italy is about as close as he’s gotten to hockey greatness.
On Tuesday, Ristolainen returned to Flyers practice as they prepped for Wednesday night’s game at Washington.
“It was a lot of fun, very exciting,” Ristolainen said of the Winter Games “I thought I played pretty well. Obviously you go there to win, we were close but it still feels pretty good.”
Playing against the best players in the world and holding his own should only build Ristolainen’s confidence.
“I hope so,” he said. “I feel really confident in my game. Hopefully I can bring it here and we have a good run here.”
The whole experience, he said, was a positive one.
“Just the whole experience with a lot of friends I grew up with,” he said. “It was pretty cool.
Ristolainen, who’s been paired with Nick Seeler on the Flyers when the former has been healthy, has this season and next left on his contract which pays him $5.1 million annually.
He’s been the subject of trade rumors but there’s not much a player can do about that unless he has an iron-clad no-trade clause.
This is nothing new for Ristolainen. He’s been down this road before.
“Those are things you can’t really control,” said Ristolainen, who came over here from Buffalo five years ago. “You try to do your part, get better every day. What happens, happens.”
He would like to be around for a possible push to the playoffs. Although the Flyers could be headed for a possible franchise-record sixth straight season out of postseason play.
“I think we’ve shown in the past that we’re confident,” he said. “I heard the guys here had a really good week of practice. So I think we’re ready to make a push.”
According to the Finn, it would be nice to get into a playoff game after 13 long years.
“I think that’s why you play the game, you play to win,” he said. “That’s when I feel I’m at my best. It was nice to play in the (Olympic) tournament where the games mean so much. The bigger the stage, the better I perform.”
Ristolainen said he’s keeping the treasured bronze medal at home.
“I’m just happy I didn’t lose it after the game,” he said. “That would have been tough.”