Playoff wait is finally over for Flyers’ Ristolainen

VOORHEES, N.J. – A total of 820 games played in the NHL might not seem all that significant to the casual eye.
Yet when you include the fact Rasmus Ristolainen has played that many and never been rewarded with a Stanley Cup playoff game, it does become a pretty big deal.
The Flyers defenseman is about to end that drought – the longest among all active NHL players – when he hits the PPG Paints Arena ice on Saturday night in Pittsburgh.
To the Finn, it will be nice to experience the excitement and nerves of the games everyone circles on their calendars.
He went eight long seasons in Buffalo without any postseason play and five more with the Flyers, who tied their franchise record with their just-about-to-end drought.
A look at the record book shows Ristolainen’s dry spell is the third longest in history, trailing only the 1,078 by Jeff Skinner and the 907 by Ron Hainesy.
The 32-year-old native of Finland, a former first-round (eighth overall) draft pick of the Sabres, confirms it will be fun to finally get rewarded with this experience.
On top of that, Ristolainen is coming off a fun trip to the Winter Olympics this past February. He represented the Flyers on Team Finland.
Ristolainen gets a chance to face Sidney Crosby and the gang in hockey’s brightest spotlight.
“It feels good,” he said after Thursday’s practice at the Flyers Training Center. “No one’s getting medals, it’s just the halfway point, getting into the playoffs. It feels good and I’m ready to go.”
What about Crosby and Evgeni Malkin?
“I’ll really enjoy it,” he said. “It’s going to be a big part of the game. They’re two good players who have a lot of experience. They’ve done it before.”
Fellow defenseman Jamie Drysdale believes the Ristolainen-Travis Sanheim tandem will be a good matchup against the two Pittsburgh stars.
Ristolainen in particular has looked particularly sharp since coming back from injury midseason.
“I think everyone in this room has good things to say about him,” Drysdale said. “He’s an unbelievable guy. Works his butt off. So I’m real excited to see what he’s got.”
If you believe all the rumors out there, Ristolainen was nearly sent packing at the March 6 NHL trade deadline. Fortunately for the Flyers players, he wasn’t.
Ristolainen and Sanheim form a big mobile pair out there.
“I’m happy,” Ristolainen said. “I’ve been here for five years so being part of this, I’m really happy.”
Coach Rick Tocchet said Ristolainen and Sanheim offer a formidable group. Both players stand 6-foot-4 and weigh well over 200 pounds.
“I think it’s been huge,” Tocchet said. “Both their games took off after the Olympics. They’re tough to get around. In the corners, in front of the net. They’re big guys and when they play big like that, it wears the other team down.
“We have to be careful, too. We can’t overplay those guys. When you’re playing 25 minutes a night in a series of push and shove, we have to make sure we get the other guys involved. They’re big, they’re mobile. That’s the key. They don’t just rim pucks. They both can skate. Hard to find big guys who can skate.”