Rasmus Ristolainen finally gets to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Buffalo Sabres will be putting an end to a 14-year playoff drought this season, but a certain ex-Sabre will be ending his own personal drought, too. Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who was drafted eighth overall by Buffalo back in 2013, will finally be making his postseason debut now in his 13th NHL season.
Ristolainen played through what was likely the lowliest era in Sabres history, logging big minutes as the number-one defenseman on the Buffalo teams of the late 2010s that consistently finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The Finnish national had to feel as though he was cursed, especially after the Flyers missed the postseason in the first four seasons after they acquired him in a trade. But now, after Philadelphia’s 3-2 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, Ristolainen will finally get a taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed Ristolainen’s extended journey to the postseason.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I wanted to give some love to Rasmus Ristolainen. This is a guy who has been in the NHL for a long, long time. I like this tweet from NHL News, who pointed out he’s going to finally get a chance to play playoff games. I’m a big fan of those stories as well. 820 games in the league, 31 years old, he is finally going to play in a Stanley Cup playoff game.
Carter Hutton: I played with Risto for three years in Buffalo, and he was a guy where we would bump heads once in a while. He liked to do his things his way, but he’s an ultimate pro. He takes unbelievable care of himself, he’s a mean guy to play against. Congrats to him because he’s worked hard, and he was a guy that took a ton of heat when he played in Buffalo. For the Buffalo fans, they will know that Rasmus Ristolainen was a guy that was easy to scapegoat a lot of nights. Good for him, unbelievable athlete, unbelievable fitness level. He’s going to be a pain to play against in the playoffs, because I’ll tell you one thing, when they start letting you have a little more crosschecks and a little more stickwork, he is going to take full advantage of that.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Tuesday’s episode here…