News Article: Rasmus Ristolainen aggressively throws himself into boards, wipes out hard

[Buffaloed]

Rasmus Ristolainen aggressively throws himself into boards, wipes out hard

While things have been tough for the squad since the trade deadline, there’s no denying they are doing everything in their power to try to win games for Duane (and only Duane). In fact, late in Thursday night’s 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (inadvertently?) risked life and limb in an attempt to keep the puck in the offensive zone.


At least one Sabre is doing what it takes to get them some national coverage.

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[Chainshot]

That pretty much is the summation of his career in the NHL in one play - big, tries hard, hits something without having an impact on the play...

 

[OkimLom]

If he processes what happens quicker, he’s against boards as soon as the guy shoots it around. His low iq causes that play.

It’s funny, but sad.

 

[Ehran]

At least he's trying. Same can't be said of too many Sabres in the past few years

 

[Chainshot]

At least he's trying. Same can't be said of too many Sabres in the past few years

True. Effort is appreciated.

Granted, his on-ice effort is seldom questioned but his preparation has been in the recent past. He was cited by both Vogl and Hamilton as a last-on, first-off guy at practices who does not hang around the team at all. Given his struggles with the mental aspects of the game, putting himself into the film room every day and working on his reads and positioning with the staff seem like something he should've been doing rather than flipping tires and leaning away while pushing in post-whistle/post-goal scrums.

 

[Royisgone]

Anyone have an idea as to what happened there, exactly?

Did he lose his balance/footing? It looks like he may have sort of tripped himself up, causing the collision with the boards.

Theory 2 says no, he was fine, but he just sort of lost sense of his positioning and thought the boards/glass were further away than they really were.

Either way, it's kind of an interesting clip, largely b/c you rarely see NHLers do this sort of thing. I know we are supposed to make fun of Risto here, but man, I wish I could skate/move the way he does (or pretty much anyone else on the team) back in my playing days.

Your average fan has no idea how good these guys are at the little things.

 

[Buffaloed]

The trainer retrieved a bullet from his kevlar shoulder pads after the game. They're keeping it quiet for obvious reasons. Good thing it didn't hit his head or might injured a fan when it deflected off.

 

[tsujimoto74]

True. Effort is appreciated.

Granted, his on-ice effort is seldom questioned but his preparation has been in the recent past. He was cited by both Vogl and Hamilton as a last-on, first-off guy at practices who does not hang around the team at all. Given his struggles with the mental aspects of the game, putting himself into the film room every day and working on his reads and positioning with the staff seem like something he should've been doing rather than flipping tires and leaning away while pushing in post-whistle/post-goal scrums.

Maybe in Finland, the saying is "work harder, not smarter"

 

[CrazyMonkey1208]

Thanks for some much needed comic relief, Rusty

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Anyone have an idea as to what happened there, exactly?

Did he lose his balance/footing? It looks like he may have sort of tripped himself up, causing the collision with the boards.

Theory 2 says no, he was fine, but he just sort of lost sense of his positioning and thought the boards/glass were further away than they really were.

Either way, it's kind of an interesting clip, largely b/c you rarely see NHLers do this sort of thing. I know we are supposed to make fun of Risto here, but man, I wish I could skate/move the way he does (or pretty much anyone else on the team) back in my playing days.

Your average fan has no idea how good these guys are at the little things.

Ya, tough to tell exactly but it almost looks like he gets his foot too far ahead of his body, collided with the boards and kinda spazzed out falling backwards- but ya, it’s the result of his being totally comfortable out there, like me tripping when I walk. Shit happens.

 

[Buffaloed]

Anyone have an idea as to what happened there, exactly?

It looked like he stepped on a piece of debris on the ice.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

 

[coastal]

He caught an edge... it happens

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

Leave Risto alone.

 

[Jim Bob]

That pretty much is the summation of his career in the NHL in one play - big, tries hard, hits something without having an impact on the play...

I think this one might be even better.

The physicality that Risto supporters love followed immediately by the bad giveaway that Risto haters loathe.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

Heaven forbid someone tries him at RW where he can do the things he's good at and skip the part he struggles with.

 

[Jim Bob]

Heaven forbid someone tries him at RW where he can do the things he's good at and skip the part he struggles with.

He would need to make smart plays with the puck regardless of position and that is what he struggles with.

He has the most success on the PP where you tend to get more time and space to make plays.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

He would need to make smart plays with the puck regardless of position and that is what he struggles with.

He has the most success on the PP where you tend to get more time and space to make plays.

I agree that he's not suddenly going to become super smart with the puck in a different position. The sort of pressure you're under trying to find an open outlet or clear in your own corner is a lot different than the pressure to create offensively.

Risto is at his best playing physically and in the corners. He'd be great down low in the offensive zone, and gaffs wouldn't create instant SCA. There's a opportunity in the league for north south wingers. Less so for defenders who cough up the puck at the goal line.

 

[Sabreality]

I agree that he's not suddenly going to become super smart with the puck in a different position. The sort of pressure you're under trying to find an open outlet or clear in your own corner is a lot different than the pressure to create offensively.

Risto is at his best playing physically and in the corners. He'd be great down low in the offensive zone, and gaffs wouldn't create instant SCA. There's a opportunity in the league for north south wingers. Less so for defenders who cough up the puck at the goal line.

I just think he'd be EKane-like at BEST as a winger. Its one thing to activate as a defensman down the boards or get low on the PP. I could absolutely see his low IQ creating chances the other way with passes to nowhere from the corners or ill advised shots, I also don't think his short area burst, stopping and starting down low would be all that great. Theres more to it than barreling down the wing.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I just think he'd be EKane-like at BEST as a winger. Its one thing to activate as a defensman down the boards or get low on the PP. I could absolutely see his low IQ creating chances the other way with passes to nowhere from the corners or ill advised shots, I also don't think his short area burst, stopping and starting down low would be all that great. Theres more to it than barreling down the wing.

I hope I'm not creating the impression that he would magically become an all-star winger. He has a lot of pros and cons in his tool box. I just see the mapping of pros to winger being stronger than the mapping of his pros to defense.

What is it that he does well as a defender that would get lost at wing? What does he do poorly as a defender that he wouldn't be tasked with as a winger?

A poor man's RW Kane would help a lot of this team's struggles.

 

[Fezzy126]

I think this one might be even better.

The physicality that Risto supporters love followed immediately by the bad giveaway that Risto haters loathe.

I thought this one was worse in real time. After taking a 2nd (and 3rd look), he really didn't have many options.

• Montour was literally standing on the goaline when Risto decided to go up the boards (he originally went there for support in case Risto lost the initial puck battle)
• Lazar is moving to create interference from the incoming forechecker, so he's not available for a pass
• Vesey is above the far side circle, so a pass cross-ice on the backhand is not something I'd recommend
• The angle of the incoming forechecker makes any soft pass to the middle a bit riskier
• Simmonds lets Carlson get position in front of him, I assume he just wasn't fast enough to adjust to Carlson

I think Risto has one option - use the leverage that Lazar created from the incoming forechecker to skate the puck further up in the zone, get the puck on your forehand and make a clean first pass. But he was also at the end of his shift, following a big hit, so he was probably in "Get the puck out and change" mode

 

[Jim Bob]

I thought this one was worse in real time. After taking a 2nd (and 3rd look), he really didn't have many options.

• Montour was literally standing on the goaline when Risto decided to go up the boards (he originally went there for support in case Risto lost the initial puck battle)
• Lazar is moving to create interference from the incoming forechecker, so he's not available for a pass
• Vesey is above the far side circle, so a pass cross-ice on the backhand is not something I'd recommend
• The angle of the incoming forechecker makes any soft pass to the middle a bit riskier
• Simmonds lets Carlson get position in front of him, I assume he just wasn't fast enough to adjust to Carlson

I think Risto has one option - use the leverage that Lazar created from the incoming forechecker to skate the puck further up in the zone, get the puck on your forehand and make a clean first pass. But he was also at the end of his shift, following a big hit, so he was probably in "Get the puck out and change" mode

He was left in a tough spot. But, reversing back to his forehand might have been the better play as Carlson had jumped down the wall in front of Simmonds who looked to be cheating a bit to get out of the zone.

The other play would have been the high lob into the neutral zone as opposed to just throwing it up the boards to Carlson.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

He was left in a tough spot. But, reversing back to his forehand might have been the better play as Carlson had jumped down the wall in front of Simmonds who looked to be cheating a bit to get out of the zone.

The other play would have been the high lob into the neutral zone as opposed to just throwing it up the boards to Carlson.

I too miss Toni Lydman

 

[Jim Carr's Rug]

EDIT: NVMD, covered

 

[Husko]

Can we just remember the development path of Risto next time we start clamoring for a young large dman to be more physical? It should've been obvious from a young age that his ceiling was much closer to Brian Campbell than Chris Pronger, yet we (various coaches, the fans, the media) just had to pigeon hole him into that big, tough, shutdown, mean, hard hitting role. Myers, Risto, Rinse, Wash, Repeat. Maybe we should just start only drafting defensemen under 6 feet so there won't be stupid pressure to make them have snarl.