Rittich ready for bigger role with Flames as playoffs approach

VANCOUVER --David Rittich has earned the nickname Big Save Dave to go along with the starting goalie job for the Calgary Flames, but he may need to become Big Game Dave when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in April.

It might be a big step for a 26-year-old whose only playoff experience in North America was four games in the American Hockey League two seasons ago, but Calgary believes the lessons learned from a late-season letdown last spring will help Rittich navigate his first NHL postseason.
Last February, Rittich was 5-1-2 with a .927 save percentage as a rookie backup to veteran Mike Smith. On Feb. 11, Smith sustained a lower-body injury, and Rittich appeared ready to assume a bigger role. Instead he went 3-4-1 with a .888 save percentage while Smith was out.
Calgary went 8-16-2 after Feb. 11 and missed the playoffs by 11 points.
"I took all the pressure on me so that was maybe my mistake," Rittich said.
With the pressure of his first NHL postseason building, the Flames are confident Rittich learned from that.
Calgary (34-16-7) is tied for first in the Pacific Division with the San Jose Sharks, nine points ahead of the third-place Vegas Golden Knights.

Rittich, a 2016 free agent find from the Czech Republic, knows he doesn't need to do anything different in goal when his role, or the stage, gets bigger.
He kept it competitive over the summer while training with, and competing against, San Jose Sharks prospect Josef Korenar, a fellow Czech, taking part in battle drills and results-based games on the ice, and tennis off it.
"Did a lot of things different in the summer," Rittich said. "It was a game summer, so for the mental side if you are losing some games you want to keep going, keep playing. I was a guy who was always [upset] if I was losing, and I worked on it and it's here and it's great.
"If something happens I can move on. I am the guy who can think about it just for the day that it happened, and then new day and new time to make you better, and you are going on the ice and you don't want to be upset or mad [at] yourself, you want to work hard and get better."
Goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet can see the difference in the locker room, where Rittich's goofy grin and affable attitude made him an instant hit upon his arrival in Calgary.
"When Mike was hurt last season, you could see his body language was different, he wasn't as loose as he usually was," Sigalet said of Rittich. "When he's loose and being himself, that's when he's at his best. He almost became too serious and you could even see it in his eyes, sitting in his stall, that he was too intense. That works for some guys, but it doesn't work for him."
Adjusting quickly hasn't been a problem for Rittich, who was playing in the second-tier professional league in the Czech Republic four seasons ago. He arrived at his first Flames training camp two seasons ago barely able to speak English, though he tried to do it anyway. He never hesitated to playfully give it back to teammates who chirped him for messing up words or conversations, all while taking English lessons and watching TV with subtitles to try to improve.

On the ice, Rittich and the Flames goaltending coaches relied on the language of the position to help him to adjust to smaller rinks, different angles, more traffic and a more direct style of game.
"It was a bit of charades and sign language going on at first," Sigalet said. "Once he was able to talk, it was asking him, 'What do you call this type of save in Czech?' or 'What do you call that?'"
Rittich credits Sigalet and Colin Zulianello, the Flames goaltending development coach, based with Stockton of the American Hockey League, for helping him adjust to the North American style of play.
Sigalet said the foundation of Rittich's success in the NHL, the things that made him jump out when the Flames discovered him almost by accident while watching another prospect in the Czech Republic, translated without much need for change.
"It reminds me of (Tampa Bay Lightning No.1 Andrei) Vasilevskiy with the flexibility in his hips, his edge control, how explosive he is," Sigalet said. "There is something similar there with David and his ability to read shots. You'll see him hold his edges so long and stay up and make saves that you don't see anymore with a lot of guys. His patience, ability to read shots, ability to close on shots and take away time and space, knowing when to be aggressive, when to stay deep, there's some exciting things in his game."
Those things translated to a .920 save percentage through mid-January, but that number is down to .911 amid a three-game losing streak that included being pulled after allowing two goals on six shots in a 5-2 loss to the Sharks on Feb. 8.
The Flames also have Smith, who isn't accustomed to the backup role but and had several impressive early stretches last season.
For now, the Flames figure Rittich is better equipped to utilize his skills effectively once the playoffs start.
Big Save Dave believes he'll be ready when those big games start.
"More experience, smarter in the net," he said, "so I know what I can take."