‘Big Save Dave’ an unexpected star in Flames net
CHICAGO — Derek MacKinnon was there to focus on another guy.
At another position.
On the other team, in fact. For MacKinnon, the Calgary Flames’ director of pro personnel, the purpose of this March 2016 scouting mission to Prague was for a live look at winger Daniel Pribyl, perched among the leading point-producers in the Czech Extraliga.
“So I went to the game with Daniel’s agent, was sitting with his agent, and as the game progressed, I literally leaned over to his agent and said, ‘Who is the goalie?’ ” MacKinnon recalled, noticing that Pribyl and his HC Sparta Praha pals were having trouble solving the lanky lad in the opposing crease. “The agent asked me, ‘Why?’ and I said, ‘Well, I really like him.’
“He was just explosively quick. I think they scored five on him, so the results weren’t there, but he probably stopped five breakaways and two or three other ‘A’ chances where he just exploded across the net. Now, there were other holes in his game, but he caught your eye.”
So who was this goalie? A relatively raw and relatively unknown David Rittich, a workhorse that winter for BK Mlada Boleslav.
Not wanting to sound the We-Gotta-Sign-This-Guy! alarm after just one viewing, MacKinnon worked on digging up video of Rittich.
Impressed again, he forwarded the footage to Flames goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet.
“Jordan, right from Day 1, was like, ‘Holy, this guy has something,’ ” MacKinnon said. Has something, indeed. Now in his third campaign in the Flames organization and second at the NHL level, he has a splendid stat-line so far this season including a 14-4-3 record, a 2.37 goalsagainst average and .921 save percentage.
He has a lot to do with the crew from Calgary sitting atop the Pacific Division standings.
And he has the fans at the Saddledome chanting his nickname — ‘Big Save Dave! Big Save Dave!’
The 26-year-old had those same supporters in a bit of a panic when he missed the first two games on this roadtrip due to lower-body injury. But he didn’t show any ill-effects during Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory against the Flyers in Philadelphia, upping the degree of difficulty a smidgen with a giveaway on the go-ahead goal but then slamming the door as his club erased yet another third-period deficit, their eighth win in that scenario so far this season.
He should be back between the pipes for Monday’s battle with the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center, the final stop before the Flames return to the Saddledome for a fivegame homestand.
“(MacKinnon) always sends me video when he’s over in Europe. Over the years, he has probably sent me about 20 goalies, and Ritter is the one who stuck out the most,” Sigalet said. “Right away, you noticed his hockey sense, the ability to read plays and the ability to beat pucks and beat plays. You noticed his edge work, how good he was on his edges and his recovery and getting across his net, his lateral movement. And then his battle level and compete level just really stood out.
“You never know how it’s going to translate over here, but we took that chance.”
He’s now the talk of the town in Calgary.
Rittich struggled during Mike Smith’s month-long injury layoff last February/ March, perhaps overwhelmed by the pressure of trying to the keep Flames’ fading playoff hopes afloat.
Many were wondering this fall about the backup plan at the Saddledome.
Many still are, but the script has flipped. The question now is whether Smith, prone to too many softies so far, can be trusted as a second-stringer.
Don’t expect a news release or any sort of official declaration of his status as No. 1, but it’s oh-so-clear that Rittich now reigns as the go-to goalie for the Flames.
“What everybody focuses on last year is, ‘Ok, Mike got hurt and coming down the stretch, David had some tough games,’ ” said Calgary’s general manager, Brad Treliving. “Well, guess what? It was his first year in the league and that pressure, being a backup is way different than, ‘Go save our season.’
“How do you get experience? You get experience by going through those difficult times, and so I was really confident — we were all confident — that the things David went through last year were only going to help him.
“So what do I see this year? I see a lot of the same guy that we’ve seen the last couple years — really competitive, really athletic, great teammate, but a guy who has some experience under his belt.”