David Rittich is using the pause in the NHL season to recover from an elbow injury.
The Calgary Flames goalie, who returned to his home in Jihlava, Czech Republic, last played March 8. The season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"One day before leaving [Calgary], I had gotten a plasma injection into my elbow that had been bruised and I had some stretched tendons there," Rittich said Friday. "I could not do anything for a week. … This week, I started to exercise a bit and recover. I am in quarantine, so it was a bit of a problem to get some workout equipment from the fitness center. My friend is going to lend me some stuff here in Jihlava so that I can start with some preparations. So far it has been only working out with my own body weight."
Rittich, who is 24-17-6 with a 2.97 goals-against average, .907 save percentage and two shutouts in 48 games, played for the Pacific Division in the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game.
"Obviously, that was a great experience for me and I had so much fun," he said. "But this I consider being some kind of a reward for my performance, and here we get back to the guys wanting me to be there for them and believing in me, which helped me so much and in the end got me to be invited to the All-Star Game."
Rittich, in his fourth season with Calgary, said earning the trust of his teammates has been his biggest accomplishment.
"They wanted me to be in goal and believed in me," he said. "That was probably the best thing for me during this season."
Rittich said he's hoping to earn that trust again if the season continues. He struggled after the All-Star break, going 5-5-1 with a 3.60 GAA and .888 save percentage in 12 starts, and his .894 even-strength save percentage is last among the 35 goalies to play at least 10 games since the break. In 36 games prior to the break, he had a .919 even-strength save percentage.
Teammate Cam Talbot is 5-3-1 with a 2.80 GAA and .915 save percentage in 10 games since the break, and he has helped the Flames (36-27-7) climb to third place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and four points behind the Edmonton Oilers.
"This season has been kind of a roller coaster for us," Rittich said. "Not just for me, but for the entire team. There were so many things that happened. It was not as clicking on the ice like in the last season. We have had some issues that either were not so visible or they were hidden behind the fact that we scored a lot of goals. It has been an interesting season that brought me many new experiences, and I think it can only help me, what I went through during this year. Obviously, I would be glad to play again, I hope people get healthy and everything comes back to normal."
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