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Originally posted by wgr550
Rasmus Ristolainen was not happy about being sent to Rochester last season. He was drafted with the eighth overall pick, was given NHL time right away and was struggling to fit in on a very bad team.
When he arrived in Rochester, he asked Cassidy, “What can I do to get back?”
In his first game, the young Fin tried to skate the puck through center ice like he was Drew Doughty, hit like he was Shea Weber and shot the puck like Zdeno Chara. Ristolainen’s drive to be a great NHL player was promising, but his game was out of control. His talent was so superior to most of the league, he forgot that many AHL’ers have played hundreds of NHL games and are far more savvy than he is.
Sufficed to say, there were rookie mistakes. Cassidy met with him frequently, telling the 18-year-old to play a simpler game. To save his dangles for the right time in the game – same with the booming hits at the blue line. He told Ristolainen that he’d get worn down quick and become a target if he continued to attempt to skate around everyone at center ice – that he should instead make simple, quick passes.
Cassidy also paired him with the smartest player I’ve come across in several years covering the Amerks: Drew Bagnall, who is basically a coach on the ice and a master communicator.
They worked together with The Viking, as Bagnall called him.
Ristolainen didn’t play long in the AHL, but left leading all defensemen in goals. He went back to Buffalo and looked like an entirely different hockey player.
This season, he is slowly becoming a star NHL player at the age of 19.
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