Updated:
It’s Day 5 of Buffalo Sabres training camp. The Sabres and their Rochester Amerks brethren have been skating since Friday morning. Today, the players will let it all hang out during the annual Gold & Blue inter squad scrimmage.
The Sabres will stream the scrimmage in its social media platforms and on Sabres.com.
Here are your lineups:
GOLD SQUAD:
Goalies:
Michael Houser
Jonas Johansson
William Borgen
Eric Staal
Jake McCabe
Cody Eakin
Kyle Okposo
Sam Reinhart
Zemgus Girgensons
Matt Irwin
C.J. Smith
Andrew Oglevie
Jeff Skinner
Rasmus Ristolainen
Brett Murray
Brandon Biro
Jacob Bryson
Brandon Davidson
BLUE SQUAD:
Goalies:
Dustin Tokarski
Carter Hutton
Taylor Hall
Henri Jokiharju
Tobias Rieder
Steven Fogarty
Arttu Ruotsalainen
Rasmus Dahlin
Curtis Lazar
Colin Miller
Casey Mittelstadt
Riley Sheahan
Casey Fitzgerald
Mattias Samuelsson
Brandon Montour
Tage Thompson
Rasmus Asplund
**
If Rasmus Ristolainen were to put pen to paper and chronicle his first seven seasons of NHL service, there likely would not be many laughs in his story.
The feisty Finn was the former eighth overall pick from the 2013 NHL Draft, was ear-marked to lead the Sabres back to the glory days that the franchise enjoyed in the mid-2000s.
Ristolainen’s journey with the Sabres is a tale drama, loss and high expectations. During his time in Buffalo, Ristolainen has endured everything from incessant trade rumors, abysmal tanking, instability in the starting lineup, and a revolving door on head coaches and general managers. Ristolainen has unfairly become the touchstone for the failures of the Sabres. It’s not his fault that he has outlasted head coaches Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, and Phil Housley. Darcy Regier drafted Ristolainen. Tim Murray and Jason Botterill "inherited" the fiery Finn.
Ristolainen has seen it all. Some good. Mostly bad.
Through it all, Ristolainen has maintained his biting sense of humor.
On day four of training camp on Sunday, Ristolainen began his post-practice media availability by throwing a trademark zinger to help break the tension. When asked about the Sabres’ return to the iconic royal blue and gold uniforms. "I love it. It's great. The only minus thing, it looks like Team Sweden a little too much, but thank God they lost yesterday, so we're good”, quipped Risto, a former game winning goals scoring gold medal winner for Finland at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. On Saturday, Finland fought back from a 2-0 deficit to eliminate the hated Swedes from the WJC tourney in Edmonton in a heroic comeback.
This is a classic quote from the ferocious Finn because he loves to get a rise out of people. Whether it was dropping Alex Ovechkin on his keester with a heavy body check or chirping a teammate’s haircut, Ristolainen has created a reputation of being a cruel dude. Through all of the negativity and consternation during his career in Buffalo, the 26 year old thumping defenseman loves to bust chops and keep people on their feet. Ristolainen doesn’t give a rat’s ass that there are two hockey mitts full of Swedish born players on the Sabres roster.
Ristolainen has a serious side that often gets misconstrued for being salty and confrontational. I have learned over the years that Ristolainen is not afraid to speak his mind and he doesn’t sugar-coat his feelings. With Ristolainen, what you see is what you get. Over the years Ristolainen has said things to and about his opponents, teammates, coaches and general managers that leave the intended receiver scratching his heads.
It took eight long, dark and angry years, but it appears that Ristolainen has finally found his best head coach and general manager tandem.
Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger is an unabashed Rasmus Ristolainen fan.
“I like everything about Ralph,” Ristolainen said on Sunday morning. “I like the way he wants us to play. I like the way he talks with people. I like the meetings he’s doing. It’s been good.
“I’ve said before, he’s probably the best coach I’ve had in my career, so I’m happy to be working with him (right now) and in the future, too, hopefully.”
Ristolainen has two years remaining on his six years contract that will pay him $5.4 million annual average value. Only time will tell is Ristolainen will be re-signing with the Sabres. If Ralph Krueger has a say in the matter (and he does), it is likely that Ristolainen will remain a bedrock in the Buffalo Sabres core for years to come.
Krueger and Ristolainen have formed a very tight relationship in the short time they have worked together in Buffalo. On Sunday, Kruger said that his knowledge and experience from working with individuals from European backgrounds and cultures has given him a leg up on forming truth-based relationships in his hockey career. Where other Sabres coaches before him have tried and failed to make an impact, Krueger has become the Ristolainen Whisperer. Krueger isn’t asking Ristolainen to be a phony and to play a role that does not suit him. Krueger simply wants Ristolainen to be Ristolainen.
“I feel that in the past it’s possible that people were trying to have Risto change for a culture that he wasn’t comfortable with rather than just being Risto,” Krueger said. “And that’s all we want is to express himself within his own culture and adapt, of course, and embrace the way we need to play.
“It’s on the ice that we all have to be on the same page. It’s on the ice that we need to be connected and embrace the Sabres hockey game. But off the ice, we have a culture where we allow people to be themselves, and I think that was something that worked for Risto and is working now.”
Having worked with Finns in his career, Krueger encourages Ristolainen to speak his mind and to be a blunt as possible in his communication.
“He’s very, very direct and honest in his communication,” Krueger said. “When he doesn’t like things, he puts it on the table, and that’s the culture we want in here from our leaders and that also means making sure that he pushes his teammates and himself to do everything possible to win.
“We find him very coachable. His physical presence and his battle hunger is important for our group. We have a lot of skill, but we need that grit, we need that bite. He gives it to us. Above all, he is a pro in everything he does.”
Krueger likes Ristolainen just the way he is. “I definitely find that his unique personality really adds an important dimension to our room.”
Ristolainen’s offseason training routines are now legendary. No other Buffalo Sabres player works harder to improve his strength, dexterity and physical fitness than Ristolainen. He doesn’t do it for the bragging rights. He does it to add more value to his team. At 6’4” and 225 lbs., Ristolainen is built like an MMA cage fighter. His areas of focus for the last nine and a half months is to get faster and more explosive on the ice.
“I probably skated the most I have during the summer, so working on my skating, fitness on the ice, skating, shooting, puck handling,” Ristolainen said. “Probably off the ice the main thing was speed and explosiveness.”
Ristolainen said he is pleased with Kevyn Adams and the new roster additions of Taylor Hall, Eric Staal, Cody Eakin, Toby Rieder and Matt Irwin.
“The few times we’ve talked, he seems very good guy, very honest,” Ristolainen said. “I like the moves he’s made so far, so that tells me a lot about him, he wants to make the team better right away.”
Last season, Kruger and Sabres defense coach Steve Smith shaved some time on ice from Ristolainen’s totals to keep him fresh during games. Ristolainen skated 24:38 TOI per game in 2018-19 and was reduced to 22:48 TOI last season. Krueger and Smith followed the Jon Cooper strategy of rolling seven defensemen during the 2019-20 season. Ristolainen’s loss in ice time was the game of another defender in the rotation. Ristolainen was a career worst -41 in 2018-19. His +/- rating improved dramatically last season to -2. This is proof positive that Kruger and Smith know what they are talking about. Ristolainen trusts his coaches and will continue to follow their lead. If that means sacrificing 2:00 to 3:00 of ice time per game then so be it.
Krueger and Smith will likely roll a similar rotation in the 56-game, compressed schedule that begins January 14 on home ice against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
The Sabres will hit the ice at 1:00pm for the first of two inter squad scrimmages. I won't be surprised to see Ristolainen dropping shoulders into forwards and slashing the backs of their legs while chirping them.
The rascally Risto is the best version of Risto.
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
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