Make it a hat-trick of Flames heading to St. Louis for the NHL All-Star Weekend.
David Rittich has been added to the Pacific Division's roster and will be making his first appearance at the event.
"This means a lot for me," the netminder said. "Right now, I can kind of say I'm with the best players in the world in the All-Star Game. It's going to be huge for me and it for sure can help me, for my next steps in my career.
"I'm just going to enjoy the time and I want to try my best there. I just want to have fun."
He will be joining Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Giordano, who were named to the roster last month. Not only is Tkachuk, a St. Louis native, one of Rittich's closest friends but it will also be Tkachuk's first All-Star appearance, making the experience even more special.
"Hometown and he's going to be humming there. I can expect everything from him there," Rittich chuckled. "It's going to be great, to get Gio and Chucky there, too."
Rittich has been rock solid for the Flames all season, posting an 18-11-5 record, a 2.79 GAA, a .913 save percentage, and two shutouts.
"I'm playing more than I did before and I feel really good about my game," he said. "I know I had a couple of bad games but most parts of games were good and I feel really good. I feel really confident with my play. For sure too, the guys in front of me are doing a really good job and helping me out every time."
The All-Star nod means the Rittichs are going to have to do some shuffling of plans. The netminder and his wife Nikola had booked a vacation next week, which will need to be cut short so they can make it to St. Louis for the festivities.
"My wife is probably a little sad right now because we were going to Mexico," he said. "But the All-Star Game is a big opportunity for me and I'm not a guy who is going to say no."
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Wow, awesome news for him! Glad he is being recognized for his great play so far this season. Congrats Big Save Dave!
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"You're worried about the team not having enough heart. I'm worried about the team not having enough brains." HFOil fan, August 12th, 2020. E=NG
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Rittich joins Mike Smith (2018), Miikka Kiprusoff (2007), and Mike Vernon (1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988) as Flames goalies named to the All-Star game.
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It is going to be great to see Tkachuk jump into his arms when the Pacific win a game and then the camera pans to McSuckface and Drai walking to the locker room in disgust. Lol. Love it.
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"You're worried about the team not having enough heart. I'm worried about the team not having enough brains." HFOil fan, August 12th, 2020. E=NG
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We're fortunate both goalies have played as well as they have over the course of this season, but all you have to do is watch how Rittich played against Montreal to know he's still #1. Even I was wondering given Talbot's strong run but had the team shown up in front of Rittich on Monday thats an easy win.
Rittich named to All Star game to replace Kuemper
