David Rittich signed a one-year deal with the Islanders on Tuesday
The New York Islanders signed goaltender David Rittich to a one-year deal on Tuesday.
Get to know the newest Islander in the latest edition of 7 Facts.
Rittich is a 32-year-old goalie from Jihlava, Czechia standing at 6’4, 205 lbs. He catches with his left hand.
Rittich has 108 wins in his career (108-71-19), which are tied with Braden Holtby for 28th-most in the NHL since his debut on Apr. 8, 2017.
Rittich has appeared in 230 NHL games with a career 2.79 GAA, a .904 SV% and seven shutouts.
Rittich started his NHL career in Calgary, playing parts of five seasons from 2017-21, posting a career-high 27 wins in 2018-19. He played four games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021 and played one year for Nashville (2021-22) and Winnipeg (2022-23) before spending the past two seasons with the LA Kings.
Rittich has his goalie coach shoot two pucks off his mask as a pre-game ritual. It reportedly started in the American Hockey League, when Rittich was hit in the mask during a morning skate and went on to pitch a shutout that night.
The netminder also allows himself Coca-Cola on game days, as a secondary ritual.
Rittich played in the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, helping the Pacific Division win the three-on-three tournament. Rittich stopped nine-of-10 shots in a 10-5 win over the Central Division in the first game and stopped three-of-four shots in a 5-4 win over the Atlantic Division in the final.
Rittich came up in the HC Dukla Jihlava’s system in Czechia, playing for the U18, U20 and Czechia2 teams. Rittich played as high as the Czech Eztraliga, appearing in 71 games with BK Mlada Boleslav in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
He represented Czechia at the 2018 IIHF World Championships.
There's a reason they call him Big Save Dave. 🤷♂️
David Rittich picks up his first @pepsi shutout as a member of the @LAKings! 👑 pic.twitter.com/ldEgxWztnj
Rittich is also known as “Big Save Dave”