Ristolainen reaches 700 career games
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Travis PolitakisJanuary 6, 2024 (9:46)
Photo credit: The Athletic
In Thursday night's loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Flyers defenseman reached a career achievement as he appeared in his 700th career game at just 29 years old. Ristolainen has had a career resurgence with the Flyers in 2023-24 and looks to be a huge piece to the Flyers defensive scheme.
Ristolainen came into the league at just 18 with Buffalo and never had a chance to gain comfort and confidence as his teams were constantly making coaching changes. This resulted in many calling him a "bust" as well as his departure from Buffalo to Philadelphia.
However, with head coach John Tortorella, Ristolainen has been able to revive his career and gain confidence. Ristolainen is a consistent face in the Flyers lineup as he averages just over 15 minutes of ice time per game. Being able to develop a relationship with Tortorella and the coaching staff is something Ristolainen is grateful for and has contributed to his strong 2023-24 campaign.
"You watch Risto at the beginning of my first year, he was awful. That's when I thought Brad was really good with him in tape, just talking about his legs, just the little things to get his game going. I think Risto has regained some of his confidence."
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