RWC REPORT: Ritola rising in Grand Rapids

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / November 10, 2008

Less than two years ago, Mattias Ritola couldn't crack the point-per-game barrier in little more than a beer league, Sweden's third level.

The Detroit Red Wings, unfazed, signed him anyway, excited by his high skill level and hopeful his talent would rise to the forefront once they got him in the American Hockey League with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

It's looking like they made the right decision.

In just his second year in the AHL, the 21-year-old right-winger has emerged as a point-per-game player and a fast-rising NHL prospect.

Ritola is fourth in Griffins scoring with four goals and six assists for 10 points in 10 games along with 24 shots and a plus-1. He plays on a scoring line and both special teams and is evolving into a well-rounded player who has a chance at finding a role with the Red Wings in the next couple of years.

The 6-foot, 192-pounder had 22 points all of last season as a rookie. He also made his NHL debut much earlier than anybody ever anticipated, getting three games with the Red Wings and serving as a Black Ace in the playoffs.

One of the biggest knocks on Ritola since being drafted is that he's lazy and doesn't come to play every shift, every night. But he has improved, learning to compete, win battles and go into the dirty areas to produce offence.

Here are some notes from the past week.

* Defenseman Max Nicastro (Chicago, United States Hockey League) helped the U.S. win gold at the world junior A challenge. He had a goal and three assists in five games, second among the team's blueliners.

* Forward Ville Leino (Grand Rapids, AHL) was forced to put his drive up the AHL scoring charts on hold after being grounded with a bruised hip.

* Forward Evan McGrath (Grand Rapids, AHL) has been a healthy scratch four times this season, but he got a chance to win a spot back this week after the injury to Leino and had a goal and two assists in two games.

* Goaltender Jimmy Howard (Grand Rapids, AHL) could not finish Saturday's game because of an injury. His status is unknown.

* Defenseman Brendan Smith (Wisconsin, NCAA) blew up for six assists in two games this weekend, including a four-assist outing against Michigan Tech. He suddenly finds himself with nine points in nine games as a sophomore, making him one of the top-scoring blueliners in the entire NCAA.

* Forward Justin Abdelkader (Grand Rapids, AHL) was rewarded for his outstanding start with the AHL's rookie-of-the-month honors for October.

* Forward Stephen Johnston (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) is back from a groin injury. He been sidelined for a handful of games.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Ville Leino	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	4	9	13	0
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	4	6	10	6
Justin Abdelkader	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	7	2	9	19
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	1	8	9	0
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	2	3	5	10
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	0	5	5	16
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	4	0	4	7
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	6	1	3	4	2
Logan Pyett	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	0	4	4	0
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	0	3	3	0
Jamie Tardif	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	2	0	2	0
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	1	1	4
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	1	1	2
K H L
Gennady Stolyarov	Astana Barys	KHL	16	5	3	8	14
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	KHL	21	1	5	6	8
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SEL	11	3	4	7	4
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	18	3	3	6	0
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	19	2	1	3	6
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	19	1	2	3	10
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	4	2	2	4	2
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	4	1	2	3	2
Jesper Samuelsson	Sundsvall	SWE-2	1	0	0	0	5
C H L
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	15	3	14	17	8
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	21	7	10	17	27
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	18	8	6	14	31
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	16	4	8	12	12
Brian Lashoff	Barrie	OHL	16	1	8	9	11
N C A A
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	9	3	6	9	26
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	7	2	5	7	12
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	8	2	1	3	4
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	WCHA	5	1	2	3	6
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	6	0	1	1	20
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	10	0	0	0	8
U S H L
Max Nicastro	Chicago	USHL	9	2	5	7	17

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Thomas McCollum	Guelph	OHL	17	10-5-2	2.37	.922
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	3-2-1	2.43	.910
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	2-2-0	4.16	.872

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL — American Hockey League; KHL — Kontinental Hockey League; SEL — Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 — Swedish Allsvenskan (second level); OHL — Ontario Hockey League; WHL — Western Hockey League; QMJHL — Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; WCHA — Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC — East Coast Athletic Conference; HE — Hockey East; USHL — United States Hockey League.