ANOTHER NEW PIECE ALERT!

The 214th unique NHL goalie to join the museum collection is in at Heroes of the Crease: Goaltending Museum and Memorabilia Ltd (https://www.facebook.com/heroesofthecrease). This is part 3 of 4 of our museum pickups that we acquired at the recent Calgary Flames equipment sale. As usual, the item is not for sale, trade, nor donation!

What you are looking at right now is a game worn 2019-20 CCM goalie blocker used by David Rittich while with the Calgary Flames. It exhibits excellent game wear and is photomatched to no less than 7 games in December of 2019. After the blocker was retired from game use it likely saw further use in practice given the presence of far more extensive wear after its last verified game of use.

Born on August 19, 1992, in Jihlava, Czech Republic, Rittich was a solid goaltender in Czechia prior to being signed by the Calgary Flames as a free agent in 2016. After spending most of 2016-17 in the AHL with Stockton, a season which saw him put up 5 shutouts and 15 wins over 31 games, Rittich got his first NHL recall in April 2017. On April 8, 2017, it happened. Backing up Brian Elliott vs San Jose, Rittich replaced Elliott for the final period of action and he stopped 9 of 10 shots in Calgary's 3-1 defeat. Each subsequent season saw him earn increasingly more responsibility with the Flames, ultimately seeing him peak with 48 games of action in 2019-20. In 2021, Rittich was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he appeared in 4 games. Nashville acquired him in 2021-22 and he saw 17 games there before being the backup goalie to Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg in 2022-23.

As his career is still active and currently sitting at 174 regular season games played, his NHL career stats will not be posted at this time.

Acquired from: Calgary Flames organization

Dates of Game Use:
December 5, 2019 vs Buffalo (26-29, 4-3W)
December 9, 2019 vs Colorado (28-32, 5-4OTW)
December 12, 2019 vs Toronto (32-34, 4-2W)
December 14, 2019 vs Carolina (27-30, 4-0L)
December 19, 2019 vs Montreal (39-43, 4-3OTL)
December 22, 2019 vs Dallas (26-27, 5-1W)
December 27, 2019 vs Edmonton (28-29, 5-1W)
December 29, 2019 vs Vancouver (4-7, 5-2L)

Photomatched: Yes
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/n...?adppopup=true