David Rittich, chatty and affable, has fit in well with his new teammates in the Islanders’ room as he’ll likely start the season backing up Ilya Sorokin. But the emotions from last season still are raw for the veteran Czech goalie.
“It wasn’t the greatest season, that’s for sure,” the former Kings goalie told Newsday after stopping 13 of 14 shots in the Islanders’ 3-2, 11-round shootout loss to the Flyers on Sunday night at UBS Arena in the preseason opener . “It was a lot of things happening in my personal life. My granddad passed away in December so that period of time wasn’t easy for me. It took a lot of life out of me. It’s still hard to talk about.”
Rittich , 33, signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Islanders on July 1 after going 16-14-2 with a 2.81 goals-against average