Calgary Flames All-Star goalie David Rittich has been nursing an elbow injury since at least early March.
Rittich made the revelation Friday in an interview with NHL.com, saying he underwent treatment for the injury before returning home to the Czech Republic.
"One day before leaving [Calgary], I had gotten a plasma injection into my elbow that had been bruised and I had some stretched tendons there," he said. "I could not do anything for a week. … This week, I started to exercise a bit and recover. I am in quarantine, so it was a bit of a problem to get some workout equipment from the fitness center. My friend is going to lend me some stuff here in Jihlava [his hometown] so that I can start with some preparations. So far it has been only working out with my own body weight."
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Rittich, who last played March 8 in a 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, returned home after the NHL put its season on hold because of the coronavirus March 12. He has had a solid season as the Flames' No. 1 goalie, posting a 24-17-6 record, a 2.97 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
He credits his teammates with helping him achieve success so far this year.
"They wanted me to be in goal and believed in me," he said. "That was probably the best thing for me during this season."
Rittich, now in his fourth NHL season, represented the Pacific Division at this year's All-Star Game in St. Louis.
"Obviously, that was a great experience for me and I had so much fun," he said. "But this I consider being some kind of a reward for my performance, and here we get back to the guys wanting me to be there for them and believing in me, which helped me so much and in the end got me to be invited to the All-Star Game."
Despite Rittich's good performances, the Flames have been frustratingly inconsistent. They're in third place in the Pacific Division, just one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks, although it looks increasingly unlikely the regular season will be completed.
"This season has been kind of a roller coaster for us," he said. "Not just for me, but for the entire team. There were so many things that happened. It was not as clicking on the ice like in the last season. We have had some issues that either were not so visible or they were hidden behind the fact that we scored a lot of goals."
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Like all players, he's itching to get back on the ice and complete the season, but he understands the priority of public safety.
"Obviously, I would be glad to play again," he said. "I hope people get healthy and everything comes back to normal."
