Mattias Kenneth Ritola (born March 14, 1987) is a former Swedish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

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Playing career

Ritola made his debut in Sweden's top-tier SHL with

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The ...

during the 2005-06 season, after being drafted 103rd overall in the fourth round of the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL Entry Draft was the 43rd NHL Entry Draft. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, the 2004–05 NHL lockout led to the draft being postponed to July 30. Special procedures were required to determine the order of picks, because ...

by the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. Ritola joined the Red Wings for the 2007-08 season and played his first NHL game on March 15, 2008, against the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

. Ritola did not qualify to be engraved on the cup because he did not play in a post-season game, but he was awarded a Stanley Cup ring, and he was included on the 2008 Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup picture. Ritola played in his first post-season game on May 6, 2010, in a 7–1 win over the San Jose Sharks. On Tuesday October 6, 2010, Ritola was claimed off waivers by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

. He scored his first NHL goal on October 30, 2010, against

Ilya Bryzgalov Ilya Nikolayevich Bryzgalov (; russian: Илья Николаевич Брызгалов; born 22 June 1980) is a Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Co ...

of the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mu ...

. In late 2010, he was diagnosed with the Meniere's disease. Early in November 2011, Ritola cleared regular waivers and was assigned to Norfolk Admirals of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

, however Ritola refused to report to the AHL club. On November 9, 2011, Ritola cleared unconditional waivers and his contract with Tampa Bay was terminated so he would be free to pursue playing opportunities in Europe. On November 10, 2011,

Modo Hockey Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The club was founded in 1987 and has won one SHL championships; in 2007. ...

announced that he signed a contract to play until the 2012–13 season of

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmin ...

. His contract was extended to the 2015–16 season on January 4, 2013. During the 2014–15 season, after 10 games with Modo, Ritola transferred to return to his original and fellow SHL club,

on October 13, 2014. After spending the 2014-15 season with Leksands, he moved on to another SHL side,

Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå AIK is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Skellefteå, Sweden. They currently play In the Swedish Hockey League. They play their home games in Skellefteå Kraft Arena, which seats 6,001 spectators. The team has won the S ...

. He was a regular on a Skellefteå squad that progressed to the SHL finals, where they were beaten by

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where ...

. On May 31, 2016, he signed a two-year deal with

HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Fribourg-Gottéron is a professional ice hockey team based in Fribourg, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (NL). The team is the sixth most attended team in Switzerland for the 2015/16 season with 6,156 spectators. History The ...

of the Swiss

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA) and left the club on January 18, 2017, due to personal reasons. He returned to Leksands IF shortly after parting ways with Fribourg.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1987 births Living people Detroit Red Wings draft picks Detroit Red Wings players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Grand Rapids Griffins players IFK Arboga IK players Leksands IF players Modo Hockey players People from Borlänge Municipality Skellefteå AIK players Stanley Cup champions Swedish ice hockey right wingers Swedish people of Finnish descent Tampa Bay Lightning players People with Ménière's disease Ice hockey people from Dalarna County {{Sweden-icehockey-winger-stub