Ristolainen will miss this week's Amerks games

Rasmus Ristolainen can't play this week due to an apparent concussion and the Rochester Americans want the league to punish the culprit.

Ristolainen was hit in the face by a sucker-punch from Lake Erie Monsters center Mitchell Heard in the waning seconds of Friday's 5-3 Amerks victory.

The rookie defenseman said this morning that while he is "better now," he still won't play until at least next week. The Amerks play Utica at home on Wednesday, then travel to Grand Rapids, Mich., for Friday and Saturday games against the defending Calder Cup champion Griffins.

Amerks coach Chadd Cassidy would only say that Ristolainen has an upper body injury. But considering the rookie's jaw appears to be fine, his nose looks OK and there is no firm timetable for a return, I think we can pretty safely assume he has a concussion.

Ristolainen was punched by Heard as the Monsters forward was being led through the faceoff circle to the bench by linesman Jeff Walker.

The play actually began in the corner of the Monsters zone, after a stoppage in play. Heard seemed to want to fight whoever might be near.

He likely was perturbed that no penalty had been called on Amerks winger Patrick Kaleta, who barreled into, and over, goalie Calvin Pickard on a breakaway midway through the period. Kaleta ended up with a torn anterior cruciate ligament on the play and is done for the season.

Adding to Lake Erie's frustration was that the winning goal was scored after a puck headed out of the zone instead caromed off a stanchion and into the middle of the ice, giving Phil Varone the Grade-A scoring chance with just 1:58 to play.

Ristolainen was a bit agitated, too. He had been the target of some on-ice nastiness following Jamie Tardif's clinching empty-net goal with a minute left.

"I got hit and then I got a stick to my (groin area) and then a stick to my wrist," Ristolainen said.

Johan Larsson immediately confronted Andrew Agozzino and wanted to fight but the linesmen intervened. "He did something to Risto and I didn't like it," Larsson said after the game.

Ristolainen had played a very physical game, so perhaps the Monsters wanted to deter him from doing it in the future and/or gauge his mettle, especially since the teams play four more times before Christmas. That includes two games here next week: Wednesday indoors and the Dec. 13 Frozen Frontier outdoor game.

"I don't actually care," Ristolainen said about the cheap-shots. "It doesn't matter to me."

So what led to the sucker-punch?

"I just talked to him and he said something and then I got punched," Ristolainen said. "I wasn't really looking."

Cassidy said the league must take action. "We've lost arguably our best defensemen for a certain number of games. The player wasn't even looking at him (Heard)."

Since the parent Buffalo Sabres never replaced Nick Tarnasky in Rochester, the Amerks have no one to dissuade stupidity. Thus, this won't be the last time opponents attempt to bully the Amerks. In fact, it's just a continuation of what very well could be come a trend.

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Ristolainen isn't sure if he will be allowed to represent Finland at the World Junior Championships, but he is hoping he can.

Ristolainen, 19, would be a major asset for Finland in the tournament, which runs Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Malmo, Sweden.

He said the Sabres have asked him if he wants to play, "and I said yes." Who wouldn't want to play for their country, especially when you're spending your first season away from home on a foreign continent.

Allowing Ristolainen to play in the WJC likely would mean he will miss two Amerks AHL games (plus the Spengler Cup).

But granting permission will be beneficial in the long run:

1) the team makes it clear that they understand the importance of national pride; and

2) the player realizes that, from the team perspective, he's not just an asset but also a person.

Loyalty is built when teams show they care about their players.

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Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel will be a game-time decision on Wednesday. He sat out Saturday's 3-2 loss at Toronto with an undisclosed injury but was a full-go at practice today.