Ritola Declines AHL Assignment, Wants To Play In Europe

from Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times, The Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday suspended right wing Mattias Ritola for not reporting to AHL Norfolk, and put him on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract. Ritola said he will play in Europe ?to get back to the NHL.?

The situation is not contentious. Ritola said he has ?nothing bad to say? about his time with the Lightning, and general manager Steve Yzerman said he ?understands where (Ritola) is coming from.? If Ritola, who was assigned to Norfolk last week, clears waivers Yzerman will work to terminate Ritola?s contract so he can move on.

?I don?t want to hold him back in his career,? Yzerman said.

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Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/ritola_declines_ahl_assignment_wants_to_play_in_europe/

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