On Michael Rasmussen and the importance of his hockey "study abroad" in Austria

The Red Wings center is going to set a career-high in points this season.

I’ve been waiting to write a short Michael Rasmussen story.

But each time I’ve planned to write it, Rasmussen’s play was lacking or something else came up to kill that priority.

Then Rasmussen had one of the best games of his NHL career on Thursday night for the Detroit Red Wings against the Montreal Canadiens, scoring in the first period and setting up the game-winning goal in overtime for Robby Fabbri with immaculate patience.

It’s an impressive play, as Rasmussen goes from this view.

To feathering the pass through to Fabbri here.

It’s a slick play and a nice win for Detroit, which capitalized on a game-saving stop by Ville Husso at the end of regulation.

This season Rasmussen has 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) through 45 games. He’s closing in on a career high already, and is on pace for 40-point season.

Rasmussen says his play this season has been building off the past two seasons, which has gone smoother because he was willing to take a slight detour to Europe.

During the 2020-21 season, which was heavily altered by COVID-19, Rasmussen was still able to get in a full season of development with some creative thinking.

While the NHL and AHL seasons were delayed — remember the Stanley Cup was awarded in September that year — Rasmussen was able to start the season playing for the Graz99ers, an Austrian team in the regional ICEHL that covers parts of Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and Czechia.

“I had asked if they could help me find a place to play with the AHL and NHL being delayed, I really didn’t care where, but I wanted to see if we could find a spot for me,” Rasmussen said. “I really needed more games coming off the prior season.”

The Red Wings were also able to work out a deal with the Graz99ers that Rasmussen would be able to return to North America whenever NHL training camp started. There had been some discussions with other higher-profile leagues in Europe, but many of those teams were looking for full-season loans and not short-term stays.

So Rasmussen got his short-term stay in Austria and racked up 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 18 games.

It was the first time he’d ever played regularly on international ice, and Rasmussen said his time in Austria also gave him some appreciation for the current Red Wings locker room. Detroit has a Euro-heavy roster of players who at some point have gone through adjusting to living in a new country and potentially dealing with a language barrier.

Without the COVID shutdowns, and his time in Austria, Rasmussen would have likely gone his entire career without ever playing in a spot where English wasn’t the primary language.

“It’s different, it was intimidating in a way, just going out for food and if you had a question or something like that, you ask for something and English isn’t the dominant language and you could feel lost,” Rasmussen said. “It gave me some more respect for what a lot of guys (here) go through when they come over from Sweden or Czech or something and can’t speak their home language, I hadn’t really thought much about it before.”

Rasmussen said he regrets not picking up some German while he was there. It’s something he could have used today to connect more with Moritz Seider in his native language.

“I was a bit too lazy on that front when I was there,” Rasmussen said. “But I did get to see some places, like Vienna, that I never would have seen before.”

In the end it was the equivalent of hockey study-abroad program for Rasmussen, who feels that going to Europe, even for a short time, allowed him to avoid some of the gaps in playing time that some other players in their early 20s have dealt with because of COVID-19 implications.

“The more you can play, the better, it was good to get in game shape and get pro hockey,” Rasmussen said. “It helped me make the NHL that year and build into the past two years.”

Coming back to the present day, Rasmussen said he’s worried about looking at his game with a “What have you done lately?” attitude.

“I try to evaluate myself after every game, and even after each practice,” he said. “You try not to get too high and too low about it, but I think you have to keep that evaluation in your head going so you can find that consistency and adjust for the next game or practice too.”