will show two NHL matches live on Saturday. At 7:30 p.m., the program features the New Jersey Devils-Florida Panthers. At 10pm it is the Colorado Avalanche-Pittsburgh Penguins.
BOSTON. Tuukka Rask will step on the ice of the Boston Bruins home hall for the last time, fifteen years after his winning debut match. The audience enjoys their familiar and long-stretched Tuuuuuk call for encouragement.
Instead of the goalkeeper’s outfit, there is a modern suit in a dark suit and the youngest daughter in her arms. After the ceremonial opening disc falls on the ice, Rask raises his gaze toward the stands and blinks goodbye. His long career is irrevocably over.
A young man from Savonlinna who has become a fiery soul has grown into a grown man and a calm father in a Boston shirt. There is a dazzling groove behind it. There is something new ahead. Dressed in Raskin’s fan shirt on the barrel shelf Donna Curley restraining his tears.
– I’m really sad. He could no longer play after a hip injury. Some fans say he gave up, but it doesn’t hold its pack. I love him and am proud that he tried to go back to the trough. Now he can spend time with his family.
Watch the video below to see how Tuukka Rask’s career was honored in a match between the Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils. The story continues after the video.
No need to be in pain anymore
35-year-old Tuukka Rask himself seems anything but sad when I meet him at the Boston Bruins training hall the day before the farewell ceremony.
– Mostly I feel relieved now.
The beginning of the end is last summer, when Rask had a difficult and absorbed season. There was a difficult decision ahead about hip surgery. The continuation of his career made him think, but the blood was still drawn to the battle for the Stanley Cup. It was exactly ten years since the previous Bruins championship. At the time, Rask was watching the final games as a second goalkeeper from the substitution.
– It was worth trying again. Our core group would probably not stay together for long. The guys stop and fall off one at a time.
The heaviest hip was cut and he began a long rehabilitation, after which he returned to the trough in January. At first, everything felt good, but as the strain grew, problems began.
– There was a feeling that the hip is nowhere near perfect.
The final decision to hang the hookers on the pound began to ripen in late January in a match against the Anaheim Ducks.
– As I stretched, something clicked a little more out of my groin and it was sore for a couple of weeks. I did skate every day, but I thought this wasn’t going to be anything. Sure, I could have taken a break and come back again. But I thought it was no one’s interest to be 70 percent of what I could be and I’m dragging along with it. Better to put whistles in a bag.
On February 9, Rask officially announced his termination.
– It’s really relieved now. No more having to be in pain every day. And you don’t have to sit at a massage table for an hour or two a day stretching your hips. The previous season was already such a struggle that it required strength.
The farewell ceremony itself was not exciting for Rask. For the family, it could be a bigger thing.
– Now that our girls are a little older, they get to enjoy and see that Dad was once a good hockey player. The girls are yelling at me someday, so maybe now I’ll get some perspective out there.
The prestigious Finnish star has also been reviewed
The merits of Tuukka Rask are convincing to read. He has fought the most victories of all time in the Bruins shirt, and the goalkeeper who has played the most regular season matches. The career rejection rate is the third best in the NHL. In 2014, Rask received the Vezina Trophy, NHL Best Goalkeeper Award. He was elected to the League constellation twice.
Still, Boston has also been criticized in Boston. The Finn never won the Stanley Cup as a goalkeeper. Nor has everyone understood Rask’s decision to leave the 2020 playoffs for family reasons.
– In Boston, supporters are only interested in what is below the line. There has to be a championship, explains a reporter for the Boston Herald Steve Conroya long – line wafer supplier that has been following the Bruise sky for more than two decades.
– The lack of a Stanley Cup win as the number one goalkeeper is the only negative thing about Rask’s career. It’s unfair that he gets reasons for it on his necks, but that’s the way it is in this city where he’s used to winning championships.
– The goalkeeper is here like a quarterback for American football. Too much credit is given for success and too much guilt for its lack.
Conroy recalls admiring Rask’s performances in 2013 and 2019 as Boston progressed to the finals.
– Henrik Lundqvist never stigmatized for lack of mastery. I think Tuukka is a smasher of the same level as him.
On the night of the match, when the black-and-yellow herd fetches TD Garden, Raskista only hears rave reviews.
– When it was said on the telly that they were arranging something special for Tuuka, I said to my wife, shit, I’m going to Boston, says Mark Burtonin the harsh voice of life.
Mark and his brother Steve praise Heavy.
– Tuukka was an incredible goalkeeper. We are proud of him and he has a place in the hearts of Bostonians forever. He has inspired many children to become goalkeepers, explains Steve Burton.
Underestimation is not enough for the most difficult critics.
– The truth is that Tuukka won more matches for Boston than any other goalkeeper. Who doesn’t understand the significance of its achievement for this team is a full asshole, shakes Steve Burton at last.
Heavy has not been left in a tooth cavity
Tuukka Rask’s own essence exudes peace. He will have you with his career.
– I have made good friends and have been lucky to have played on the same team during a time when the Bruins have been strong and fighting for championships for several years.
Of course, adversity is also in Rask’s mind.
– All the playoffs are really bitter. It was small for them to go the other way.
However, nothing is left in the tooth cavity, Rask assures.
– The sport is such that only one can win. I’m more of that kind of glass half full. I try to take those positive things. If you think too negatively, you get to worry pretty much.
He doesn’t want to be scorned for his own significance and legacy for the team and organization. Rask knows that in Boston, people have a lot of opinions about him and other top Bruins players over the years.
Do you read what is written on certain blogs and elsewhere?
– No. Yes, I know what is being said there. I’ve been told, but I don’t want to ruin my days any more.
– I think I have been a good teammate and have created such friendships that they last and that is enough for me.
It is good for children to grow up in Boston
The heaviest family, which includes a wife and three young daughters, has yet to make long-term plans for what’s after the gaming career. Now life goes on in Boston.
– This has become a clear home for us. Children are born and raised here, it’s good for them to be here, Rask says.
The ties to Boston are close after many years spent there. There are even more shocking experiences along the way, such as the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and injured nearly 200.
– It was a terrible tragedy. We were supposed to have a game that night. I remember we went to the hall and there started to be news of the explosions. No one really knew what was going on. We were then told that there was also a bomb threat in the hall and we were sent home to wait.
The hockey pensioner plans to spend his time with his family in the near future. She says she pours kids to school and hobbies. In her own time, Rask plans to play tennis and golf and keep herself in good physical shape.
In an interview with , Rask hints that there may be a move to the Boston Bruins payroll – in the office side – in the future. The next day, at a press conference before the farewell ceremony, Rask reveals he will continue in the Bruins as a sponsor, as a kind of team ambassador.
– The business side has always been interested. Now the intention is to hang out with the sponsors, play golf and throw a hand in the paddocks.
Coaching assignments are not of interest, at least at this point.
The daily life of a puck professional is mostly a routine designed and directed by others. Now the tight frames have disappeared from Tuukka Rask’s life and he has complete freedom to do what he likes. Life-changing change does not scare the father of a family.
– The pandemic was kind of lucky for us because I was able to be home and see the growth of the youngest child. It was really pretty because I missed the first two years of my first child. I look forward to being more present at home.
However, Rask admits that the mental transition from puck star to civilian may take some time.
– We live right next to the hall and we still keep in touch with the guys. The season is still going on and it is thought that I was playing there a couple of months ago. Yes, it feels a little different, but not wistful. This is a transition phase that will take some time. But it’s nothing. Let’s be here.