Good morning, how are you? Game 3 between the Bruins and Hurricanes starts in mere minutes but I had to post something fast since Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask made the shocking decision (apparently this morning) to opt-out for the rest of the postseason. For a polarizing guy that has always had more than his fair share of haters (given his mostly stellar resume minus winning a Stanley Cup as a starter), perhaps this is his final act in a Bruins uniform and even in the NHL.
Then again, who knows? All goaltenders are famously weirdos but Rask is taking it to a different level. The poor Bruins PR staff had to hastily share his generic statement: "I want to be with my teammates competing, but at this moment there are things more important than hockey in my life, and that is being with my family. I want to thank the Bruins and my teammates for their support and wish them success."
Before we wildly speculate about the real reason for why Rask left, keep in mind that Bruins GM Don Sweeney said this: "fortunately his family is safe and healthy, but with a newborn and two other young girls, you know it's been challenging and for Tuukka as well." This absolutely brutal global pandemic has shown us all the importance of family (in case we somehow didn't know it before), so it's tough to hate on anyone-yes even a highly paid professional athlete-for feeling some kind of way and making this decision. However, the timing of it all is beyond bizarre. Think about it, the Bruins didn't just start training and they didn't arrive at the bubble yesterday. Nope, all the coaches, players and support staff have been together for awhile isolated in Toronto trying to chase a Cup during this unpredicented time in world history.
On first blush, it just seems like a selfish move on Rask's part since obviously everyone else is going through similar tough times being away from their loved ones and young children for weeks and possibly months at a time. It also puts backup goaltender Jaroslav Rask in a tough spot since he hasn't played in Game 1 or Game 2 and he apparently found out about this when we did only mere hours before a very important playoff contest. Oh and rookie Dan Vladar-who has never appeared in an NHL regular season or playoff game-is suddenly the backup for one of the best teams in hockey.
If we look back at Tuukka's bizarre comments following Game 2 about it not feeling like the playoffs and the difficulty of getting up for these tilts in such a different atmposphere, this shouldn't be a total surprise. Then again, Rask is always very transparent with what he thinks and how he feels so while saying stuff like that would have been alarming for most players (even ever truthful NHL guys), we brushed it off like "oh that's Tuukka, haha what a flake."
The fans and the media ultimately don't matter (sorry, but you know that's true) but what does count is how Rask's teammates respond to this, both today and for the rest of the postseason. Furthermore, assuming that we are all still on this crazy planet called Earth whenever the next regular season starts, will Tuukka be able to waltz back into the Bruins' dressing room like nothing ever happened? Only time will tell but this is the latest chapter in a truly strange year that hopefully is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everybody.
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