The Phenomenal Career of Tuukka Rask

This week, longtime Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask called it a career; he announced his retirement from the National Hockey League. Rask's career had been an amazing one, as his stellar goaltending put the Bruins back on the map for the first time in decades. He definitely made a lot of waves in his career, with his first one coming even before he started in the NHL.

Before I continue, I just want to apologize to any and all Toronto Maple Leafs fans reading this. It was the Maple Leafs who drafted Rask in the 2005 Entry Draft; the 21st pick overall. As we all know, however, the Leafs decided to trade Rask to the Bruins, their division rivals, for Andrew Raycroft. The reason? The Leafs felt that they had a goalie of the future in Justin Pogge. But here's the thing. For obvious reasons, this trade ended up being a complete blunder, as Pogge couldn't develop at all in the American Hockey League. And as for Raycroft, the Bruins were going to waive him. He would have been available for nothing! Yet the Leafs gave up Rask to get Raycroft, who would disappoint in Toronto.

Rask signed a three-year contract with the Bruins in May of 2007, and on November 20 of that year, he picked up his first win, a 4-2 win over, yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Though he would start his share of games, Rask was the backup goaltender for Tim Thomas for his first few seasons, including the 2010-11 campaign, which saw the Bruins win the Stanley Cup. Rask became the 2nd Finnish goaltender to win the Cup--Antti Niemi was the first, doing so a year prior with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Rask would become Boston's starter in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, after Tim Thomas was traded to the New York Islanders. In his first season as a starter, Rask went 19-10-5 with a GAA (Goals Against Average) of 2.00, a SV% (Save Percentage) of .929, and five shutouts (which led the league that season. The Bruins returned to the Stanley Cup Final that season; a run that began with Rask defeating the Maple Leafs in the opening round (remember that). Boston fell two wins short of what would have been their 2nd Stanley Cup in three seasons, but Rask had a stellar postseason: 14-8 record, three shutouts, a 1.88 GAA, and a .940 SV%. This included only giving up two goals total in the Bruins' sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final.

The following year was a true career year for Rask. In the 2013-14 campaign, Rask went 36-15-6, had a whopping seven shutouts, a GAA of 2.04, and a SV% of .930. His efforts led Boston to winning the Presidents' Trophy, though in the playoffs, they were eliminated in the 2nd round. Even so, Rask had another sub-2.00 GAA in the playoffs, and his regular season numbers were enough to earn him the Vezina Trophy that season. He would win a season high 37 games three years later (2016-17), but even so, Rask would draw some undeserved ire from Bruins fans in his last few seasons.

The 2018-19 season saw the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup Final once again, with Rask leading the way despite dealing with a concussion. The Bruins fell one win short of the Cup that year, though Rask's numbers: 15-9, 2.02 GAA, .934 SV%, two shutouts. Even so, Bruins fans appeared to blame him for the team falling short of the Cup, and the animosity would reach terrible levels in the following season. As we know, the following season (2019-20) was affected immensely by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a pause in March 2020 followed by a modified playoffs starting that August. The Bruins ended up winning the Presidents' Trophy again, as they were the only 100-point team in the league that year. They participated in the Eastern Conference's Round Robin of games against the rest of the conference's top 4 teams, but lost all of them, resulting in the team receiving the #4 seed.

The Bruins faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round, but prior to Game 3, Rask announced that he would be leaving the Toronto bubble they were playing in, doing so to tend to his daughter, who was immunocompromised. Obviously, family is more important than anything, but tell that to then-NBC studio analyst Mike Milbury, who had the nerve to criticize Rask and even call him a "quitter." Even worse, the Bruins fans and media ripped into Rask, as they callously accused Rask of "abandoning" the Bruins and went as far as claiming that they didn't need him. The shortened 2020-21 season saw Rask pick up his 300th win of his stellar career, but as for the Bruins, it was another 2nd round exit from that year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I honestly should have figured that this season would be the end for Tuukka Rask. Hip surgery would sideline him, but even so, it didn't seem like Rask would appear at all this season. He returned early in 2022, but had four rocky starts this season, leading to the aforementioned retirement announcement. Rask's career was quite stellar, indeed. His 308 wins are the most in the history of the Boston Bruins, and that's saying a lot. Of course, he's known for being the Maple Leafs' biggest regret (regarding trading him) as well as their biggest nightmare--Rask would plague the Leafs in the 2013, 2018, and 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs...all in the opening round. Rask has a career regular season GAA of 2.28, with a .921 SV%. Regarding the playoffs, Rask won 57 games (another Bruins record), racked up a 2.22 GAA, and a .925 SV%.

I've always loved goaltenders because they really make the world go around. Rask is no exception. He was truly the heart and soul of the Bruins and kept that team alive even when they've should have been in a deeper hole. It's very shameful that Bruins fans made a scapegoat out of him in his last few years. A goalie that great and talented deserved much better treatment.