Five Bruins That Will Roar in 2013-14 #1 – Tuukka Rask
Jun 24, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask makes a save against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period in game six of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
A lot of people in Bruins Nation were worried about Tuukka at the start of last season. They weren’t sure if he was ready to be the #1 goalie for the Bruins. (Some of them I guess forgot that he had already been there.) Rask went out there to prove two things. 1.) That his more conservative style of goaltending was just as effective as Tim Thomas’ bouncing around like a pinball, and 2.) He was an elite NHL goalie.
Rask accomplished both of those in spades.
Tuukka Rask was another one of those ‘bounty of riches’ trades brought to Boston by the Toronto Maple Leafs. We got Rask for Andrew Raycroft back in 2006 and we’ve been nothing but pleased when the Finn’s work since. Between the playoffs and the regular season Rask played a total of fifty eight games. He went 33-18-8 overall. His save percentage was .929 in the regular season and .940 in the post-season.(.933 for the entire season) He tallied eight shutouts last year as well.
Tuukka played solid hockey all year. He had a few bad nights, but so did every other elite goaltender in the NHL. He’s only twenty six, and he’s locked up with us for the next eight years. If you look at Tuukka’s numbers from his earlier years in the NHL, it shows that he has only gotten better.
Rask has proven to everyone in Bruins Nation that he can do the job, and he should be our goalie for the forseeable future.
For those who have read my articles in the past, I’ve been pretty open and honest about my hetero man-crush for Tim Thomas. There was a part of me that was hoping that somehow the Bruins would have overlooked all the crazy things that came out of his mouth and his Facebook rants and hire him last season. After the great season Rask had, I knew that the ‘Timmy Time’ clock had finally stopped. (I hope Chad Johnson understands the weight of the #30 he’s just inherited. He’s got to walk in the footsteps of Thomas and Cheevers.) That crease belongs to Rask now, and if he has an equally amazing season this year as he did last year, we’ll see our crease police as a serious contender for the Vezina, Conn Smythe, and Stanley Cup.