The Boston Bruins being in the Stanley Cup Finals is no fluke and the reason being has been the incredible play of their players. The most incredible of all of them has to be Tuukka Rask, who has made the strongest case to be the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the MVP of the playoffs to this point.
For years, the debate in Boston has been if Tuukka Rask was good enough to help the Boston Bruins win a cup, especially following the loss in 2013 to the Chicago Blackhawks in the final. Sports personalities and fans alike had remained divided on the type of player Rask is, with the debate arising during the season and in the off-season, with fans even calling for the former Vezina Trophy winner to be traded. To put it easily, Rask has shut out the noise these playoffs to put up a legendary Conn Smythe-worthy performance so far.
Currently, Tuukka is sitting at seven straight victories in the play-offs following the sweep of the Hurricanes, where he dazzled again. Rask is 12-5 in the playoffs overall with an incredible 1.84 GAA and .942 Save Percentage, which leads the playoffs for goalies in each respective statistic.
His career stats in the playoffs aren’t bad in any way either, as although 47-35 isn’t something to really write home about, the 2.17 goals against average and 0.928 save percentage are still some awesome numbers. The 2.17 goals against average is Top 25 all-time whilst the 0.928 save percentage is fifth best in the history of the Stanley Cup play-offs.
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Statistics say only so much when it leads to winning an award, but Rask has been the most calm, cooled and collected fans have ever seen him.
Color commentator Mike Milbury had to finally agree that he was outperforming the Blue Jackets’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in the second round of the playoffs. Milbury is one of many in the media who has been on the side of blaming Rask for much of the faults in the Boston Bruins past playoff appearances. Him admitting Rask has been the best proves that this could be his year for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Another factor to bring up is that the last time the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011, goaltender Tim Thomas won that years’ Conn Smythe Trophy. Having the top goaltender in the playoffs has been the Boston Bruins top reason for success and many can agree that is the same reason they sit in the Stanley Cup Final once again, waiting to see who their opponent will be.
To all the haters, Tuukka Rask is good and you have to accept it. He always has been.
His legacy is close to finding its resting point as one of the best Boston Bruins goalies to ever don the black and gold. As we anticipate the beginning of the Cup, we can only hope that Rask still has seven unbelievable performances left in him to help guarantee a Stanley Cup victory.
If Rask can lead the Bruins to another Stanley Cup, his legacy has officially been complete. But until then, the thought of a possible Conn Smythe will be the talk as we near closer and closer to Game 1, Rask can see his legacy ahead.