On Friday, the Bruins announced that they have granted goalie Tuukka Rask a leave of absence due to a personal matter.
How long his absence will last is unknown.
“Tuukka is going to take a few days to address a personal matter. It’s not health related,” General Manager Don Sweeney said Friday. “It’s important to respect his privacy and allow him to deal with it for the next few days.”
Rask came off the bench last night in relief of Jaroslav Halak in the Bruins 8-5 loss at TD Garden to the Vancouver Canucks. He was not present during the team’s practice Friday morning at Warrior Ice Arena.
When the news broke this morning, Bruins twitter had many different opinions about the situation and some of those irked me.
You want to bash Rask when he lets in a soft goal? Fine. You want to bash Rask when he doesn’t make that big save he should? Fine. You want to bash Rask when he’s too sick to play in the Bruins biggest game of the season? Fine. But, please don’t bash Rask for taking a leave of absence to deal with a personal issue that you know absolutely nothing about.
Believe it or not, hockey players are the same amount of human as you and I. Just because their paychecks and jobs are ones we all wish we had, doesn’t mean they don’t have families and feelings just like you and I.
Too much I saw today was questioning the truth behind the absence. Too much I saw were jokes about how it’s a way for Rask to avoid ballooning his ugly 3.05 goals-against average or worsening his .901 save percentage.
Until, and if we even do find out what caused the absence, no one should say anything about the leave, other than hoping everything with Rask and his family is okay.
It’s fine to stick to your anti-Rask agenda when it pertains to anything involving Rask on the ice, but attacking or questioning Rask for this absence is childish.
With back-to-back games on tap Saturday against the Maple Leafs and Sunday against the Golden Knights, head coach Bruce Cassidy named Halak the starter for Saturday, and indicated they’re likely to go back to him on Sunday. The Bruins will also recall a goalie from Providence prior to Saturday’s contest.
Thank you guys for allowing me to rant!
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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