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All is good on the Tuukka Rask front

November 13, 2018, 1:06 PM ET [4 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
On Friday the Bruins announced that Tuukka Rask was taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons. At the time the extent of the absence was unknown, as well as the exact reason causing the leave.

Twitter became flooded with absurd and unnecessary rumors, some attacking the character of Rask, who yes, has not played well at all on the ice.

On Tuesday, Rask returned to practice and addressed the media.

“First and foremost I want to thank all the people who were sending messages and contacted me and supported me. Second of all, I want to thank the Boston Bruins for giving me the opportunity to take time off with my family. I’ve never been more proud to a part of this family—the Boston Bruins. We talk about it a lot, that this [team] is a family and we are a family and we take care of each other when times are tough. With that being said, I have a job, and my job is to be a hockey goalie for the Boston Bruins, and I also have another job title and that’s a family man. This was a time deep inside my heart where I felt like I needed to take time with my family and make things right, so I can be back here and focus on my job. That took three days. I’m back here. I’m back to work and I’m ready to battle with these guys. At the end of the day, I realize that a hockey career is a very short career, but your life is much longer than that. So, I appreciate that I got the privacy and the time I needed, and I’m ready to move on now”

Rask did not reveal what the personal issues facing him were, and nor should he. It’s none of our business. Rask absolutely did the right thing. The Bruins will head for Denver later Tuesday and will be away from home for the next five days, with road games coming up in Denver on Wednesday, Dallas Friday and Arizona on Saturday.

For Rask, taking a leave of absence was a decision that came together rather quickly, despite the difficult decision of doing so.

“Yeah, those are not easy decisions and things happen in people’s lives and you kind of do some soul searching, try to seek the best answers,” said Rask. “You know, like I said, there was a time where deep inside I felt like this was my decision and my time to step to my family and make that call and I couldn’t be happier I did it.”

None of us know how long this has been an issue for Rask and his family, but if it’s something that has been ongoing, it’s very unfair to say it’s why Rask has gotten off to a slow start in the 2018-19 season.

“It doesn’t matter, it hasn’t affected my job. I’m not going to make excuses that I played good games or bad games because of my personal life. Strictly it’s just a time that I felt deep inside that I needed to take this and do for my families future,” added Rask.

Regardless of your job, or your salary, it’s never an easy or comfortable situation anytime you have to go to your boss, or bosses and tell them you are unable to do your job for any period of time. But when Rask sat down with general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Bruce Cassidy about his decision to take a leave, he was met with open arms.

“Like I said, it goes to show how much people care in this organization about the players whoever the employee may be,” said Rask. “It’s a family and like they said they want to take care of me as a human being and not a hockey player and I am very grateful that was the case.”

As much as playing in the National Hockey League is an honor, a dream so many never come close to, family comes first and is more important than a game that the world’s best get paid to play. As important as his family and getting this situation right meant to Rask, moving on from hockey was never an option.

“Not that far off, but I think it was just a decision I needed some clarity and time away and make things right. So I can focus on both things at a high level, but resigning and quitting the job wasn’t a question,” said Rask. “I think in a big scheme of things, if you take two or three days and get back out there, it’s not going to affect your career that much. But if you decide to quit, I don’t think that’s the right decision.”

The Bruins played back-to-back contests this weekend without Rask. Bouncing back from an ugly loss Thursday night against the Canucks, Jaroslav Halak made a combined 77 saves in a pair of Bruins wins over the Maple Leafs and Golden Knights.

Whatever the issue Rask was dealing with prevented him from watching every second of each win, but Rask was happy to see the team pick up both wins during his absence.

“It was a bit difficult, but I did watch them a little bit. I did have things I had to deal with, obviously,” said Rask.

“So I wasn’t watching the full games, but I was happy the guys played great games and that’s what we needed to do against the Leafs, battle back. So you know, it was a great weekend.”
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