Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask has opted out of the NHL playoffs.
The team introduced the transform on Twitter on Saturday morning, a lot less than two hrs right before their 3rd game in their series in opposition to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I want to be with my teammates competing, but at this moment there are matters a lot more crucial than hockey in my lifestyle, and that is becoming with my relatives,” Rask mentioned in a statement. “I want to thank the Bruins and my teammates for their guidance and wish them achievement.”
The Bruins are at present tied 1-1 in their series against the Hurricanes.
Jaroslav Halak will get around setting up goalie duties for the Bruins.
#NHLBruins goalie Tuukka Rask has opted out of the NHL’s Return to Play: pic.twitter.com/r3c7wjaTwR
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When the NHL first returned to enjoy, Rask missed the start of the play-in because of to COVID-19 concerns. Right after stories of a cough, he quarantined for two times in his hotel space ahead of staying authorized to hit the ice.
Rask hasn’t been shy about his criticism when it arrives to the playoff ecosystem in Toronto. While you are trying to engage in as tough as you can, he stated, the series “isn’t going to really experience like playoff hockey out there.”
“You can find no enthusiasts, so it is sort of like enjoying an exhibition game,” he reported, incorporating that even though there can nonetheless be scrums soon after the whistle, “you can find no ambiance.”
Don Sweeney, the Bruins’ typical supervisor, said Rask’s feedback weren’t connected to his departure but acknowledged that he was obtaining a “challenging time staying away in this atmosphere.”
“This is playoff hockey, let us make no slip-up about it,” Sweeney said during a media availability ahead of Recreation 3 on Saturday. “Tuukka, in his have suitable, felt that he needed to be in other places fairly than becoming below in this recent condition.
“He is the identical goaltender that went to the Stanley Cup finals in a Match 7 last year … and he’ll be the very same participant when we get up and functioning all over again up coming year.”
In this article are Tuukka Rask’s full remarks on the ambiance up in Toronto: pic.twitter.com/5qQU4BDA3N
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And though Rask did not give any indicator to the staff that he was “absolutely” heading to opt out, Sweeney said the determination did not occur as a shock.
“The precedence for Tuukka at this stage and time — and rightfully so — has to be his relatives, and we support that,” he claimed, incorporating that Rask’s household is balanced and risk-free.
The Bruins goalie has three daughters, just one of them a newborn.
Rask is a person of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s leading goaltender.
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