Boston Bruins Rask Announces NHL Retirement

After speculation first arose when Tuukka Rask continued to be away from the team coming out of the NHL All-Star break, the Boston Bruins goaltender formally announced his retirement via the team’s twitter account on Wednesday afternoon.

“I’ve never wanted to play for any other team,” said Rask, in part while saying his 35-year-old body didn’t respond to the comeback in the way he’d hoped it would. “I’m so proud to have worn the Spoked-B for my entire career and wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Rask had returned for four starts after signing a one-year deal with the team in January after rehabbing from summer hip surgery, but it was clear based on his performance (4.28 goals against average, .844 save percentage) that something wasn’t quite right with the veteran goaltender. Then Boston Hockey Now confirmed on Tuesday night that Rask was indeed leaning toward retirement and the Boston Bruins were planning on a Jeremy Swayman/Linus Ullmark tandem moving forward.

Here’s the statement in full.

A statement from Tuukka Rask.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/Lae4E8rLfI

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 9, 2022

Here’s the entire statement from Rask calling it a career after a 15-year run with the Black and Gold that left him as the winningest goaltender (304 career wins) in Boston Bruins history and a goal that went to three Stanley Cup Finals while in Boston. Rask was on the losing end as the No. 1 guy in both 2013 and again in heartbreaking fashion in a 2019 in a tough Game 7 loss at home, but he’s widely regarded as the greatest goalie in Boston Bruins’ long franchise history.

More on Rask’s retirement in a bit.