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Bruins Wrap

Bruins Wrap: Rask Retires, Six For Marchand, St. Louis New Habs Coach

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Boston Bruins

In what was maybe one of the busiest news days of the year for the NHL on Wednesday, the Boston Bruins were a big part of the headlines.

Longtime Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask announced his retirement Wednesday afternoon. Four hours later, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand had been suspended six games. 

North of the border, the Bruins’ biggest rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, stunned the NHL world. After firing head coach Dominique Ducharme not even a full season into a four-year contract, they hired hall of famer and Stanley Cup champion Marty St. Louis as their interim head coach.

That and more in the latest BHN Wrap:

Boston Bruins

Congratulations to Tuukka Rask on an amazing career and retiring with the only team he’s ever played for, the Boston Bruins. The winningest goalie in franchise history, who won a Vezina Trophy and led his team to two Stanley Cup Finals, retired on Wednesday.

My BHN partner-in-crime, Joe Haggerty, and I will forever disagree, but I stand by my belief that despite the fact that Rask never won a Stanley Cup as a starter, he is the best goalie to ever play for the Boston Bruins. 

The stats prove it and the Tuukka haters will be hearing the classic Cinderella tune soon:

 

 

About four hours after Rask retired, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that they had suspended Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand for the second time this season. After a three-game suspension for slew-footing Vancouver Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in late November, Marchand will now sit for six games for roughing and high-sticking Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry Tuesday night in a 4-2 loss to the Pens. 

Former Boston Bruins center David Krejci may not be ruling out a return to the Boston Bruins but unless the B’s can somehow work some side deal with all the teams that will get dibs on him on the waiver wire, he’s not coming back. 

National Hockey Now

After being embarrassed for a third-straight time on home ice in a 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Dominique Ducharme Wednesday afternoon. A few hours later, new Habs general manager Kent Hughes kept his promise of going outside the box and hired hall of famer and Stanley Cup champion Marty St. Louis. St. Louis has never coached at any pro level, let alone the NHL but the Habs need drastic changes and in the opinion of this puck scribe, this bold move just may work out in the future.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman/forward and radio analyst Phil Bourque called out NESN Bruins play-by-play man Jack Edwards for his homer coverage of Marchand’s actions Tuesday night. Talk about the pot calling the kettle. 

The Washington Capitals definitely tried to acquire Chicago Blackhawks and former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury but Pens fans can rest easy as apparently, the deal fell through.

The Philadelphia Flyers named former Flyers forward and fan-favorite Daniel Briere as their new special assistant to the GM. 

NHL

The St. Louis Blues signed head coach Craig Berube, who led his team to the 2019 Stanley Cup over the Bruins, to a three-year extension. 

Trust me, I’m no fan of Evander Kane, but unlike Marchand, he chose a d-man over the goalie and that’s why he likely won’t face any supplemental discipline for this.

 

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