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Tuukka Rask leaves little room for doubt about her departure from the Toronto bubble.
Rask left the bubble ahead of Game 3 of the Boston Bruins’ first-round playoff series for what later turned out to be a family emergency. He never returned to Toronto as the Bruins were knocked out by eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the next round, so his appearance at training camp is the first time he’s been seen in some time.
Rask said on Wednesday how disastrous it was for him to return to Boston.
“It was a tough decision to leave, but again it wasn’t because I knew it was more important for me to be home at the time, so it was easy going Rask said at a Zoom conference. “But also, on the other hand, knowing that you can’t be there, you should be there to play hockey, so it’s hard to watch the games – you get kind of caught in the middle, your brain is spinning. sort of like that knowing you’ve come to the right place home, but then again, you should be there. So it was tough for a few weeks, but it helped (that) I was talking to (Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak) a lot, I was talking to a lot of guys who were supportive, they knew what was going on. There was that.
“(An emergency) was the reason I left,” Rask said later. “I got a call the day before – it all happened so fast I think (Bruins general manager Don Sweeney) was taken by surprise as well. Got a phone call the night before that our daughter was really not so well at the time, they had to call an ambulance and everything. So obviously at that point my mind was spinning, I was thinking, “I have to get out of here.” So the next morning I informed (Sweeney) and we had a brief chat and then I just left.
Since returning to Boston, Rask and his family have stayed behind, choosing not to return to Finland for an extended period. He has been in contact with his teammates periodically and making his return to camp has not been awkward.
“No problem coming here,” Rask said. “We have been in contact throughout the summer and had discussions about everything that is going on in life with our teammates, and there is no problem coming back.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said on Tuesday Rask appeared to be in a good position, estimating the goaltender would likely reach 33-34 games this season.
Thumbnail photo via John E. Sokolowski / USA TODAY Sports Images
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