Rask’s decision is an anomaly in a league that praises toughness, mental and physical, above all else.
It’s not hard to see where Tuukka Rask’s head is at.
On Thursday night, after the Bruins dropped their Stanley Cup playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2, the Boston netminder was exceptionally candid in his feelings about the NHL playoff bubble. Rask described the atmosphere as “dull” and the games has having an “exhibition” quality to them. There was none of the usual excitement of a Stanley Cup Playoffs he said, as well as admitting that after a full four months off, he was having a hard time finding his physical readiness.
On Saturday morning, just two hours before puck drop for Game 3, the Bruins announced that Rask was opting out for the remainder of the season, choosing to spend time with this family instead.
“I want to be with my teammates competing, but at this moment there are things more important than hockey in my life, and that’s being with my family,” Rask said. “I want to thank the Bruins and my teammates for their support and wish them success.”
This isn’t the first time that Rask has put his family first. In late 2018, Rask took an indefinite leave of absence from the team for a family matter. He returned a few days later, citing a need to “make things right” at home before being able to come back.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Rask had the full support of the team, who have known that Rask has been unhappy in the bubble. He went on to say that Rask wasn’t leaving because of any kind of family emergency.
“His family is safe and healthy. But with a newborn and two other young girls it’s been challenging. It’s nothing specific. Fortunately, his family is healthy. To have their dad back to be around on a regular basis is exactly what Tuukka needs to do at this point in time,” Sweeney said.
If Rask’s earlier comments ruffled the NHL world, his decision to walk away while in the playoff race has drawn thesame, tiresomereaction from many fans, typified by NBC’s Mike Milbury, who framed Rask’s choice to leave as some kind of weakness.
“Nobody simply opted to leave the bubble just because they didn’t want to be here and they needed to be with their family,” Milbury said on NBC’s pre-game show. “I would not have done it, the rest of the league’s players have not done it.”
Milbury’s comments are as exhausting as they are predictable, representative of an outdated mindset that mandates athletes should sacrifice everything for the game. Rask and his partner have two young girls at home, plus a newborn who was born during the NHL pause. With a global pandemic happening, is it really so hard to see why a 33-year-old goaltender, who has undoubtedly sacrificed much to play the game, might chose to prioritize his family instead of the quest for the Cup? Or why being separated from them would strain his mental health?
Athletes aren’t machines, and their lucrative paychecks are no reason to treat them as such. The league and players love to proclaim that “family comes first,” but Rask’s decision to hold true to that cliche is an anomaly in a league that praises toughness, mental and physical, above all else. He’s one of the few players who have said that there are more important things than hockey, and then acted on it.
As the Bruins GM said, Rask didn’t leave because of a family emergency, but to be a more present partner and father, a decision that —in our culture that views any kind of sensitivity from men as anathema —has very little public upside. From the outside, if Boston wins without him, Rask will be painted as the overpaid net-minder they don’t need, despite helping the team win the Presidents’ Trophy this year. If Boston fails to advance past Carolina, he’ll be the guy who selfishly abandoned his team. There is no public scenario here where Rask wins. What he chose to prioritize instead was his own happiness and that of his family’s.
Those flummoxed and upset by his decision would do well to look inward, and see why there’s such anger directed at someone choosing the path that’s best for them. Rask walking away from the Cup shows just how arbitrary the value placed on a sports trophy really is. What he’s daring to do is admit that there’s something more important than victory on the ice, a heresy in the eyes of many sports fans. Sports isn’t everything, and Rask showed that by simply walking away.
