Tuukka Rask Announces His Retirement From NHL
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tuukka Rask has ended his comeback bid. The Bruins goaltender announced his retirement Wednesday evening.
Rask attempted a comeback with the Bruins this season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn hip labrum last summer, signing a one-year contract with Boston in January. The 34-year-old appeared in only four games, going 2-2 with a 4.28 goals against average.
He released a lengthy statement to announce his retirement Wednesday evening.
"Over these last few weeks, I've realized that my body is not responding the way it needs to for me to play at the level I expect of myself and that my teammates and Bruins fans deserve," Rask wrote. "Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from the game of hockey."
Rask spent his entire 15-year career with the Bruins and will go down as one of the franchise's best goaltenders. He retires Boston's all-time leader in wins with 308, and his .9210 save percentage is second in franchise history, behind only Tim Thomas' .9214 save percentage. Rask won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender for the 2013-14 season, when he was 36-15-6 with a 2.04 GAA and .930 save percentage.
Rask helped the Bruins make the playoffs in seven of his 15 seasons, including three Stanley Cup Final appearances. The Bruins won it in 2011 when Rask was a backup to Thomas, before Rask led the team to the Cup Finals in both 2013 and 2017.
"I have never wanted to play for any other team," he wrote Wednesday. "I am so proud to have worn the Spoked-B for my entire career and wouldn't have had it any other way."
