Rask at Ferncroft CC

MIDDLETON, Mass. – There are a couple schools of thought when talking about Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas both returning as the Bruins’ goaltending tandem for the 2010-11 season.

At least publicly, we now know what Rask’s position is in the matter.

“We had an awesome time last year and it’s a fair competition for both of us,” the 23-year-old said before teeing off at Shawn Thornton’s Putts and Punches for Parkinson’s golf tournament at Ferncroft Country Club. “I think it’s healthy for a team and for us too when nobody takes anything for granted. We liked it and hopefully that continues.”

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Thomas

Now that the odds his 2010-11 Bruins squad will feature a No. 2 goaltender making $5 million and a No. 1 taking home a little more than $1 million increased, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has to accept the market for a 36-year-old Tim Thomas just might not be what he thought it would be heading into the offseason.

With teams like San Jose, Atlanta and Tampa Bay addressing their goaltender needs in free agency today, there are fewer potential homes for Thomas. So Chiarelli is already wrapping his mind around a potential second season of Thomas and Tuukka Rask being together in Boston.

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Rask/By S. Bradley

If as a fan you enjoyed watching Tuukka Rask’s rookie season, imagine how the Bruins scouts and player personnel people felt as the star goaltender dominated the NHL with a league-leading save percentage and goals-against average.

Someone like Director of Player Personnel Scott Bradley was in on the decision to trade for Rask and watched his closely from his time with Finland at the World Junior Championship all the way through his breakout 2009-10 season. (more…)

Rask/By S. Bradley

Let the record show that on May 14, in the 58th game of his NHL rookie season, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask proved that he’s human.

All season long, we wondered if anything short of throwing a lit firecracker in his skate would get Rask to flinch, to change his emotional level, to prove there’s blood and now ice water running through his veins.

As it turned out, it took a Game 7 in an Eastern Conference semifinal series with Philadelphia – and a date with one of the most infamous records in sports – to make Rask look antsy and a bit overactive. (more…)

Rask

BOSTON – The Bruins can hope that winger Mark Recchi wasn’t just getting carried away in the hoopla of a first-round playoff series victory over Buffalo and rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask’s 2.18 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in the six-game triumph when he started comparing the Boston puck-stopper to a Conn Smythe winner.

“That’s incredible,” the 42-year-old two-time Stanley Cup champion Recchi said. “I saw it in ’06 in Carolina with Cam Ward [when the Hurricanes won the Cup]. When they’re technically sound as these young guys are and they believe in what they do, they can stay composed because they are so structurally sound as goalies and he doesn’t let anything bother him.

“He just plays the game. He doesn’t let that goal bother him. He just plays the next one and competes.” (more…)

Rask

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask led the league in goals-against average and save percentage, and willed the Bruins into the playoffs despite the worst offense in the league, but those qualifications did nothing to impress the voters of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

The finalists were announced for the Calder Trophy today, and Detroit’s Jimmy Howard, Colorado’s Matt Duchesne and Buffalo’s Tyler Myers made the cut. I’ve already made my case for Rask’s inclusion over both Howard and Duchesne. (more…)

WILMINGTON, Mass. – Bruins rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask admits he made a mistake when the Providence Bruins, as owners of the best record in the American Hockey League, opened the 2008 Calder Cup playoffs.

Rask now believes that his first run as a starting goaltender in the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring won’t be anything like that first failed foray into the AHL postseason, when the highly favored P-Bruins fell in the Atlantic Division finals partly because of some poor play from Rask.

“Maybe my first year, I was a little too excited,” said Rask, after his first NHL playoff practice today at Ristuccia Arena. “I knew we had a great team and I think I got carried away there. Last year, I played the same way I did during the year, and I didn’t change a thing, and I think that was the biggest difference in those two years. I learned how to keep myself calm.” (more…)

Now we get to find out what Bruins rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask is really made of.

His reputation as a cool customer with ice water flowing through his veins was tested down the stretch, as the Bruins played weeks worth of games at a playoff intensity just to get into the postseason. He passed the regular-season exam. Now the Finnish phenom will get his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (more…)

Rask

Beyond the whole Phil Kessel storyline and the questions surrounding the first-round picks the Bruins received from Toronto for this and next summer, there’s one heck of a rivalry starting to build between Boston and Toronto.

And for years to come that rivalry might be centered around the two players that starred more than all others tonight at Air Canada Centre — young goaltenders Tuukka Rask for Boston and Jonas Gustavsson for Toronto. (more…)

Rask gets his Seventh Player Award.

BOSTON — There’s always a debate among Bruins fans leading up to the announcement of the Seventh Player Award winner about who is most deserving.

Fans vote for the player they deem to have exceeded expectations over the course of the season, and they take pride in making an appropriate selection. Before the name of this year’s winner even left the lips of ceremony emcee Jack Edwards prior to Thursday night’s game at TD Garden, it was obvious the majority of the 17,565 on hand had their preference.

First came the “Toook” chant from the fans. Then Edwards revealed the winner, and the rookie goaltender — once projected as Boston’s No. 2 behind incumbent Tim Thomas — skated to the Zamboni entrance to receive his award.

To read the rest of this story, log on to ESPNBoston.com.

BOSTON — Bruins rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask was announced as the winner of the 2010 NESN Seventh Player Award winner, as voted by the fans to the player deemed to have “gone above and beyond the call of duty and exceeded expectations.”

Rask will be given $5,000 to donate to the charity of his choice.

More later.

Thomas

BOSTON — Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Tim Thomas gets a start. Tim Thomas plays great. Tim Thomas gets a second straight start and plays so poorly he gets the hook.

A chart of Thomas’ play this season would look a lot like a drawing of the Rocky Mountains at this stage of the season, and he hit a new low against Buffalo tonight with three goals allowed on 14 shots at TD Garden. (more…)

Rask

Just call it a Rask repeat. It sure has a nice ring.

For the second straight week, Tuukka Rask is my Bruin of the Week. The rookie went 2-0-1, including a shootout win over Minnesota, in his three starts for Boston. (more…)

Rask

The battle for my Bruin of the Week award was a two-horse race this week, but in the end Tuukka Rask’s heroics in goal were too great to pass up. (more…)

Rask

BOSTON — Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask today signed a two-year contract extension. The 22-year-old would have been a restricted free agent after the season.

“We liked what we saw in each of the camps. We saw progression in his training camps,” said general manager Peter Chiarelli, who said talks with Rask’s camp opened up during training camp. “We saw progression in the American Hockey League. And it was enough for us to decide to come to a deal.”

For more, log on to ESPNBoston.com.