Bruins notebook: Rask decision “very difficult,” said Don Sweeney

The Tuukka Rask experiment did end the way that either the goaltender or the Bruins had wanted, but GM Don Sweeney believes both the netminder and the team did everything they could to make it happen.

The decision was not an easy one, said GM Don Sweeney, as Rask battled multiple health issues with both his surgically repaired and his back.

“Yeah, we’ve had some tough conversations, especially with the commitment he’s made to get back to give himself an opportunity to get to play at the level he expected to return to,” said Sweeney on Thursday. “When it didn’t meet those things, he started to realize his body was not going to hold up. And he made a very difficult decision.”

After his rehab starts in Providence were scuttled because of COVID issues, the decision was made to give him his first game action at the NHL level. Sweeney does not believe a short stint in Providnc would have changed much..

“Probably the end result would have been the same, given his body’s response to game activity. He did an awful a lot of work from a conditioning standpoint,” said Sweeney. “Not having been in training camp and not having been here since the start of the season, some of those things may (have helped). But again, the results may have been the same. The hip and his back started to give him some concerns on a daily basis, not just when he was going into games. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t test it down in Providence, which was what the plan was. But ultimately the result would have been the same.”

Despite the disappointing end, Rask’s place in the team’s pantheon is secure. He’s first in many goaltending categories, starting with career wins (308).

“I was there when he threw the milk crates out onto the ice,” said Sweeney, remembering the young goalie’s comical meltdown early in his career in Providence. “And he turned into just an unflappable guy that, I think all his teammates acknowledge, gave you a chance to win with him every night.”

Rask may have had the odd blips over his career, and he took his fair share of heat for them. And then some.

“He’s played a position with a lot of scrutiny over the years, like quarterbacks, and maybe relief pitchers in baseball. But for him, I thought he handled it well, with a lot of grace over the years,” said coach Bruce Cassidy. “He was a good teammate. I thank him for all his work. And I’m glad he retired as a Bruin. I think that meant a lot to him as well.”

Now the job falls to Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. Ullmark has nudged ahead in the competition, but not so much that the fight for playing time is over. With the way the way schedule calls for the B’s to play nearly every other night till the end of the season, both will get their chances to play. When (and if) the playoffs come, it is still determined who’ll get the net.

“We’ll find a balance between those two players,” said Sweeney. “You generally get a goaltender that’s leading, but if they’re tired, we’ll rotate and go back and forth. But generally, you do get a goaltender that emerges that is capable of taking the net. At this point Linus has won a lot of hockey games in the month of January so you hope that continues.”

No timetable on Bergeron

Sweeney said that there was “no time frame, whatsoever” for captain Patrice Bergeron. The GM said Bergeron suffered a laceration on the back of his head. He did not say that Bergeron suffered another concussion when his head hit the boards on Tuesday night, but the abundance of caution both Sweeney and Cassidy have said the team will use suggests that’s a distinct possibility.

Now, with Bergeron out for the foreseeable future, and with Brad Marchand just handed a six-game suspension, their healthy playoff cushion could evaporate quickly. Sweeney will have some cold, hard evaluating to do between now and the March 21 trade deadline.

“We’re a committed organization that’s trying to win. We’ve been that way since I’ve stepped in here. We’ve had pivot points from attacking from a development standpoint. If you’d asked me in the first period the other night, I was in a pretty good frame of mind. If you asked me after the game, I wasn’t,” said Sweeney. “That’s just our wins and losses. But it doesn’t change our daily approach. We have plans in place to hopefully add to this group. We have to evaluate and the five weeks leading up are really important, as to where your team’s at, what the trajectory is and how healthy your team is. We’ll have have to take that into consideration. The vast majority of teams will look at it that way.”

Marchand’s actions “immature”

Without absolving Marchand’s actions that led to his suspension, Sweeney didn’t sound wild about the number of games Marchand received.

“As far as the suspension itself, as with the previous suspension, we’re respectful to the Department of Player Safety and how they see things. I didn’t agree with it then, in terms of what the judgment was. I don’t have a vote coming out of this one. In all levels of management, I do believe there’s checks and balances and you can re-evaluate the process and see if you can do things better. I feel the same way in this regard,” said Sweeney. “Brad is remorseful. He feels he let his team, as well as himself and everybody (down). He didn’t shun the fact that he was immature in what his decision was in allowing his emotions to control himself in that situation. He can’t unwind. The damage has been done. We have to move forward. And hopefully he can.”

While it’s hard to excuse Marchand’s actions, one might imagine the Bruins are little irritated on some of the hits that have gotten against them – including Garnet Hathaway’s hit on Marchand and Yanni Gourde’s hit from behind on Urho Vaakanainen – that did not receive supplemental discipline. Vaakanainen is back skating but has not played since that February 1.

“Does the punishment fit the crime, with both (Marchand’s suspensions)? No one was really injured yet. But punishment can act as a deterrent, too, right? (The DoPS) has to battle through that process, and I respect that,” aid Cassidy. “But, yeah, sometimes we’ve lost guys. Vaak hasn’t played since that hit. So that’s unfortunate. I don’t know if its irritation (that the club is feeling). Sometimes it’s the hand your dealt and you play through it.”

This and that

While David Krejci left the door open for a return to the Bruins in an interview with the AP at the Olympics, Sweeney said he last talked to the centerman around the first of the year.

Krejci’s season in Czechia has to be done by the March 21 deadline and then he would have to go through waivers.

“If the opportunity presents itself, I’m sure there’ll be several teams that have had the same conversation we would,” said Sweeney….

Jack Studnicka was recalled from Providence and was slate to play between Trent Frederic, playing his first game since getting injured on Jan. 10, and Nick Foligno. Oskar Steen was the odd man out.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/HURpYAE