Tuukka Rask has a history of being forthright with the media, and that created a stir late Thursday night.
The Boston Bruins netminder, following his team’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series, explained that the games felt more like exhibitions than playoffs to him.
His teammates came to his defense about the remarks, and they don’t sound the least bit concerned about his focus. And on Friday afternoon, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy issued his response to what Rask said.
“I didn’t speak to him after his comments. Tuukka, I think the Boston media knows him well enough — he answers his questions the way he feels,” Cassidy told reporters on a video conference. “It is a unique environment, but to me, there’s playoff intensity on the ice. You’ve just gotta control what you can control when you’re a player.
“In my situation, as a coach, the way I look at it, at the end of the day, they’re gonna hand out the Stanley Cup this year. So we’ve gotta play our best hockey if we want to be that team. That was our goal at the start of the year. We didn’t anticipate it would end up in an environment like this, but here it is, right? You play the hand you’re dealt, and you prepare yourself — and in my case prepare the team — in this case, for Game 3, to play our best hockey game and that’s what my focus is on right now, plain and simple. That’s what we’re gonna do tonight and puck drop tomorrow at noon, we’re gonna put our best foot forward.”
Indeed, Rask’s candor always has been admirable, whether or not his sentiment is roundly agreed to or not.
