Longtime Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask announced his retirement Wednesday after playing 15 seasons with the organization.
Rask, 34, played four games during the 2021-22 campaign after working his way back from offseason hip surgery. Rask, in a statement published by the Bruins, credited the injury as a reason why he ultimately had to call it a career.
“Today is a day that I hoped would never come. But now that it’s here, I feel I owe it to everyone to hear it from me,” Rask wrote. “When I made the decision to have surgery on my hip last summer, I did so knowing that the road to recovery would be challenging. I also knew it was something I would have to do if I wanted to give myself a chance to play my best hockey again.
“… 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.
“Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from the game of hockey.”
You can read Rask’s full statement here:
Rask was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round (No. 21 overall) in the 2005 NHL Draft and was traded to the Bruins. Rask went on to win the Vezina Trophy in 2013-14 and was a two-time NHL All-Star. He played a franchise-record 564 regular-season games (543 starts) for the organization while compiling a franchise-record 308 wins.
