In their two seasons together, Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak have been arguably the best goaltending tandem in the NHL.
The two Bruins veterans have also become close friends, something any team would like for their two goalies to be, but which can sometimes be difficult given the built-in competition for playing time that comes with the position.
“They do, and I think that helps in the locker room,” coach Bruce Cassidy said of their friendship Monday. “That position is a little bit, I don’t want to say unique, but there’s only one other guy you’re usually competing with. If it’s not going well for him, it can be advantageous for you, right?
“It’s human nature almost to, not root for the guy to not do well, but if he doesn’t, you know you get a little extra look. They’ve been able to sort of put that in the rearview mirror and not worry about that sort of stuff and just play and support one another and encourage one another and pick each other up and form a friendship in the meantime. That’s great.”
Rask and Halak are usually right next to each other in the locker room. They talk all the time and share notes and feedback. When Rask left the Toronto bubble this summer to deal with a family emergency back home, Halak was the teammate he talked to the most in the days and weeks that followed.
The two won’t be as close this season, though, at least not literally. Given the importance of the goalie position and the risk of potentially losing both if one were to test positive for COVID-19 or come in close contact with someone who had, the Bruins are trying to keep Rask and Halak physically separated as much as possible.
Cassidy compared it to the situation the Denver Broncos ran into during this NFL season, when they had to play a game without a quarterback because one had tested positive and the other three were all determined to be close contacts because they had been in the same room for a prolonged period of time without wearing masks.
So, how do the Bruins make sure that doesn’t happen with their goalie position? Well, they won’t be sitting around chatting at their lockers, for one. They won’t be attending the same meetings either, even if that means having to hold basically the same meeting twice (which is something that will happen across position groups, not just at goalie).
“Goalies, if they’re getting together with [goalie coach Bob Essensa], they’ll usually huddle around his desk and they’re going through some video and they’re in tight quarters. You just can’t do that anymore,” Cassidy said. “You’ve gotta try to get people more spread out, with doors open. There’s a lot of meetings going on now with doors open. Those are some areas we have to adjust. Even for example, going forward, we have a big video room, we probably have to put Tuukka with one group if we’re doing a team video, with maybe three-to-four defense and six forwards, and then do another one with the [other group].
“As opposed to bringing in both goalies at once, which is much easier to discuss maybe when goalies handle the puck and communicating with their D when you have them all in the same room at the same time. So you’re doing a lot of the same meetings twice, basically, with groups that are a bit out of position that way. That’s one of the better ways to avoid risk. We saw it with, I’ll use the Denver Broncos quarterback room for example. Sometimes we have to look at that and say, hey, how do we keep these guys apart?”
On the road, it’ll likely mean Rask and Halak being on different buses from the hotel to the rink and back, just in case someone on one bus later tests positive. The Bruins could also do Zoom meetings as a team and avoid meeting rooms all together on the road if they’re not comfortable with how much space they have at a certain hotel or arena.
“All those little things you just take for granted before, we have to sort of manage, and it becomes a little more important when you’re dealing with the goaltenders,” Cassidy said. “It’s tough enough to lose one in-season. Imagine losing two of them at the same time? That would be tough for any team, so we have to make sure that position is planned accordingly as much as is realistic.”