First, WEEI midday host Lou Merloni insulted Celtics diehards with his critiques of Al Horford. Now, Merloni has drawn the ire of Bruins play-by-play man Jack Edwards over his criticisms of goaltender Tuukka Rask.
Rask has been one of the most closely watched Bruins this postseason, with skeptics questioning his playoff fortitude. Though Rask's career playoff numbers are quite good –– 32-22 record, .926 save percentage –– two Bruins meltdowns have defined him. In 2010, he was in net when the Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead against the Flyers. Three years later, he surrendered two goals in 17 seconds in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Blackhawks, resulting in the Bruins' elimination.
Rask allowed four goals Wednesday in the Bruins' Game 7 victory over the Maple Leafs, though he can't be blamed for all of them. The third goal was deflected off Kevan Miller's stick. There's not much a goalie can do about that.
Merloni, like many, brought up some of Rask's high-profile failures when discussing the Toronto series. In a Toronto radio interview this week, Edwards lambasted Merloni for his negativity, and called out sports talk radio in general.
"I know Lou. I respect him for having made it into a major league debut, where he spent most of his playing career," Edwards said. "But you've got to understand, in the land of spoiled children, which is what Boston sports fans are, Tuukka Rask's career is defined by 17 seconds in Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals. When you have two different talk radio stations in a market that has been just an embarrassment of riches since the turn of the century, they have to talk about something controversial, and Tuukka Rask is the easiest guy to throw under the bus."
Like the quarterback in football or starting pitcher in baseball, goaltenders are often subjected to the most scrutiny in hockey. That's because their performance has the most tangible direct impact on the game's result. It shouldn't be a surprise to Edwards, or any hockey media type, that goalies receive a larger part of the blame when things go wrong.
