Tuukka Rask is the ultimate lightning rod when it comes to Boston athletes. When the Bruins lose, he's usually the first one to be blamed.
When he's playing well, his critics in the fanbase and media hold back praise and suggest it doesn't matter until or unless he wins the Stanley Cup as a starting goalie.
He's been criticized for not playing through illness. He was criticized for leaving the bubble last year to deal with a family emergency. This postseason he tried to play through injury (revealed on Friday to be a torn labrum in his hip), and some of those same people criticized him for that.
Meeting with reporters via Zoom on Friday for his end-of-season press conference, Rask was asked about the criticism and put things in perspective.
"There’s a reason I don’t read social media, or the news really," Rask said. "Because when you get caught up in that, it might be mentally tough. But it really doesn’t affect me because I don’t hear that noise. I think I’ve said it many times before, but people have opinions, they have the right to say whatever they want to say as long as it’s within good limits. I respect that.
"It doesn’t affect my game. I feel like every time I go out on the town or whatever, people have been really supportive. It’s not like I go to the grocery store and people are throwing eggs at me or yelling at me. That might suck."
Rask also acknowledged the reality that Boston is a championship-or-bust city when it comes to sports, with little else mattering if a player or coach doesn't win a title. (Rask did win the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, but was the backup to Tim Thomas on that team.)
"The Patriots definitely haven’t helped anybody in that regard, because they won championships every year it seemed like," Rask said. "This city only recognizes champions as their heroes. As an athlete, you want to have a chance to win every year, and I think we’ve been very close a few times.
"It’s unfortunate that we haven’t reached that goal yet and I haven’t won the Cup as a playing goalie. I feel like I’ve played good hockey and given us a chance. It’s tough to win. Very few guys can win it. It’s not easy. We’ve definitely tried. I just haven’t been able to close the deal, and that’s the way it is. You just have to deal with it. Maybe it’ll happen, who knows."
Rask will likely be out until January or February after he undergoes hip surgery, but said Friday that he wants to continue playing for the Bruins next season and that he has no intention of playing for another team despite being an unrestricted free agent.
"Like I said before, I'm not going to play for anybody else other than the Bruins," Rask said. "This is our home. We have three kids. The kids enjoy it here. They have friends and school. At this point in my life and career, I don't see any reason to go anywhere else."
Several of Rask's teammates came to his defense when asked about the criticism he gets, including Charlie Coyle.
"The criticism he gets is just insane," Coyle said. "It's gotta be people who just don't watch closely or what, but we all know what Tuukka brings and how good he is, what he plays through, what he's done for us and the organization. For anyone to criticize him... I guess someone used the word 'bozo' before. It's just stupid.
"Tuukka's one of the best goalies and he's been doing it for however long now, playing through stuff. Most people don't know what goes on behind the scenes and what guys go through, what he plays through. And he does it pretty well. We love Tuukks. We know what he brings every day. I think Tuukks knows that."
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