Rask Returns from Leave of Absence

BOSTON - After taking a few days to tend to a personal matter, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask rejoined the team on Tuesday and was back on the ice for practice at Warrior Ice Arena. The netminder addressed the media following the session and thanked his teammates and the organization for their support.
"First and foremost, I want to thank all the people who sent messages and contacted me and supported me," said Rask, who was granted a leave of absence last Friday. "Second of all, I want to thank the Boston Bruins for giving me the opportunity to take time off with my family. I've never been more proud to be a part of this family, the Boston Bruins…we talk about it a lot, this is a family, we are a family, and we take care of each other when times are tough."

Rask, who has been with the Bruins since he entered the league in 2007, said he needed the time away to be with his family, but is now focused on getting back to his job on the ice.
"My job is to be a hockey goalie for the Boston Bruins. I also have another job title and that's a family man," said Rask, who responded affirmatively when asked if everything was OK with his family. "This was a time that I felt deep inside my heart that I needed to be with my family and make things right so I could get back here and focus on my job. That took three days, I'm back here, I'm back to work, and I'm ready to battle with these guys.
"At the end of the day, I realized that a hockey career is a very short career, but your life is much longer than that. I appreciate that I got the privacy at the time I needed. I'm ready to move on now."

The 31-year-old Finland native also expressed his thanks to general manager Don Sweeney and coach Bruce Cassidy for their understanding of the situation.
"It goes to show how much people in this organization care about players and whoever the employee may be," said Rask. "It's a family. Like they said, they want to take care of me as a human being, not as a hockey player. I'm very grateful that that was the case."
Rask said he did not contemplate stepping away from the game entirely and does not expect the issue to be ongoing through the season.
"I think it was just a decision that I needed some clarity and time away and make things right so I could focus on both [family and hockey] at high levels," said Rask. "But resigning and quitting the job was not a question. In the big scheme of things, if you take two or three days and get back out there it's not gonna affect your career that much. But if you decide to quit, I don't think that's the right decision."
The former Vezina Trophy winner, who has played in eight games this season and is 4-4-0 with a 3.05 goals against average and .901 save percentage, said the personal matter did not have any influence on his on-ice performance.
"It hasn't affected my job," said Rask. "I'm not gonna make excuses that I've played good games or bad games because of my personal life. It was strictly just the time that I felt deep inside that I needed to take and do for my family's future. I'm happy I did."
Cassidy said following Tuesday's practice that Jaroslav Halak - who stepped in to play both games over the weekend, making 77 saves in two victories - will play Wednesday in Colorado. Beyond that, the B's bench boss was not certain of his goaltending schedule for the rest of the trip, but indicated that Rask would play one end of this weekend's back-to-back in Dallas and Arizona.
Halak is 6-1-2 this season with a .945 save percentage and 1.77 goals against average - both second in the NHL behind Nashville's Pekka Rinne.

"With only one practice before, it's a little unfair," Cassidy said of playing Rask on Wednesday in Colorado. "Jaro's played well - it's a combination of those two things. It will be Friday or Saturday, just don't know which game yet. We'll go from there and probably look at getting him a certain amount of starts.
"But gotta balance that with how well Jaro's played. Couldn't tell you what's gonna happen. There's a lot of hockey after that."
Regardless of when his next game action comes, Rask is looking forward to getting back on the ice.
"Very, very much. You have to separate those two," said Rask. "I'm just happy that I'm here and ready to go to battle with these guys and I'm really looking forward to that."