Rask has already won the Stanley Cup and the Vezina Trophy, two of the NHL's biggest prizes, during his time with the Boston Bruins. But not every goaltender can say he's inspired his own species of wasp.

A breed of the insect discovered in the Teita Hills of Kenya was named for Rask in early 2015 by a researcher from Boston who had moved to Africa a quarter-century ago but continued to follow his hometown sports teams.

Hence, there's Thaumatodryinus tuukkaraski.

The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Rask, a native of Savonlinna, Finland, in the first round (No. 21) of the 2005 NHL Draft, but they traded him to the Bruins on June 24, 2006. He arrived in North America in 2007 and spent most of the next two seasons with Providence of the American Hockey League, while getting a taste of the NHL in five games with the Bruins.

The Bruins were impressed with Rask's performance and let goaltender Manny Fernandez, an unrestricted free agent, leave. Rask stepped in as the backup to Tim Thomas. Rask didn't play in Boston's run to the Stanley Cup in 2011, with Thomas earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. But when the Bruins traded Thomas on Feb. 7, 2013, Rask became the No. 1 goaltender and helped Boston return to the Stanley Cup Final, although the Bruins lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

The Bruins signed Rask to an eight-year contract on July 10, 2013. He repaid that faith with a Vezina-Trophy season, finishing 36-15-6 with a 2.04 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. He won at least 31 games in each of the next four seasons, finishing with a GAA of no higher than 2.56 and a save percentage of at least .915 in all four.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• NHL First All-Star Team (2014)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (2017)
• Traded to Boston by Toronto for Andrew Raycroft, June 24, 2006.
• Signed as a free agent by Plzen (Czech Rep.), September 25, 2012.