BOSTON — Longtime Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask is hanging up his pads.
Rask announced his retirement from the NHL after 15 seasons, all with the Boston Bruins.
Rask had returned to the team back in January after recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip he had in July.
"Today is a day that I hoped would never come. But now that it's here, I feel I owe it to everyone to hear it from me," Rask said in a statement. "Over these last few weeks, I've realized that my body is not responding the way it needs to for me to play at the level I expect of myself and that my teammates and Bruins fans deserve. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from the game of hockey."
Rask, 34, retires from the Bruins with a career record of 308-165-66 with a 2.28 Goals Against Average, and .921 save percentage in 564 games.
He won his only Stanley Cup back in 2011 as the backup goaltender for the Bruins when the team defeated the Vancouver Canucks for the championship.
Rask is the Bruins' all-time leader in wins, and second in shutouts with 52.
"While I am sad to say goodbye to the game I love, I am so very thankful to have shared these last 15 years with the greatest teammates and fans in the best sports city in the world," Rask said. "While these experiences were all incredible, what I will remember most about all of them is the bond that I had with my teammates, coaches and team staffs, the memories that we will always have, and the friendships that will last a lifetime."
Rask signed a one-year, $1 million contract in January to return to the Bruins. The intention was for him to play with Boston's AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, as a rehab assignment before returning to the NHL, but that assignment was derailed after Providence has multiple games canceled because of COVID-19.
"I've never wanted to play for any other team," Rask said. "I'm so proud to have worn the Spoked-B for my entire career and wouldn't have had it any other way."
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