Tuukka Rask up to task.

The 2008-09 season was a winning year for the goaltending tandem of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez. At the 2009 NHL awards the two cleaned house winning The Jennings Trophy, along with Thomas winning the Vezina. During the off season Manny became a free agent and will no long reside in Boston. Now the question is who will back up Timmy in net? One player, and one player comes to my mind. 22 year old Savonlinna Finland native Tuukka Rask.

Tuukka played all of his youth career In his native land of Finland, playing in his hometown club SaPKo. He then went on to play 26 games for the Tampere, Finland based

Ilves jr. in the Finnish Junior League. He earned a GAA of 1.86 and a .935 save percentage. Rask played his last European ice hockey season as the number one goaltender for the Ilves Tampere (Tampere Lynx) team in the Finnish SM-Liiga In the 2005 NHL Draft he was the top ranked European goaltender, he was taken 21^st overall by the Toronto maple leafs. He wasn’t in Toronto long before he signed a 3 year deal with his now current team the Boston Bruins. Rask was called up from the P-Bruins for the first time on November 5^th, 2007, he then recorded his first ever NHL win on November 20^th with a 4-2 “come from behind” victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. On October 3^rd Rask was assigned to the Providence Bruins as the Boston Bruins went with the two veteran goaltenders Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez for the 2008-2009 NHL season. Tuukka would then get his next chance to play in the NHL after the all-star break due to Manny Fernandez suffering nagging back spasms. In that game he recorded his first ever NHL shutout on January 31, 2009 against the Rangers, with Marc Savard scoring the only goal.

So what makes Tuukka qualified for the job? Rask is not just another same old same old boring goaltender. He has a certain spark to his game, and by watching him it’s easy to tell his willingness to do what it takes to win is very high. He gets upset with himself when the game doesn’t go his way, this shows the fans and coaches that he himself knows he is capable of much more. I believe that’s a quality all successful goaltenders need to have. Also staying focused when winning and keeping his eyes on the prize. Not getting caught up In what is happening and looking to the future to anticipate his next move. All of these are qualities that Tuukka Rask possesses and that make him qualified for the job in Boston.

If you follow Bruins hockey then you’ve probably heard at some point criticism of Tim Thomas’s style of goaltending. He doesn’t exactly use one style of goaltending, whether it be Butterfly, Stand up, Profly, or Hybrid. Thomas combines them all into one using different styles when necessary, along with the more than just occasional flopping around the crease to do whatever it takes to stop the puck. This style is used by many goalies in the NHL including

Martin Brodeur, Evgeni Nabokov, Vesa Toskala and Ryan Miller

. In contrast to Timmy’s style we have Tuukka Rask. Very, Very rarely do you ever see Tuukka down on the ice grabbling for a puck. Rask is a full fledged Profly style net minder. He resembles a statue in the net, using his “backside push” or “butterfly slide” techniques to go from side to side of the net. To better describe this maneuver, its almost like the wings of a pinball machine flicking up and down to stop the ball from passing. Thomas and Rask are two superb goaltenders with two totally different styles of play. But hey, what does it really matter? As long as the puck never enters the net I’m happy.

In my eyes it’s obvious Rask is ready to prove himself in the NHL and in the Bruins organization. With Manny gone, and Timmy needing a sufficient backup I believe its time to see Tuukka in the NHL. As the season progresses I see Tuukka learning a great deal from the reigning Vezina champ, by the time the playoffs roll around the two have the potential to become a force to be reckoned with.