Big news shook up the NHL this past week as the winningest goaltender in Boston Bruins history officially called it a career. Last offseason, Rask underwent hip surgery to repair a torn labrum and made his long-awaited return in January. In four games since returning, Rask was far from his typical self, going 2–2 while putting up a .844 save percentage. 
After about two weeks of rejoining the Bruins in action, Rask began experiencing some lower-body discomfort, most likely related to his hip. Rask took some time to recover and hoped to make a potential return after the all-star break. Unfortunately, Rask’s recovery was prolonged, and rather than risk re-injuring his hip, he decided it was best to retire. 
Now, with Rask’s decorated career officially in the rearview mirror, we can take a look back at the great accomplishments that Rask has achieved in the past 15 seasons. 
Rask was originally selected 21st overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, one year later the Maple Leafs would make the very regretful decision to trade the young goaltender to Boston for Andrew Raycroft, who never posted a save percentage above .894 for Toronto.
For a while, in Boston, it seemed like Rask was a can’t miss, elite goalie for the future, serving as a backup to veteran goaltender Tim Thomas for the first few years of his career. In the 2009-2010 season, Rask would get his first opportunity to shine when Thomas underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum towards the end of the season. Rask got his first look in the playoffs and even won the first round over the Buffalo Sabres. Unfortunately, the eventual collapse that would occur in the second round would be something that Rask would never live down. After being up 3–0 in the series to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Flyers would go on to win four straight games to eliminate the Bruins. In that series against the Flyers, Rask posted a sub-par .898 save percentage.
Rask would then serve yet again as a backup to Thomas in the 2010-2011 season, which ended in a Stanley Cup victory for the Bruins, with Thomas being named playoff MVP.
After the 2011-2012 season, Thomas decided to take a year off from hockey giving Rask his first true shot at being the starting goaltender out of the gate. Once playoff time came around, it appeared like Rask was on a mission to win the cup. After an amazing game seven comeback against the Maple Leafs, the Bruins made quick work of the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins to make a return to the finals.
However, when it seemed like it was destiny for Rask to win his first Stanley Cup as a starter, another playoff collapse would occur when the Bruins would allow two goals in the waning minutes of game six, giving the Chicago Blackhawks the title.
Despite the disappointing ending to the previous season, Rask put up tremendous numbers in 2013-2014, helping his team to finish with the best regular season record. Rask went 36–15–6 while posting a .930 save percentage on his way to win the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender. However, despite the season accolades, the Bruins lost in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.
It was at this point when people began questioning whether Rask could win “the big one,” and the next two seasons would not help that case for Rask. After starting a whopping 70 games in the 2014-2015 season, the Bruins would go on to barely miss the playoffs. Then, once again, they would fail to make the postseason in the following season.
After a few rough seasons, the Bruins would finally find themselves back in the playoffs in the 2016-2017 season, however, they failed to make it past the first round despite Rask’s .920 save percentage. The following year, the Bruins would improve slightly, losing the second round to the dominant Tampa Bay Lightning.
It wasn’t until the 2018-2019 season when the Bruins would look like they would have a real opportunity to win a championship. The Bruins would wind up making it all the way to game seven of the Stanley Cup finals against the St. Louis Blues, where yet another massive collapse would occur. This time, you could really blame the entire team for an overall poor performance, but 16 saves on 20 shots is not the performance anyone was looking for from Rask.
Rask would follow that season up with a Vezina caliber performance going 26–8–6, while putting up a .929 save percentage on the way to winning another Presidents’ Trophy as the best regular season team. However, once COVID-19 hit, the team that looked dominant in the regular season was rather “meh” when it came to the postseason, losing yet again to a stacked Lightning team.
Rask would get one last kick at the can in the 2020-2021 season where he would look dominant in the first round, posting a .941 save percentage beating the Washington Capitals in five games. However, Rask could not sustain his dominance in round two as the Bruins were defeated by the Islanders in six games. Thus, ending Rask’s final full season with the Bruins.
Despite not winning a championship as a starter, there is a lot that Rask has to be proud of over the course of his Hall of Fame caliber career. Rask has won 308 games in his career, which is the most by any Bruins goaltender in history. He is also second in franchise shutouts, posting 52 shutouts over the course of his career. He is tied with Tim Thomas for the highest franchise save percentage at .921 for his career. Rask won a Vezina Trophy and the William M. Jennings Trophy, as well as helping his team win the Presidents’ Trophy twice in his career. On top of all that he was a part of the 2010-2011 Bruins who were able to bring home the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years.
Although Rask was never able to win a championship as a starter, his legacy will never be forgotten in Boston. He will go down in history as one of the greatest goaltenders in Bruins’ history. The raining chants of “Tuuk!” from the crowd will live forever within TD Garden.