But the Boston Bruins goaltender apparently provided more insight into his decision to leave the team in two phone conversations with WEEI's Greg Hill.
Hill said he spoke Tuesday on the phone with Rask, who told him he decided to leave the Toronto bubble due to a specific medical emergency involving his daughter.
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"I can tell you that he got a phone call in the bubble from his wife, because there was a medical emergency with their daughter," Hill said Wednesday on WEEI. "Basically the kind of situation where I believe Tuukka Rask did what every parent would do and was obviously very concerned.
"It was suggested they seek medical help. Without revealing what that was, because I think I probably should leave that to him -- he did tell me -- as a father of two kids, I would be panicked and alarmed upon hearing that about a young kid."
Hill also said Rask -- who has three daughters with his wife, Jasmiina -- had a conversation with his daughter that factored into his decision to return home.
"He did speak to his daughter and his daughter did express something to him about where he was and what her situation was, which I think would lead any father, any parent, especially one who feels like that's their most important job, parenting, to want to rush to be with their family at that time," Hill said.
"Personally, I can't imagine being away from your family, away from your young kids, hearing your daughter say what she said, and not being panicked."
In others news, Game 5 is 2-1 Bruins going into the 3rd.
The people who crapped all of over the guy should be ashamed of themselves.
Huge PP goal to end the 2nd.
Eh, I still think we need more information before we can officially be ashamed of ourselves. First of all, we were told that his family was 'safe and healthy'; and before the family emergency, he told the media that the games were dull and felt like exhibition games. There's no reason to feel bad when you are basing your opinion on these factors.
We honestly still have no idea what this emergency is, but if it is short term, it's not like Tukka has any plans of returning either. There were also rumblings that he was out golfing yesterday. That last point is just a rumor so I am won't give it any credence unless more comes out, but I think based on the information we previously knew, we were all totally warranted in bashing Tukka.
Honestly, I don't know why this whole thing is such a secret anyway. Why say his family is safe and healthy? Why not reveal vague details about what's wrong so we can sympathize with him? The whole thing sounds a little bizarre. Anyway, great to see the Bs doing well and hopefully they will be up 3-1 in the series in about 10 minutes or so.
So, honest question: why be so invested in Tuukka if you don’t follow the Bs closely? I say this because I assume a close fan would know that today’s win was the series clincher, not a 3-1 lead.
If you’re just a casual fan, why bash a guy you don’t know a ton about?
Yep, good catch. I watched the first 3 games, but have been unable to tune in to the last couple. I lost count. I do follow the Bs, but not as close as I do the Cs. I apologize for sounding (and being) uninformed.
And, I am not bashing him. I was responding to the comment that we should all be ashamed of ourselves for what we said about him. Based on the information we were presented at the time of Tukka's family being safe and healthy and him having no real interest in being there, I think it was perfectly reasonable of any fan to be critical. When BringToughnessBack presented news that something actually was wrong, I commented how I would take everything I said back if that were true.
Anyway, no reason to challenge somebody's fandom (and how invested I am in the team has nothing to do with this situation). We clearly weren't presented with all the information up front (and we still aren't for whatever reason). I still find the whole thing a bit bizarre.
Also, I disagree with KGs Knee's post about athletes owing us something. They get paid a lot of money to play a game they love. This money comes from television contracts, merchandise, ticket sales, etc from the fans who support them. If Tukka had just up and left because he was bored (as I mentioned, not the case anymore), then fans have every right to tear him apart. These guys are lucky they play sports people want to pay money for rather than curling or javelin throw or whatever.