News Article: Bruins' goal: Find Tuukka Rask's backup

[Gee Wally]

WILMINGTON — Of all the questions facing the Bruins in a training camp that officially opens tomorrow with off-ice testing, the yet-to-be-named backup goaltender may not be at the top of the list.

But the open job is not an insignificant query, either.

One of the many problems that the B’s faced last year was that Tuukka Rask was forced to play too much after management lost confidence in Niklas Svedberg. Rask played in a career-high 70 games and, though the 2013-14 Vezina Trophy winner’s save percentage (.922) was just slightly off his career average (.926), there were times when he needed a mental break and didn’t get one. This was especially true during the team’s six-game losing streak in February when coach Claude Julien twice tried to give his No. 1 goalie the night off — once with Svedberg starting against the Dallas Stars and then with AHL call-up Malcolm Subban making his NHL debut against the St. Louis Blues — only to be forced to send Rask into the games after bad nights from the backups.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/.../2015/09/bruins_goal_find_tuukka_rasks_backup

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[Blackhawkswincup]

Was anyone else surprised the B's didn't address the #2G situation in offseason?

I honestly thought B's would have been good fit for Raanta who Hawks essentially gave away for free this summer

 

[CombatOnContact]

Raanta was my suggestion also. He would have been cheep and the the Finn connection. Not sure why Gustavsson was seen as a better option..

 

[Shaun]

someone head to the mountains of colorado and find tim thomas bunker

 

[BB88]

Was anyone else surprised the B's didn't address the #2G situation in offseason?

I honestly thought B's would have been good fit for Raanta who Hawks essentially gave away for free this summer

Few of us were thinking Raanta would be an easy choice but did not happen, if we were going all in next year I'd be more worried about this but we are re-tooling.

 

[Patrice Krejci*]

someone head to the mountains of colorado and find tim thomas bunker

If he has some left in him I'd be all over this option.

 

[Ben Grimm]

Was anyone else surprised the B's didn't address the #2G situation in offseason? I honestly thought B's would have been good fit for Raanta who Hawks essentially gave away for free this summer

Agreed. He may be better than Darling and they could have taken a mere half mil per year off Kane and Toews' contracts and kept Saad.

 

[22Brad Park]

Was anyone else surprised the B's didn't address the #2G situation in offseason?

I honestly thought B's would have been good fit for Raanta who Hawks essentially gave away for free this summer

They did with Martin Jones but then saw gold for him in Sharks 2016 1st round pick.The big Swede will take role watch.

 

[toasterjam]

at this point I'd say the top 3 candidates are:
1. Steve Shields
2. Jeff Hackett
3. John Grahame

Honorable mention:
Manny Fernandez
Felix Potvin

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

at this point I'd say the top 3 candidates are:
1. Steve Shields
2. Jeff Hackett
3. John Grahame

Honorable mention:
Manny Fernandez
Felix Potvin

Rob Tallas

 

[BMC]

Rob Tallas

John Blue

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

John Blue

Ya you got me stumped on that one haha.

 

[JOKER 192]

Ya you got me stumped on that one haha.

Early 90's,were you born yet?

 

[Paddington]

at this point I'd say the top 3 candidates are:
1. Steve Shields
2. Jeff Hackett
3. John Grahame

Honorable mention:
Manny Fernandez
Felix Potvin

No love for John Casey or Jim Carey?

 

[toasterjam]

No love for John Casey or Jim Carey?

well I guess if we are going that far back I'm comfortable going with Moog...Rask era is over.

 

[Ice Nine]

Sign Reggie Lemelin!

 

[Paddington]

I was around 8-10 years old during the Moog/Lemelin era. That's when I really started watching hockey and immediately jumped on the Bruins bandwagon. I have a soft spot for those '88-'92 teams.

 

[kutskova]

Let's not forget the legendary Blaine lacher.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

Early 90's,were you born yet?

Barely, too young to remember him though

 

[neelynugs]

bumping this, curious to hear who people think should be the backup.

gustavsson, subban, smith, mcintyre.

personally i'd like them to sign the monstah for 1 year.

 

[SpeedyLazaro]

The Lach Ness Monster

 

[Alicat]

bumping this, curious to hear who people think should be the backup.

gustavsson, subban, smith, mcintyre.

personally i'd like them to sign the monstah for 1 year.

Same here. Proven back up and I feel far more confident with him in net than I do with Smith.

I'm hoping to see him play tomorrow night backed up by Tuukka.

 

[Ice Nine]

All joking aside. We really do need a very good backup to give Rask a break this year. He'll need it, as he may blow three or more gaskets playing behind this D group this year.

 

[Hali33]

Would like to see a bit more of Gus but that's what would be ideal to me. I have more faith in Smith than Svedberg but I think we ultimately need to take a step towards avoiding what happened last year.

Subban and Zane's development is more important to me than having one as a backup so I'd like to see them both in Providence.

 

[talkinaway]

I still need to see the Monster for 60 minutes - and I think the B's brass believe that, too. Monday will be telling - there's only 3 more games, and Rask still needs some time on ice, so auditions have to stop pretty soon. If Gustavsson gets the full 60 and does as well as he did in Providence, he could easily snag it, and rightfully so. I was actually impressed with him in the 2014 playoffs against the Wings when he took over for Jimmy Howard the last two games; he didn't win either, but he gave the Wings a shot in both games - games where he wasn't supposed to play.

To me, Smith is the next best choice. He looked capable, and even last Thursday he was good against the Rangers - who were basically playing mostly their regular roster with maybe only 4-5 tryouts. (And, if he gets the job, he's never, ever, ever going to play the Rangers anyway, barring disaster.)

I feel a little better about the backups after seeing them.