So uh, I guess the All-Star Game was intresting. I thought that one event in the fountains was pretty cool. Oh uh Tuesday night? Yeah that was also pretty intersting.
No More Tuukka Time 🙁
After being excited about Tuukka Rask‘s return to the Bruins for about a year, it comes to an abrupt end. I had been hyping it up so much, but reality had other ideas. After just a few games, Tuukka made the decision to put an end to his illustrious career.
Tuukka will go down as one of the most underappreciated athletes in the history of Boston sports. He has a strong case to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and I would not be surprised if this time next year we see his number 40 in the rafters. Tuukka is one of my personal favorite athletes, and the idea that he is officially done is insane to me.
Fortunately, Tuukka is not leaving Boston in a bad spot. Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark are good goalies. But it still hurts to see Tuukka officially go. Maybe now his haters will finally be quiet at least.
Bruins Lose Bergeron
I should also mention too that within minutes of the Tuukka announcement, Patrice Bergeron collided with Sidney Crosby and went down hard. Bergeron was pulled from the game by a concussion spotter soon after. And oh boy, that’s not exactly what the Bruins to hear.
As of now, Bergeron is day to day with an “upper-body injury,” which means there’s no guarantee when he will be back. With Bergeron’s history with concussions, this could just be precautionary. But with Bergeron supposedly mulling retirement, you have to wonder that if this is another concussion, could this be Bergeorn’s last year in the NHL.
Bruins Lose Marchand
Unfortunately, the biggest news to come out of Tuesday night’s game was not Tuukka’s announcement or Bergeron’s injury, or even the blown two-goal lead, but it was Brad Marchand‘s outburst against Tristan Jarry. In the final seconds of the game, Marchand punched Jarry in the head and took a swing at him with his stick.
This move caught the ire of the NHL, netting Marchand another suspension this year, this time for six games. And the entire Bruins fanbase let out a collective sigh of disappointment when that was announced. We had all thought that after about four years of no suspensions, Marchand would’ve been completely changed. But nope, he’s the same player, but now he’s just even better and more important to the Bruins. This means losing him for six games could mean the Bruins lose six games.
After a hot January, February is not exactly shaping up too well for Boston. With their top two players out for at least two weeks, Boston will have a huge test ahead of them. Luckily Boston has a huge cushion to stay in their playoff spot, but this upcoming stretch might determine whether or not they can even crack the top three in the Atlantic.
Hi, I’m RJ Oakley and I’m the Bruins beat writer here at Belly Up Sports. Check back here and follow me on Twitter for news and discussion on the B’s. Be sure to follow Belly Up Hockey as well for all your NHL needs!
