This is the third installment of my eternal-running series about Tuukka Rask and reasons to love him. The original post can be found here: 40 reasons, and the follow-up can be found here: 35 reasons. It's been a while. I think it's time to add to the list. Here are 50 more reasons to love Tuukka Rask.
1. He looked exactly like Charlie Conway when he was younger.
2. He saves puppies.
3. His celebrity crush is Beyonce
4. He's still really scared of horses.
5. He bakes cookies.
6. He can't be bothered to censor himself or think of less vulgar adjectives.
...Especially for Pierre. Shitty ice.
7. Actually, this response to Pierre is the greatest: when asked what the message was from Claude Julien before the sweep of the Penguins was complete, Tuukka answered "I don't know. I don't listen."
8. And we believe him...
9. That style, of course. That hat. That coat.
10. He may or may not know what a bucket list is.
11. Whatever this face is.
12. That time he perfectly got under Crosby's skin.
13. His Finland Olympic pads.
14. His feelings on Kevan Miller which clearly include quite a bit of envy and admiration..
- "We went to Vermont at the start of the season and we did this skeet-shooting thing...And he’s there with his camouflage jersey and orange hat and I had never met the guy and I just thought he was just a guy from Vermont who was showing us how to shoot." (Source)
- "He’s an animal, that guy. He’s probably one of the strongest guys on the team...He likes to wheel around with no shirt on and show off his muscles." (Source).
15. He thinks 2-2 tie equals a win.
16. I think I've used this before but...he looks like Dracula with that hair.
17. This picture is intimidating and hilarious at the same time. It looks like he's holding his own head.
18. In hockey gear minus goalie pads, he looks freakishly skinny.
19. When he practices slap shots, he celebrates for scoring on an open net.
20. He says things like this and probably means it
21. What he thinks he would be if he wasn't a hockey player..
22. Tuukka is really great at memorizing his lines.
23. He can't really do push ups.
24. His brother Joonas caddies for him.
25. And he doesn't know shit.
26. Everything about the golf from the first episode of Behind the B, actually.
27. He slams his club like his goalie stick...kind of
28. You can give him an Olympic medal any day now, thanks.
29. This is allegedly Tuukka as a child. Superstar.
30. He's got a flair for the dramatic.
31. He taught us the Finnish word for "Satan"...during a Stanley Cup Final press conference.
32. He looks badass in a beret...(and served in the Finnish military)
33. He plays the drums. Also...look at that room.
34. He is proud of his mustache growing abilities.
35. He is well mannered around senior citizens (and Bruins legends)
36. Great at matching.
37. And at tying his own tie.
38. He loves those neon sneakers.
39. He is friends with amazing people. (RIP Sam Berns.)
40. He knows to wear toques indoors.
41. And never let kids win.
42. He is quite the cautious driver
43. He used state of the art goalie gear growing up.
44. He can jump super high.
45. He can play hockey on any surface
47. Still BFFs with his mentor.
49. All his teammates want to be [tall] just like him.
50. He's always been a winner.
And the final reason...Because he's Tuukka. He's blunt, honest, and don't you dare insinuate he's in the slump. He leads the NHL in shutouts. If you ask him, he will say hilarious things like "Did you see those goals [against Ottawa]? Yeah I didn’t blame myself for that game. I wasn’t even supposed to play that game."
In fact...he erases losses from his memory and you're an asshole for insinuating he's in a slump: "I totally forgot about that game and then tried to regroup today. So I wouldn’t say I’m in a slump. You think so? Sure."
The end. /Peels out in a golf cart.
Notes: I'm only vaguely sorry if some of these are repeats...If I used something that you made and did not properly credit you, please let me know. Credit for GIFs/photos: #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #9, #10, #11, #12, #21, #28, #30, #47a, #47b, #48, #51a, #51b, End. The original verison of this post can be found here.