WEEI’s Hill: Family medical emergency led to Tuukka Rask’s exit from the bubble

Since Tuukka Rask left the bubble this weekend, the takes have run the gamut from “Rask quit on his team” to “let the man handle his family situation.”

We haven’t heard anything from Rask himself, and we probably won’t for quite some time (if ever).

This morning, WEEI’s Greg Hill revealed that he spoke to Rask at length yesterday, and that Rask offered some insight into what happened.

You can listen to the segment (about 25 minutes) below, but we’ve also got a shortened transcript with the key details.

If you’re on mobile, that embed might not work, so you can try this: WEEI-FM/The Greg Hill Show.

Here’s a transcript of the comments, emphasis ours:

He is concerned right now with not being a further distraction for his team, which is in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He would prefer not to be the story and be something those guys are asked about repeatedly as they try to win a Stanley Cup. 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. Basically, the kind of situation where I believe Tuukka Rask did what every parent would do and was obviously very concerned.

He continued:

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. Again, without necessarily revealing what he would not want me to reveal, 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. 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.

Breaking it up a little to finish with this:

So, he made the decision to come home, and I think he knew that there was no way while that was going on that he would be the best teammate, be the best goaltender for that team that is in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Your thoughts on this are going to depend on heavily on your reaction to the original news: either you think it was a good call for a guy to go tend to family affairs, or you think it’s a weak excuse and everyone misses their families.

If you listen to the segment, you’ll notice that WEEI already had plenty of commenters saying Rask was lying, embellishing, etc. It’s the same as always with Rask: you’ve already made up your mind.

Additionally, Hill mentioned that contrary to Twitter rumors, Rask wasn’t golfing yesterday, so...there’s that.

It’s probably best to leave it at this for now, until Rask decides he’s ready to shed any other light on the situation. If that day never comes, so be it.

Prior to the shutdown, Rask did make regular appearances on Hill’s radio show, so it’s not a surprise that the two would connect.

Anyways...on to Game 5!