Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask could return as early as Thursday after concussion

Other than a few childhood mishaps of running into a brick wall, or falling down a slide, this is the first time in his pro hockey career that Tuukka Rask has dealt with a concussion.

Rask suffered the head injury after a collision with rookie Anders Bjork during practice last Wednesday, and after going through the concussion protocol, Rask participated in practice Tuesday and it’s possible he could start against the Sharks on Thursday at TD Garden. He still has to pass the baseline testing before he’s cleared to play.

“Yeah, Thursday is possible, which is good news,” said Bruce Cassidy.



Rask admitted he was seeing stars for about 10 seconds after the collision. He was lightheaded and had trouble walking too. In the days following, he had minor headaches, was sensitive to light and said he felt like his body clock was all messed up.

Cassidy’s practice are up-tempo and high-paced, so collisions occur frequently between players. Rask has no issues with Bjork.

“It’s a tough play,” Rask said. “The guy’s driving and you have to respect the shot short side, so you’re holding your ground. (Bjork) was pushed in so it was just a tough break. You’re either exposing yourself to get scored on, on exposing yourself to possibly get hit, so I decided to do the latter.”

At times during Tuesday’s practice, Rask seemed a bit hesitant when the play was around the net, but he said afterwards that wasn’t the case.

“No, not really,” Rask said. “I didn’t feel hesitant. I can’t go out there and try to be too careful. The drills that we did were set up in a way that it was only shots, so the chances of being run over were slim. (Wednesday) will be full-tilt.”

Now that Rask is healthy and there are no lingering effects from the concussion, there’s a bigger issue when it comes to head injuries, especially with goaltenders. There are independent spotters in the stands that monitor possible concussions and they have the ability to pull players from the ice. There have been a few occasions when a goalie was pulled and allowed to return.

During the Kings’ 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick was removed after a collision, but was allowed to return after missing only one shift. There seemed to be a lot of confusion after the game in regards to proper procedure.

A similar situation occurred last season with Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. New York was hosting the Canucks and Lundqvist was the backup when starter Antti Raanta was involved in a collision. A team trainer checked on Raanta, who said he was fine, so he stayed in the game. A spotter called down and wanted Raanta off the ice.

The game was tied at 2-2 in the third period when an ice cold Lundqvist entered. He allowed two goals in a span of four mintues before Raanta was cleared to return. It’s been an ongoing debate whether someone not at ice level has the ability to impact the game in such a way.

“If the spotters see something and pull you off there’s nothing you can do,” Rask said. “You can be fine, and it doesn’t help you to tell them you’re fine, but they still pull you off. It’s a tough situation. The rules are the rules and we have to live by them.”

Cassidy said he doesn’t have a strong opinion on the situation because he doesn’t have enough experience with it as a coach, calling it a “work in progress.” Rask understands why there’s so much emphasis on concussion protocol and he agrees with the current regulations.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I like it. A lot of times it could be you feel fine and you go out there and get a second hit (to the head) and then you take two steps back. Worst-case scenario you ruin the rest of your life, so it’s good that (the NHL) is careful. I had felt fine a couple of days after, but there’s no reason to rush it, especially this early in the season. You’ve got to think about life outside of hockey too. You don’t want to mess with your brain too much.”

The situation can change, however, if you’re asking what should happen with a goalie if a collision occurs during the Stanley Cup playoffs. What if it’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final and a team’s starting goalie is removed after showing signs of a concussion, but is quickly deemed healthy to return? And, during that time the backup allowed two goals and the team lost.

“Just get up and act like nothing happened, if that’s possible,” Rask said. “Sometimes that’s not possible and you go with the protocol. Playoff rules tend to be a little different, but with concussions they’re trying to keep it same throughout the year.”

Here’s the other issue: Officials should allow the backup goalie a few minutes to take some shots, similar to a preseason game. It gives the backup time to get warm, and it also allows the starter a few more minutes to be examined. As far as letting the backup to warmup properly, Rask is all for it.

“It wouldn’t hurt, but it would stop the flow of the game, I guess,” Rask said. “I’ve tried to compare it to baseball where (a pitcher) has the bullpen so you can warmup. Maybe in hockey, rinks could have a room where you could take shots.”

In a day when the league is all about player protection, especially goaltenders, allowing the backup to get warm should be a priority, along with the concussion protocol. It’s early in the season and Rask is healthy, but for the Bruins’ sake, hopefully they don’t have to experience a situation like Quick and the Kings did on Monday.