Mike Milbury: Bruins’ Tuukka Rask sometimes sends out ‘mixed messages’

Tuukka Rask’s recent comments about returning to the ice didn’t sit all that well with Mike Milbury.

The Boston Bruins goaltender talked with NBC Sports’ Kathryn Tappen about his approach to the season restart after the long break, and he mentioned “just trying to have fun” in his return. Milbury believes Rask should have taken a more competitive approach with his answers, rather than a laid-back one.

“I’m a Tuukka fan. I’ve been a Tuukka fan for a long time,” Milbury said. “But I saw his interview with Kathryn Tappen, and it was like, jeez I wish he had a PR guy that could sit in his living room and say, ‘Don’t go that way, Tuukka’ because he said something like, ‘I’ve been changing diapers for like four months and hardly thought about hockey” … 

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“That’s why he steps in it with Boston fans, because they want to hear somebody say something about winning a Stanley Cup and how dedicated he was to getting a ring. I think he’s a competitive son of a gun once he puts on the pads, but he sometimes seems more cavalier than you’d think.

“But again, I’m a fan and I think he’ll be OK. He needs to be better than OK for them to win a Stanley Cup, but it’ll be interesting to see his progress … Sometimes he seems just kind of laid-back. Maybe that’s good in some ways … But he sends out mixed messages verbally sometimes, and I think that becomes a problem because people start to get on him as soon as he makes a false move. And I don’t think any team, any goaltender, any person needs that kind of scrutiny especially when most of the time you’ve done a hell of a job.”

A fairly harsh take from Milbury, but there are some truths to what the former Bruin had to say about Rask. The Bruins netminder has the tendency to be laid-back when Boston fans probably would prefer he’d show more moxie with a championship on the line.

But even though Rask didn’t come off as ultra-competitive during his interview with Tappen, Bruins fans know what to expect from their goalie when he stands between the pipes. There’s little doubt the 33-year-old will be completely focused on leading the B’s to a Stanley Cup when their season resumes Aug. 2 vs. the Philadelphia Flyers.

You can watch the full interview with Milbury below:

Mike Milbury: Bruins’ Tuukka Rask sometimes sends out ‘mixed messages’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston