When Tuukka Rask went down, the Bruins needed a backup plan,...
Soon after, the Bruins announced that Rask suffered a concussion and would not return. Meanwhile, a Bruins staffer rushed to book an Uber ride and was soon en route to Andrew Raycroft’s house, 25 minutes from TD Garden.
Raycroft, now 38, is a former Bruins goalie working the team’s broadcast for NESN. He retired after playing 42 games for HC Milano in Italy in 2012-13. He technically plays for the Bruins’ alumni team but has appeared in net only a few times since retiring, against opposing organizations’ alumni teams.
“Literally, four times I’ve had on my equipment since I’ve finished playing,” he said. “I was shaking for at least 15 minutes of the second period, and then by the third I was thinking no way this was possible.”
Each team needs to submit a backup goalie hierarchy, and Raycroft is on the Bruins’ list. He conceded that he didn’t even think about the possibility of playing until his phone rang and it was someone in the organization.
“I didn’t think about it at all,” he said. “I was on TV during the intermission when I got the call, and I still didn’t put it together. Then, it hit me, ‘Oh, that’s why I got the call.’ I called him right back, and as I’m calling him, a couple of guys came up and asked me for my address.”
Raycroft’s wife, Erin, is out of town, but his in-laws were at the house watching the grandkids when the staffer showed up, needing Raycroft’s goalie equipment. The snowstorm didn’t help matters, but his equipment finally made it to the Garden in the third period.
“They got a big kick out of finding my gear down in the basement. They called me like four times like, ‘Do you need this? Do you need this? Do you need this?’ The gear made it, but fortunately for everybody here and everybody watching I didn’t have to put it on.”
