BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask turned an outstanding first season as the Boston Bruins No. 1 goalie into a long-term commitment on Wednesday by signing an eight-year contract to stay with the Eastern Conference champions. There was little doubt that the restricted free agent would be back, especially after the Bruins cleared about $4.75 million in space under the salary cap when they sent Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars in a seven-player deal last Thursday. The Bruins said the annual salary cap charge on Rasks contract is $7 million. Boston lost the Stanley Cup finals in six games to Chicago, dropping the finale 3-2 on June 24 when the Blackhawks came from behind and scored two goals in the last 1:16. Two days later, general manager Peter Chiarelli said, "I feel confident that we will get a deal done on Rask in short order." That same day, Rask said he would like to play with the Bruins "forever," and the one-year contract he played under last season motivated him. "You always try to be good but then you are trying to get your average game level as high as you can," he said, "that the gap between a good game and a bad game wouldnt be so big. I think I managed to do that this year, and it motivates me for the next year to keep that level and keep getting better." Rask was the backup goalie in the 2011 post-season when Tim Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy that goes to the playoff MVP as Boston won its first Stanley Cup title since 1972. The following season, Thomas played 59 games with a 2.36 goals-against average. Rask made 23 appearances and had a 2.05 average. Thomas then decided to sit out the last season of his four-year, $20 million contract. The Bruins suspended him on Jan. 13 for failing to report and traded him on Feb. 7 to the New York Islanders. Thomas, now 39, didnt play last season. Rask, 26, was a worthy successor. He was 19-10-5 with a 2.00 GAA in the regular season and then went 14-8 in the post-season with three shutouts and a 1.88 GAA. The goalie from Finland was drafted in the first round in 2005 by the Toronto Maple Leafs and was traded in June 2006 for goalie Andrew Raycroft. The most games Rask has played in a season is 45 in the 2009-10 campaign when Thomas, who played 43 games that season, missed time because of a hip injury that required off-season surgery. Now Rask has developed into one of the NHLs top netminders. Asked after the season how much he had proven, Rask said, "I dont think I have to answer those questions anymore. I played good, proved (to) everyone again that I was capable of doing it. I mean, you look at the numbers. Theyre good. If I just analyze my game and by how I felt throughout the year, I thought it was a great year." Rasks best playoff series came in Bostons four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. He allowed just two goals and made 123 saves against the NHLs highest-scoring, regular-season team. In the finals, he made 50 saves in the opener, but Chicago won 4-3 in three overtimes. Rask allowed one goal in the next two games as Boston won 2-1 and 2-0. But the Blackhawks won the remaining three games. The next big signing for the Bruins should be centre Patrice Bergeron. His three-year contract runs through next season. Bergeron tied for the team lead with nine playoff goals and had 15 points. He led the NHL in winning faceoffs, and he won the Selke Trophy as the leagues top defensive forward the previous season. He also played Game 6 against Chicago with a broken rib and separated shoulder, then was hospitalized afterward with a punctured lung. He has said he is "very confident" he will get an extension. Rasks signing came after the Bruins lost three unrestricted free agents. Right wing Nathan Horton signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, 13-year veteran defenceman Andrew Ference went to the Edmonton Oilers, and backup goalie Anton Khudobin joined the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins werent interested in retaining Ference, and they let right wing Jaromir Jagr become a free agent. They did add right wings for their top two lines -- Jarome Iginla from Pittsburgh and Loui Eriksson from Dallas. Boston wasnt interested in signing free agent defencemen after rookies Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski emerged last season. Wholesale Custom Rangers Shirts .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Custom Rangers Jerseys . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. http://www.customnhlrangersjersey.com/ . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Cheap Custom Rangers Jersey . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Authentic Custom Rangers Jersey . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Mohammed Shami foxed England by claiming two wickets on the final day to help India clinch the second Test by a massive 246-run margin in Visakhapatnam on Monday.Englands openers, Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed, put on a defiant display on Sunday by adding 75 runs for the first wicket, however they fell in the final session of the day. They had set the standard for the remaining England batsmen by proving that the surface could be negotiated with disciplined batting.On the final day though, Ben Duckett and Joe Root - still new to the crease - found it difficult to answer questions posed by a disciplined India-bowling unit. Duckett was the first to fall for 0, to R Ashwin, after he failed to open his account in the 15 deliveries he faced.Moeen Ali, the centurion from the first Test, looked comfortable against the spinners until a Ravindra Jadeja delivery spun from the rough and induced an edge to leg gully. Englands ambitions of saving the Test was fading early and they looked to Root and Ben Stokes to bail them out of trouble.An inform Stokes, failed to replicate his first-innings heroics as debutant Jayant Yadav produced a faster delivery from around the wicket that drifted, as Stokes played back, and clipped the off stump. England was 1115 for 5 at that stage and any hopes of a revival looked bleak.ddddddddddddShami, who had been impressive through the Test, then produced a spell that foxed even an every-reliant Root and eventually dismissed him. The Shami delivery that dismissed Root, swung late and trapped him on the crease. Root reviewed the decision but Hawkeye proved the on-field umpire right. India had claimed five wickets and reduced the visitors to 142 for 7 at lunch.Jonny Bairstow remained unbeaten on a 57-ball 34, but the rest of the lower order managed just nine runs between them. Adil Rashid was Shamis second wicket of the innings.The biggest positives are how the fast bowlers bowled and Jayants debut, Kohli said. Its always priceless those contributions and it speaks volumes of his character. Im really happy for him. For a young guy to come in and tell me the field he wants, it shows he knows what he is doing. I knew the batsmen uncomfortable. Was lovely to have five bowlers who can pick up wickets. Weve been playing some really good cricket, we dont want to be complacent but dont want to be desperate, either. We respect England. ' ' '
