Tuukka Rask has experience as the starting goaltender–in Finland. Could he go there again? Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE
Now that three Boston Bruins have made plans to head overseas and play in Europe during the NHL lockout, which of their teammates could be next? Where might they go?
Of the Europeans on the Bruins roster, only one has definitely returned to Europe to play–Anton Khudobin to the KHL. The other European Bruins, though, have some ties to teams in their native countries.
Dennis Seidenberg (and fellow German Marcel Goc) may head to Germany’s Adler Mannheim. In the 2011 NHL Premiere games, Adler played against the Buffalo Sabres, and though they lost 8-3, the people of Mannheim enjoyed having the Sabres there–especially because Sabre Jochen Hecht is a hometown product. Adler fans traveled to America to see Sabres games as well as Toronto Maple Leafs games because Adler is in a developmental agreement with Toronto.
Seidenberg has played for Adler before, from 1999 to 2001. Plus, Adler has left-winger Yannic Seidenberg, Dennis’ younger brother, on the roster. Goc would find his younger brother Nikolai waiting for him in Mannheim too. Talk about a family reunion!
David Krejci could go to HC Pardubice in the Czech Republic once his previously reported insurance issue is solved. The last time Krejci played in the Czech Republic–aside from the 2010 Premiere games–was in 2003-04 in the junior league HC Kladno team, so he has no senior-level experience in his home country. HC Pardubice is located in the next region over from Krejci’s hometown of Sternberk.
Zdeno Chara could choose to return to his native Slovakia, maybe even to HC Slovan Bratislava, where former teammate Miroslav Satan is the captain. Slovan Bratislava is the first Slovakia-based team in the KHL. Maybe he could make a second trip to his hometown team, Slovakian Extraliga’s HK Dukla Trencin, where he played eight games in the 2001-02 season. During the 2004-05 lockout, Chara played for a Swedish team, though.
Tuukka Rask may follow in his backup’s footsteps and look for a Finnish team where he can tend the net–perhaps Tampere-based Ilves, where he played from 2004 to 2007 and was their number one goalie in his last season there.
Of course, non-European players from the Bruins have been heading east to play too. Teams in the Czech, Swiss, German, Finnish and Swedish leagues could become possible destinations in the future for more Bruins. Tyler Seguin‘s Swiss signing was a surprise because it seemed to come out of nowhere, especially when he recently wondered if he might be able to go to AHL Providence for the time being. More surprises like those could be in store in the coming days.
