Jeremy Swayman going after Darcy Kuemper has been the talk of the Boston Bruins for the last couple of days. Now, former Bruins goalie Andrew Raycroft is weighing in—and he’s not overly impressed with Swayman’s behavior.
Swayman didn’t express any regret following the Bruins’ sixth straight loss on Sunday. Boston fell 7-2 to the Kings, and during the game, Swayman completely lost it on opposing goalie Darcy Kuemper, who had just put Bruins winger Marat Khusnutdinov in a headlock after a crease collision.
Swayman dropped the gloves and took off his helmet at center ice, ready to fight Kuemper, but officials stepped in before it could even start.
Raycroft calls out Jeremy Swayman
While many admired Swayman’s willingness to stand up for a teammate, not everyone was impressed. On the Morning Bru podcast, former Bruins goalie Andrew Raycroft was asked about the incident, and he made it clear that he thought Swayman made the wrong call.
“‘What are we doing?’” Raycroft said per Boston.com, recalling his reaction to Jeremy Swayman challenging Kuemper. “We’ve lost seven in a row. No one’s scoring. Like, what are we doing? That’s my thought. Why are you going out there, Jeremy? … Because I know what Kuemper did wasn’t egregious.
“I know it wasn’t over the line. I know a guy ran into him for no reason … [Kuemper and Khusnutdinov] were both getting penalties. The refs had both of them—two [minutes] and two [minutes]. Move on. It’s a 3-2 game.”
Not the first time for Swayman
It’s not the first time Jeremy Swayman has challenged an opposing goalie, and Raycroft doesn’t understand why.
“I don’t know for sure,” Raycroft said when asked why Swayman is picking fights with other goalies. “My guess—it can’t be to stand up for your teammates, because I’ve been around hockey a really, really long time at this point.
“I played the position, and I know for an absolute fact that not one of the forwards I ever played with looked to me to stand up for my teammates. You can’t convince me that any goalie has ever thought that in the history of hockey … This is a whole ceremony thing, and the league just doesn’t want it. And again, I’m actually not against it at this point. I think, again, it’s kind of silly for two guys from 200 feet away to go to center ice and fight.”
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