Andrew “Razor” Raycroft is known throughout New England as the man who was traded for current Bruins crease ace Tuukka Rask, but there’s far more to the Belleville, Ontario, native, who has emerged as a cog on the NESN Bruins analyst team alongside Billy Jaffe, Barry Pederson and Dale Arnold.
Drafted by the Bruins 135th overall in 1998, he won the Calder Trophy with the club in 2004 as the NHL’s top rookie after posting a 2.05 goals-against average and .926 save percentage as the B’s finished second in the Eastern Conference. He won 113 games in his NHL career and played a few seasons in Europe before returning to his adopted hometown to focus on family and life as a regular guy.
NEHJ contributor Jaffe caught up with his colleague for a few thoughts on his transition from player to broadcaster.
New England Hockey Journal: You had an 11-year NHL career and two years in Europe before you retired in 2014. In the five years since you’ve been done playing, before you got into broadcasting, what did you do to yourself to change from player to typical non-athlete citizen?
Andrew Raycroft: I was in Sweden my last year, came back, had twins, essentially my first year back. There was 100 inches of snow in New England, and we were locked down the whole winter, taking care of the twins on our own, no nannies, and our 5-year-old at the time. So I was basically a family man the first year. And I helped out at UConn. That was my first thing back. I talked to Coach Cav (Connecticut coach Mike Cavanaugh), and he asked me to be a volunteer coach. That was my way to get out of the house. At the end of that year, I decided I needed to get a job and try the real world. I got my real estate license, started working some commercial real estate, for almost a year. Didn’t necessarily fit, and then I moved on to a sales job in software sales. All the time, I was still keeping my eye back on hockey. I think I needed a couple of years away, but I started to miss being around it.
NEHJ: Did you struggle at those times when you were trying different things and did you have doubts about what you’d be able to do?
Raycroft: Certainly. Certainly doubts. I thought I was really prepared. I knew I was at the end. I was in Europe, and we were enjoying life. I knew my career was over. It wasn’t like a tragic injury, it just ended. The light was always there, I saw it coming. But it was and still is a bit of a struggle at times trying to fit in and find a routine and get into the swing of not having someone to tell you what to do and where to go.
NEHJ: Do you have any regrets about not having gone the college route vs. the Junior A route, even though major A got you to where you wanted to go?
Raycroft: The difference for me is I never had any opportunities to go to college. It wasn’t on my radar. I don’t even think when I was 18 I knew what Harvard was, or BC. I heard of it, but it wasn’t something, in my town, that was really thought of. I was a seventh-round pick to the OHL, so it wasn’t like I was a stud coming up who had four college scholarships. I went to junior, fell into a good situation and got drafted into the NHL. My idea was, and my family, that school was important. I went to the OHL, and I got ‘X’ amount of dollars toward university at the end of that. … But if anyone comes to me and says they have a scholarship to a top school in the United States or they have major junior, I would always steer them toward that college route.
NEHJ: What clicked for you that eventually got you to the NHL?
Raycroft: I was a fifth-round pick of the Bruins, had an OK first year of junior for a young guy, bad second year, then my third year, I was down in Boston, and I was able to stay in camp for a long time. I was here for almost a whole month and got in an exhibition game and got to see the inside of it. That was when I was 19, and I got so much confidence from that. I went back to junior and just went on a tear, right through Christmastime. I played every game, and my coaches and our team were really good. Everything clicked. A lot of it was just confidence and belief. I was getting a little bit bigger, stronger at that time. I was a late bloomer that way. That confidence just built. I got to sign a (pro) deal, then you’re sticking around for at three years. I just kept hanging around.
NEHJ: Who had the biggest influence in your professional career?
Raycroft: I look at my time, initially, in Providence. I had Bill Armstrong, Scott Gordon, Jeff Gorton, who was the assistant general manager here, he was the one who drafted me and was around a lot. Robbie Ftorek was the coach of the Bruins at the time, and he spent a lot of time in the minors when I was down there. He really looked at us as part of the organization, which, at the time, that never really happened, in the early 2000s. Finally I had Mike Sullivan. We went from the minors to the NHL together. There was a group of people here in Boston, the scouts … were with me through my development right from being a fifth-round draft pick to finally making it. Mike O’Connell was the GM the whole time. In pro hockey, there’s always a lot of turnover, but the organization as a whole always was important for me.
NEHJ: What’s your favorite moment as a Bruin?
Raycroft: (In the 2004 playoffs), Game 4, Montreal, double-overtime win, 4-3, Travis Green slashes (Alex) Kovalev, he’s shaking his hand, Glen Murray goes in (for the game-winner). … I can see it exactly. That was by far the best moment as a Bruin. That was by far the best moment, then the next five days weren’t that good … we lost three in a row and got beat out. My worst moment is Game 7, we got beat 2-0, Richard Zednik scoring with four minutes left in the game. I had the best and the worst moments within about six days here in Boston, but I remember them both real vividly.
NEHJ: You played in a couple of other towns — Vancouver, Dallas, Toronto, a little Colorado. Pretty big hockey markets for the most part. So you saw some media attention, especially in Boston and Toronto. Did you like the media when you were playing?
Raycroft: I recognized that it was a necessity. Being in Toronto, it was really difficult, because it’s not just a couple guys. You’ve got to answer questions every single day. As a starting goalie, there’s a new story every day. At times, you just kind of put you hands up, “Guys, there’s no story today. I don’t have anything. What are we talking about?” That got frustrating. I would have dealt with it better if I was a little older, probably, or, looking back, going with the flow a little bit, rather than overthinking it. I think I overthought it at times. But all in all, I think I did a good job showing up after a loss or after a win and answering as best as I could. I think at times, too, maybe I was a little too honest with the way I felt, rather than just doing the political part of it.
NEHJ: How did you find yourself getting into media, particularly getting on the Bruins telecast on NESN?
Raycroft: I got back here and started doing the learn-to-play clinics with the Bruins, just being around the Bruins a little more. Then the opportunity to come into NESN came up, or do an audition or just come in and speak. I did that and hadn’t thought too much about it, then got a call back. I was very nervous and unsure, the first time I did a game, a couple of those late games. But then at the end of the weekend, I realized that I really liked it, realized that I liked prepping, and watching, again. I think it was a good time for me to get back into the game. Since then, I’ve been trying to get better, learning from you and Dale (Arnold) and Barry (Pederson). It’s been a nice complement to what I’m doing with the Bruins in the clinics and charity stuff, but also being a part of the game and coming to the rink and seeing guys, enjoying the atmosphere and being around NHL hockey.
NEHJ: Did you have a hard time being critical of players the first few times you were broadcasting, and have you been able to overcome that, and if so, how?
Raycroft: Yes. I think it is difficult to do that. As a player, you remember not wanting to be criticized, but if you are honest and don’t go over the top and you recognize that there is a bad play, but that guy made the bad play because, and give the reason why, and understand that it happens, and mistakes are part of the game.
NEHJ: What do your kids think of you on TV, and the fact that they didn’t know you as a player? Is Dad cool enough in their eyes, now that you are on TV?
Raycroft: I’m not sure (laughs). They get a kick out of it. But it is an odd thing. The biggest thing is that I got traded for Tuukka. So now they can watch Tuukka and they think I was good like that, so that’s the one good thing. They didn’t get to see me play. My little guy got to see me when he was like 2 or 3, so he doesn’t really have a recollection of me being out there. So they think this is a natural thing that you play in the NHL, then you go on TV and talk about it.
