Bruins fans were left reeling after the club announced on Monday night that it had traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators. Not only had the Bruins split up the stellar goalie tandem, but the Black and Gold faithful quickly realized they had witnessed their last goalie hug between Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman after Boston’s […]
Bruins fans were left reeling after the club announced on Monday night that it had traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators.
Not only had the Bruins split up the stellar goalie tandem, but the Black and Gold faithful quickly realized they had witnessed their last goalie hug between Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman after Boston’s Game 5 win over the Florida Panthers on May 14.
As hard as it was for the fans, Ullmark admitted there were “lots of tears” when he spoke to Swayman after the announcement.
“I was shaking. I was literally shaking and trying to get the words to come out in a sense of that I’m in control without crying or making it hard,” Ullmark told DJ Bean and Pete Blackburn in the “What Chaos!” podcast. “Because, when you’re calling someone, you want them to understand you.”
Ullmark continued: “It was a feeling of emptiness as well in a sense of, OK, this is it, this is the end of what we’ve built throughout these three years, but afterward, once I’ve hugged my wife and let all the feelings subside like a wave that’s coming crashing against the beach that’s the end of one thing, but it’s the start to another; which is also a beautiful thing in itself.”
Even though they will no longer man the pipes for Boston, Ullmark doesn’t anticipate the bond he shares with Swayman to diminish. Ullmark shared what Swayman told him.
“He said, ‘It doesn’t matter if we’re two miles apart or if we’re 20,000 miles apart, we’re still going to be brothers for life,'” Ullmark recalled. “That really speaks volumes to me and my family.
“He’s always going to be Uncle Sway to the kids. He’s always going to be, in my mind, my little brother. My wife will always adore him for the person that he is and feels that he is — Uncle Sway.”
Ullmark added: “It really feels like this is forever, in a way, how we are as people. We might drift apart, but there’s always going to be a connection that will pull us together again. If that is in 10 years or 15 or 50 years, it doesn’t matter. I know that I can look back at this point as one of the best moments or times in my life and I have this wonderful person that came with the decision to move to Boston.”
Even though they will be on opposite sides of the ice in the upcoming season, Ullmark said he will still bring Swayman cinnamon buns.
“I’ll keep him well fed.”
