Tear-jerking admission from Linus Ullmark following trade

It's the end of an era for the Boston Bruins, as goaltender Linus Ullmark was dealt to the division rival Ottawa Senators with one year remaining on his current contract. It brings a close to what was regarded as the tightest-knit goaltending tandem of Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, both of whom became famous for their postgame celebration "goalie hugs" that warmed hearts of fans everywhere: 

For Ullmark, it wasn't the easiest of news to receive that he was on the move. While he later said that he was looking forward to joining the Senators, leaving Boston (and Swayman in particular) behind resulted in "lots of tears".

“There were a lot of tears,” Ullmark explained on the 'What Chaos!' podcast of what the difficult phone call with now-former teammate Swayman after the trade. "It was a feeling of emptiness and a sense of, ‘OK, this is it. This is the end of what we’ve built throughout the three years.'”

In fact, Swayman was the first to receive the news from Ullmark after the deal became official. Naturally, it's going to be a difficult reality in having to move on from playing with a beloved teammate, but it's part of the business that is professional sports.

In the meantime, Ullmark can't wait to get started with his new teammates - but will always treasure his years wearing the spoked B of the Original 6 Boston Bruins. 

“I’m very much looking forward to the new opportunity that I get to have in Ottawa,” Ullmark said. “… If I didn’t get to feel the sadness (of the trade) then I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed my stay in Boston, so now that I actually have these feelings inside of me once I got traded — it just goes to show how much I loved being a Boston Bruin.”

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