Boston Bruins News: Zdeno Chara played with a broken leg.
In the final few weeks of the season, the Boston Bruins were playing for their playoff lives, and once again the Black and Gold played with injuries that would have sidelined practically every other professional athlete. This year, it would be their captain that proved just how tough the B’s are.
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On April 4th, Zdeno Chara took a shot off his ankle in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That puck ended up causing a non-displaced fracture of his left fibula. That hit greatly reduced the thirty-eight year old’s effectiveness in the Bruins final three games of the season.
It didn’t stop the Bruins captain from trying to give everything he had left though. Even with a broken leg, he averaged more than twenty-four minutes per game in those last three games. Unfortunately, the Bruins lost all three games and fell out of playoff contention.
It was the first time the Black and Gold have failed to make the post-season since the 2006-07 season.
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The Bruins captain ended up playing in sixty-three games this season. He missed nineteen games early in the season due to a knee injury. He was still able to rack up twenty points (eight goals) for Boston. Chara never seemed to get back to one hundred percent after the knee injury, and his diminished play was one of the factors for the Bruins inability to get into the playoffs.
There is some good news to be found in this revelation. First, it’s amazing to see how much dedication Chara has for the Bruins. Secondly, the break isn’t severe enough to require surgery. His expected convalescence should only be about four weeks so he’ll be ready for training camp in September.
Finally, the injury will likely keep Chara from playing for the Slovakian team in the 2015 IIHF World Championship. That tournament stars on May 1. With Chara out, he’ll be able to rest for the entire summer. Hopefully, the Bruins aging captain will be able to return to his old form next season.
The Bruins currently have Zdeno Chara under contract until the end of the 2017-18 season. He’s currently a seven million dollar cap hit for the Black and Gold. His contract is one of those long-term, no-trade clause contracts that have led to the Bruins current cap woes.