Boston Bruins: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoff grade for Zdeno Chara

As the dust as settled and Boston Bruins fans have been able to swallow what has happened, one thing has become clear. This team had one hell of a postseason run. Now it is time to evaluate the players performances and who better to start off with than the captain, Zdeno Chara.

Zdeno Chara showed his age these playoffs but still performed at an incredibly high level. Zdeno showed the heart of a leader when he refused to miss a game following his broken jaw in the Finals and proved that the Boston Bruins needed him to compete.

While his playoff performance was nowhere near perfect, Big Z has earned himself a playoff Grade of a B+.

The lack of speed and inability to clear the zone was what hurt Chara and the Bruins overall at times throughout the playoffs. Of course, at the age of 42 and never the speed demon by any sorts, him getting turned around by the speedy opposition was not always the most enjoyable thing to watch. His other struggle, the inability to clear the zone, may have been the most infuriating by the captain.

More from Bruins News

• Bruins release Prospects Challenge roster, schedule Tuesday
• Bruins bringing back familiar forward on tryout contract
• The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
• NHL Network lists Ullmark as sixth-best goalie in the league
• The Lasting Legacy of David Krejci

It felt as though every time he attempted to clear the puck out of the zone following a long period of zone time by the opponent, it would be stopped at the blue line and turn into another chance that Rask has to go all out to stop. It didn’t make sense at times because Chara had for a long time been the best at that. For fans, it becomes easier to blame age, but it was just confusing.

Only those two factors held Chara back from being in the A territory this post season. It was proven that his long stick and overpowering ability to clear out players in front of the net has Chara in unique company despite his many years. Soon enough, Chara will be on his way out but as Bruins fans we must continue to appreciate the leader Big Z is.

Much of what goes into the B+ is his continuous leadership on and off the ice. Chara doing everything in his power to play the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals with a broken jaw showed that. He lived through the pain in order to do all he could for his team. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Chara was out but showed up onto the ice in full uniform to celebrate with his team because that is the type of player he is.

Make sure to continue to check back as the Causeway Crowd analyzes the entire Bruins playoff run and how each player did.