As the Boston Bruins prepare to celebrate Zdeno Chara’s 1500th NHL game and 1000th as a Bruin, you must ask, what does his place in the history books look like?
Straight away, you think Boston Bruins and one of the images that is conjured, at least for modern fans, is one of Zdeno Chara laying a towering hit on someone or winding up to fire the lightning bolt of a slap-shot he possesses.
For others, it’d be the iconic image of Zdeno Chara lifting the Stanley Cup when the Boston Bruins went all the way back in 2011. That came after a 39-year wait from the last time Boston fans had seen such a site.
At 1000 games (and counting), all as the Boston Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara is a picture of longevity. His ice-time may have waned slightly from his heyday, but he’s still more than capable of absorbing those tough minutes.
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In fact, he is now the oldest player in the league and is showing the same longevity and ability to adjust his game as the legendary Jaromir Jagr did in his later years with the Florida Panthers. 116 current NHL players weren’t even born when he played his first NHL game.
Longevity is certainly part of his legacy in the NHL. Leadership is probably the next biggest reason to view Zdeno Chara in rarefied company. Obviously, lifting the Cup is one thing but it’s the mentoring he has offered to the likes of Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo too.
It’s the willingness to adopt Boston as his own city and be incredibly proud to pull on a Boston Bruins jersey. In a room with plenty of leaders, he stands alone, head and shoulders above them, as we saw with his unwillingness to leave the bench despite suffering a broken jaw en-route to Game 7 last year.
His winning of the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2011 is testament to what he brings. Although he’s been among the league’s best defensemen over the years and has managed to adapt to this era’s faster game, using his reach primarily; he only once saw a Norris Trophy, back in 2009.
Perhaps this highlights that his legacy is that he brings a lot more intangible elements to the Boston Bruins. Zdeno Chara may not have a trophy cabinet full of Norris Trophies, deserved or undeserved, but he doesn’t care as long as the team is successful.
A personal achievement that stands out and is mentioned every year as the NHL All-Star Game comes around is the fact his record breaking 108.8mph shot in the ‘Hardest Shot’ contest still stands as the fastest seen in that competition; it’s a marker that has yet to be beaten.
One of his biggest legacies has to be in his native Slovakia; he is the 9th highest scoring Slovak in the NHL all-time and the leading defenseman. He hasn’t yet found his way to the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame, but it’ll happen the moment he hangs up his skates. In fact, you’d expect the Hockey Hall of Fame to have a spot waiting for him too.
For the Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara has been an icon over his time with the organisation. The sheer fact he’s been renewed year-on-year until age 42 is testament to not wanting him to retire without one more Cup!
His place in Boston Bruins and indeed, hockey history, is one that may not be littered with highlight reel goals, it has a few great fights, plenty of hard hits but it’s a history of doing the small things right, it’s a history of being a giant man with a giant heart and it’s one of never backing down. Pretty impressive if you ask me.