Zdeno Chara will be a Hockey Hall of Famer shortly after his career ends. Now, part of his story will include the toughness he exuded during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final at age 42.
At the Boston Bruins’ end-of-season media availability, Chara revealed that he played through multiple jaw fractures during Games Five, Six, and Seven of the championship series.
The Bruins captain Zdeno Chara has had a rough ride in the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues. Towards the end of Game One, he blocked a shot from Vladimir Tarasenko that injured his wrist. Luckily for the Bruins, he was back in the lineup for the start of Game Two.
He incurred a second injury after a blocked shot deflected off his stick and struck him in the face early in the second period of Game Four.
By Brennin Weiswerda 1 month ago
The Boston Bruins announced Saturday that they have signed a one-year contract extension with defender Zdeno Chara. Chara, the 2009 Norris winner and a critical part of the 2011 Stanley Cup champion Bruins, turned 42 earlier this week.
By Peter Hassett 4 months ago
Alex Ovechkin is a big rig. And 6-foot-9-inch Zdeno Chara is nicknamed The Big Z.
So physics demands that when these two big humans meet, there is a lot of force involved. And that happened during the first period.
In the neutral zone, the two future Hall of Famers fought for a loose puck. Chara ended up in the Caps bench.
By Ian Oland 6 months ago
Norris Trophy winning defenseman Zdeno Chara may be known for his blistering slap shot and his crushing hits. But he certainly has a soft spot as well.
The six-foot-nine defenseman showed off that tender side in an Instagram video he posted two days ago. In it, a pigeon is on Chara’s arm, eating bread crumbs from his hand.
By Brendan Doyle 1 year ago
Zdeno sad. (Photo: Jared Wickerham)
The Montreal Canadiens pulled off an improbable comeback tonight, defeating the Boston Bruins 3-1 in game seven.
(Actually, I think I wrote that wrong. Let me try again.)
The universe decided it hated Zdeno Chara, so Montreal got ANOTHER fluky game seven win over a team way better than them.
(Okay, that’s better.)
Not kidding. Chara was bad. The 6’9” Norris trophy winner scored an own goal, committed two penalties, slipped on multiple invisible bananas, and had one particularly weird incident involving Brendan Gallagher and a temporary suspension of the rules of physics.
Let’s take a gander.
Crash the net! (Photo credit: Mitchell Layton)
Three times in Game Six did the Boston Bruins gain a lead over the Washington Capitals. And three times did the Caps tie it up. But the Caps just couldn’t finish off Boston.
Rich Peverley was credited for deflecting Bergeron’s blue-line bomb past Holtby. Mike Green got that back with a slapshot from way out, bouncing off Greg Zanon’s lower body in traffic. David Krecji used his speed to convert a power play and restore the Bruins’ lead. Jason Chimera evened it up by finishing off a great setup from Nick Backstrom at the end of the second period. Tyler Seguin’s rebound made easy feeding for Andrew Ference, giving the Bruins their third lead of the day. Alex Ovechkin canceled that out with a laser-quick shot off the faceoff with just five minutes remaining.
Into overtime, which Boston dominated until Tyler Seguin got the game winner. Bruins beat Caps 4-3 (OT). We’re going to Game Seven in Boston.
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
Photo credit: Patrick McDermott
With 42 seconds left in the second period, the Capitals tied Game Six up with a bizarre play that resulted in both Brad Marchand getting bloodied and Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara being faked out of his jock. Let’s review, shall we?
This is what Swedish revenge looks like. (Photo credit: Mark Baer, US Presswire)
The playoff series gives Caps fans a chance to learn all about our rivals and the exotic places they come from. For the first of their Stanley Cup travelogue series, the PuckBuddys offer “How To Spot A Bruins Fan” and helpfully explain why living in Boston is worse than gargling with cat litter.
The Geography of Bad: Let’s just put a few things on the table. Some cities are horrible because of where they are. Tampa comes to mind. Not quite poor enough to be swamp trash, not quite rich enough to be coastal, it’s the worst of Florida compressed into one atomically fetid spot. Or take Winnipeg. God help anyone who has to go to Winnipeg.
Other places aren’t so much insufferable because of where they are, but because of who lives there. Philadelphia, for example, where entire generations have refined the art of being over-privileged and grating. Dallas, which is just about all we need to say about that hole. Or pretty much the entire state of Arizona.
That said, there’s a whole special category of wretched for cities that, were the Lord truly merciful, He would just dump into the ocean and pretend it never happened. Can you guess which blighted dung pile is featured in this week’s list of awful?
By Doug Johnson 7 years ago
Photo credit: Charles Krupa
After Thursday’s disappointing overtime loss to the Boston Bruins, Dale Hunter’s Washington Capitals redoubled their efforts. The result: another excruciatingly tight hockey game at TD Garden, but with a heluva lot more offense.
Troy Brouwer crashed the net to score to the game’s first goal after 38 scoreless minutes. Halfway through the third, Benoit Pouliot tied the game with a backhand off a loose puck in the slot.
And the overtime. Nothing. OT2 ended in a blink… as Nick Backstrom beat Thomas over the shoulder. Caps beat Bruins 2-1 (OT).
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
