Can Chara Play Until 50?

[prizminferno]

Here's the thing: what you think you see isn't what is actually happening

 

[Kelly]

He's a positive player in the series in basically everything and you're citing a sample size of six (6). Yikes from me.

So is Jake Gardiner.

Ask Bruins fans how they feel about him.

 

[danpantz]

So is Jake Gardiner.

Ask Bruins fans how they feel about him.

Gardiner hasn’t been bad this series. Clearly he’s not 100% though.

 

[angusyoung]

TBO, not sure he should be playing now. Seems to get exposed too much on fast action,great when it's cycling down low,but otherwise

 

[SH15]

God no, he can barely play now. If he was called for half of the penalties he actually commits, he'd be on his way out sooner rather than later. Never seen refs so hesitant to call anything on a player. It's 100% extending his career.

 

[dkhockey]

Slow as molasses these days, but speed's never been his thing. He's still scoring playoffs goals and being decently effective at the tender age of 42 and has recently said he has no plans of retiring. We know Jagr had set his sights on playing until 50, but the forward position is more dynamic than Chara's role. Is he eying playing until he's 50?

of course he can, refs have been turning a blind eye to all his dirty shitty plays for 15 years now, surely they can do 5 more....

F him and the B's

 

[Butch 19]

at times he looks quite slow and out of place.

he sees the writing on the wall.

 

[Over the volcano]

at times he looks quite slow and out of place.

he sees the writing on the wall.

Sounds like his scouting report when he was a rookie.

Chara has looked really bad this series, old and slow, and can't keep up with the Leafs unless he's throwing illegal picks.

So yes, let's hope he does

He's got as many goals as Tavares

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

Slow as molasses these days, but speed's never been his thing. He's still scoring playoffs goals and being decently effective at the tender age of 42 and has recently said he has no plans of retiring. We know Jagr had set his sights on playing until 50, but the forward position is more dynamic than Chara's role. Is he eying playing until he's 50?

Probably not. He's had that thousand-yard stare more than a few times this series, and he's been penalised more often than he would have otherwise. Can he make a difference tonight, where the referees will give Boston the advantage, as they have consistently throughout the series? Sure. But I'd expect Chara to retire after next year.
The Bruins will be fine without him.

 

[rocketdan9]

No

Next season is probably his last

I think he deserves a nice farewell

Though some teams and player likely wont care to provide that and glad he retires

One thing for sure, hockey may not see another 6'9 giant with his type of reach again... extinction

 

[gamer1035]

He's not an NHL player right now. Without the refs hedh be useless.

 

[danpantz]

He's not an NHL player right now. Without the refs hedh be useless.

Oh he's definitely still an NHLer. Surprised you haven't seen him on the ice, considering the only defense-man on your team he plays less than is Reilly.

 

[Third Degree Burns]

Ya 6 playoff games, 1g, 1a, +3, plays over 20 mins a night. Good for the Bruins, not so much for everyone else.

6 penalty minutes, which should probably be more with the amount of interfering he does. 1 goal..wow I'm sure the league is terrified. Take a lap

 

[BBB24]

6 penalty minutes, which should probably be more with the amount of interfering he does. 1 goal..wow I'm sure the league is terrified. Take a lap

The guy plays 20+ mins a night against top players, usually kills 1.30 of a 2 min penalty, he is a beast and the Bruins are lucky/ happy to have him. Haters going to hate but they would love him on their team.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Oh my.

1. When do you think "countries other than Canada started to seriously participate?"
2. When do you think Chelios played?
3. What nationality do you think Chelios is?

Because your response indicates you have a very wrong idea about the answer to at least one of those questions, and possibly all three.


And to answer the OP, chances are so small they're almost zero. Chara has already started to look old out there. The 40's will only accelerate that process. Even if were were still seeing prime-level Chara it would be a long shot. But given that he's clearly already past his prime, I just don't see him being able to stay in the leage for another 8 years.

Are you purposely misunderstanding what I'm saying? Using common sense it's pretty obvious I didn't strictly mean "only Canadians played in the NHL".

Everybody knows the NHL is more competitive today and a good indicator of that is how countries like Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden (in terms of depth mostly) Denmark and USA are coming up with more talent than ever and the number of Canadians in the NHL keeps decreasing as a result of how the international competition has been increasing.

Yea Chelios only stopped playing like 10 years ago but NHL's grown faster than ever and will have grown even more by the time Chara would be closer to 50 + the league is a lot faster now and speed doesn't age well.

 

[illpucks]

He's not an NHL player right now. Without the refs hedh be useless.

Why? Because he's slow? He always was... even in his absolute peak

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

less competitive era. Wayyy less competitive.

Yep, that 2008 timeframe is just so much damn less competitive than now. Chelios was still playing when some of the best players in the last generation were in their prime. You are aware of this, right?

 

[PuckSeparator]

Many people are laughing at Chara, but he played his role this series and even got under the Leafs skin.

 

[pcruz]

Many people are laughing at Chara, but he played his role this series and even got under the Leafs skin.

That tends to happen when you go around suckering people who have no idea you’re even around.

 

[Elvs]

Radoslav Suchy still plays in the Slovak league at the age of 43. Chara can play there until he's 50 most likely, but in the NHL? Nah.

 

[Mike8]

Are you purposely misunderstanding what I'm saying? Using common sense it's pretty obvious I didn't strictly mean "only Canadians played in the NHL".

Everybody knows the NHL is more competitive today and a good indicator of that is how countries like Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden (in terms of depth mostly) Denmark and USA are coming up with more talent than ever and the number of Canadians in the NHL keeps decreasing as a result of how the international competition has been increasing.

Yea Chelios only stopped playing like 10 years ago but NHL's grown faster than ever and will have grown even more by the time Chara would be closer to 50 + the league is a lot faster now and speed doesn't age well.

You probably should have just used your last point (about speed), and not that the league is more competitive or the international stuff. Since, as you seem to know, Chelios is American, and Chelios didn't play that long ago. As well, the league when Chelios played was plenty skilled, competitive, and international. (Chelios's long career mostly overlapped Gretzky, Lemieux, Bourque, Lidstrom, Messier, et al. -- hard to say that today's league has the top-end depth of talent to compete, even).

 

[Shaman464]

Can he play? Sure. Will he do it at a high level? Probably not. Even Chelios couldn't make it to 50.

 

[Over the volcano]

Many people are laughing at Chara, but he played his role this series and even got under the Leafs skin.

..and shut down their top line.

25 min and +3 in game 7

 

[steveayres35]

Chara may play until he's 50 - but it won't be in The NHL.

He'll play for his home country

I often wonder who is going to be the first NHL player to play to 100.

Gretzky's Son

 

[BruinsBtn]

For all the talk about how he's slow and washed up, I dont think he got beat once on the rush in the series.