Zdeno Chara

[Eye of Ra]

We all know him for his years in Ottawa and Boston.

But he played 4 seasons with Islanders which is not much heard about.

Was he any good when playing for this team? Was he physical? His stats where not impressing.

Just asking out of curiosity.

Click to read more...

 

[Brunomics]

Honest opinion, he wasn't very good. I thought at best he would be a #4. When the Yashin trade happened I didn't care at all that he was moved. I was really pissed about not having Spezza though.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

We all know him for his years in Ottawa and Boston.

But he played 4 seasons with Islanders which is not much heard about.

Was he any good when playing for this team? Was he physical? His stats where not impressing.

Just asking out of curiosity.

He was loved and appreciated.

I don't think fans at that time envisioned him becoming what he has become. There were plenty and plenty of growing pains along the way when he was playing for what was pretty much the darkest period in Islander history.

 

[mm11]

Hall of Famer and we didn't even know it. He was raw no doubt but worked like a dog I understand..

 

[BarBeauWahlDobLok]

We all know him for his years in Ottawa and Boston.

But he played 4 seasons with Islanders which is not much heard about.

Was he any good when playing for this team? Was he physical? His stats where not impressing.

Just asking out of curiosity.

I didn't regret losing him in that trade at the time. I hated losing Spezza. In fact, at trade deadline 2001, he was offered to Buffalo for Peca, Buffalo wouldn't do it. No one saw him as a Hall Of Fame player, he just became one. Of all the players traded on Draft day 2001, he's the only Hall Of Famer. Again, no one saw this coming.

 

[aronjudge11]

Charas value at the time was probably at best a 1st round pick if he had been moved for a pick instead of Yashin. I think A lot of teams learned a lesson with him...draft the big players...make room for them on your team and keep them.

 

[Doshell Propivo]

He was a very poor and awkward skater. The only thing he had going for him was his size and he was being groomed to being a "crease clearing defenseman" that was all the rage in the late 90's/early 00's.

The way he improved his skating is astonishing. Just an amazing improvement.

There's a neat story about Chara when he was a rookie and was walking past the Isles offices at the Coliseum. He saw a bunch of staffers stuffing envelopes for a mailing. Apparently they had a huge stack and Z felt that they could use help. So he asked if they needed a hand and pulled up a chair and stuffed envelopes with them for a while. This was obviously before he was a star/celebrity so the gesture was pure. He simply thought helping out what he considered fellow employees as the right thing to do.

My other favorite Z story is of him showing up to the Bruins cup parade in shorts and on his bike. He rode his 10 speed to city hall from his apartment in the North End with a shit eating grin on his face.

 

[PK Cronin]

I was just a kid when Chara was on the team but I remember seeing him a few times, most memorably at some type of rookie scrimmage (not sure if it was the same format back then as it is today). He was obviously massive to a child, but I can recall him being clunky and being told by adults that he needed a lot of improvement.

He was a very poor and awkward skater. The only thing he had going for him was his size and he was being groomed to being a "crease clearing defenseman" that was all the rage in the late 90's/early 00's.

The way he improved his skating is astonishing. Just an amazing improvement.

There's a neat story about Chara when he was a rookie and was walking past the Isles offices at the Coliseum. He saw a bunch of staffers stuffing envelopes for a mailing. Apparently they had a huge stack and Z felt that they could use help. So he asked if they needed a hand and pulled up a chair and stuffed envelopes with them for a while. This was obviously before he was a star/celebrity so the gesture was pure. He simply thought helping out what he considered fellow employees as the right thing to do.

My other favorite Z story is of him showing up to the Bruins cup parade in shorts and on his bike. He rode his 10 speed to city hall from his apartment in the North End with a **** eating grin on his face.

Never heard the mailing story before, good stuff!

 

[BMOK33]

He was pretty bad. I’ve mentioned this a ton of times but I was at a game in maybe January 98 vs Phoenix and Chara scored 2 goals in the 3rd period to either tie it or tie it and then put the Isles ahead, I can’t recall which. I remember watching the tape when I got home and also hearing from friends the next day who watched it that the bench was in tears laughing at the fact Jimmy Waite got beat by Chara who Travis Green said after the game to Bremante Bryant (remember him?) that Chara regularly was ridiculed in practice and warmups because he was the only guy anyone ever saw with a worse shot than Darius Kasparitis had

 

[YesCubed]

Charas value at the time was probably at best a 1st round pick if he had been moved for a pick instead of Yashin. I think A lot of teams learned a lesson with him...draft the big players...make room for them on your team and keep them.

despite a lot of very bad and tall defenseman being drafted and kept over actual good players, the only player who was drafted at chara height and carved out a decent nhl career has been tyler myers

 

[The Lighthouse]

He was pretty bad. I’ve mentioned this a ton of times but I was at a game in maybe January 98 vs Phoenix and Chara scored 2 goals in the 3rd period to either tie it or tie it and then put the Isles ahead, I can’t recall which. I remember watching the tape when I got home and also hearing from friends the next day who watched it that the bench was in tears laughing at the fact Jimmy Waite got beat by Chara who Travis Green said after the game to Bremante Bryant (remember him?) that Chara regularly was ridiculed in practice and warmups because he was the only guy anyone ever saw with a worse shot than Darius Kasparitis had

I remember watching that game on TV - the Islanders mounting a comeback against any team back then was rare, and I'll remember that forever because Chara led the charge.

 

[LeapOnOver]

He really was an awkward skater. Many times I kept thinking he wasn't tying his skates tight enough around the ankles, lol. Honestly can't blame anybody for not realizing what he could become. Really a good story of what hard work can get you.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

I was too young to really remember his play, just remember getting the pregame booklet with "BIG Z" on the cover and being amazed that he was 6'9" and 7'2" on skates.

I found that picture not too long ago and thought it was pretty cool for how weird it is. #53 Chara in a Isles fisherman jersey sporting long hair and a bloodied nose.

 

[StumpNYI]

despite a lot of very bad and tall defenseman being drafted and kept over actual good players, the only player who was drafted at chara height and carved out a decent nhl career has been tyler myers

Now we're stuck with Mat Barzal when we could of kept Griffin Reinhart....

 

[crasherino]

I thought he'd be easily replaced by Branislav Mezei.

 

[Seph]

I remember back in a pre-9/11 world when he and Cairns played the bottom pairing and were referred to as the Twin Towers (Cairns was pretty tall as well at 6'5"). Chara came into the NHL as a highly regarded prospect, but in the NHL he kind of got pigeon holed as a physical stay at homer who could drop the gloves and that was never really given a chance to play a more offensive game. Even when he played the PP, he was stuck in front of the net.

Most Islanders fans at the time saw him as a bottom pairing physical guy, and I don't recall any seeing his upside as being anywhere near what it turned out to be. His skating, most notably his foot speed and lateral mobility, improved a lot after he moved on from the Islanders. And that combined with more opportunity to play an offense game saw him grow leaps and bounds as a player. At the time of the trade, everyone lamented the loss of the 2nd overall, but I don't recall any Islanders fans complaining about losing Z.

 

[gordie43]

View attachment 119067

I was too young to really remember his play, just remember getting the pregame booklet with "BIG Z" on the cover and being amazed that he was 6'9" and 7'2" on skates.

I found that picture not too long ago and thought it was pretty cool for how weird it is. #53 Chara in a Isles fisherman jersey sporting long hair and a bloodied nose.

My favorite part of the picture is the sleeves of his jersey. He was so big, the Isles didn’t have a jersey long enough for him, so the had to cut fabric to extend his sleeves.

 

[Jester9881]

He was a very poor and awkward skater. The only thing he had going for him was his size and he was being groomed to being a "crease clearing defenseman" that was all the rage in the late 90's/early 00's.

The way he improved his skating is astonishing. Just an amazing improvement.

There's a neat story about Chara when he was a rookie and was walking past the Isles offices at the Coliseum. He saw a bunch of staffers stuffing envelopes for a mailing. Apparently they had a huge stack and Z felt that they could use help. So he asked if they needed a hand and pulled up a chair and stuffed envelopes with them for a while. This was obviously before he was a star/celebrity so the gesture was pure. He simply thought helping out what he considered fellow employees as the right thing to do.

My other favorite Z story is of him showing up to the Bruins cup parade in shorts and on his bike. He rode his 10 speed to city hall from his apartment in the North End with a **** eating grin on his face.

My favorite Chara story is from Chris Botta (I think), a trainer called him over and told him to get on the bike and try to pedal it, he either could move it or barely moved it. The trainer told him Chara had been using it on that setting LOL.

I was at Bill Torrey night when they put his bow tie in the rafters in 2001(?). Great seats in the 100's center ice against Pittsburgh. Back then late in the season the Islanders would draw well under 10k, it was like a HS auditorium. Anyway, Mario Lemieux comes down the wing carrying the puck through the neutral zone and Chara stands him up right in front of us. Because it was so quiet in the building, you could hear the wind come out of him and Chara barely moved.

 

[alko]

Heard a story,when he was in WHL. He should promised his agent, that if he make it to the NHL, he would buy him a Mercedes. He didnt.

 

[And You Feel Shame]

Chara with the Islanders was a project. The thought was potential 2nd line shut-down D. But he was unique because he was so tall, so a lot of people gravitated to him because of that. I was unhappy that he was included in the Yashin trade, but never thought he would blossom into the Norris caliber defenceman he became a few years later with Ottawa.

 

[BarBeauWahlDobLok]

I thought he'd be easily replaced by Branislav Mezei.

That '99 Draft was the illusions of all illusions. For starters, there was a lot of hype going into that draft, and almost every first rounder busted. The two best players, the Sedins, were kind of co-dependent, and the third best player, Martin Havlat, was made of paper mache. Tim Connolly was in the top 5 of all players from that first round, but overall it was a putrid first round. I still say 1996 was the worst, but 1999 had more hype, so maybe it was the worst.

As far as Mezei goes, yeah, I expected much. I thought he would be part of the twin oak trees along with Kristian Kudroc. The best thing to come out of 1999 is that I was dating a chick who looked just like Julia Roberts. Didn't help the Islanders, but what could?

 

[Jester9881]

Tim Connolly might have had a much better career had he been drafted by just about any other team and didn't suffer from all those concussions later on.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

My other favorite Z story is of him showing up to the Bruins cup parade in shorts and on his bike. He rode his 10 speed to city hall from his apartment in the North End with a **** eating grin on his face.

I’ve heard before he’s an insane cyclist. Probably a story from a podcast that he asked another player to go for a ride with him and the guy who was in phenomenal shape tapped out a quarter the way in lol.

 

[BarBeauWahlDobLok]

Tim Connolly might have had a much better career had he been drafted by just about any other team and didn't suffer from all those concussions later on.

I agree. And truthfully, the same could be said for Scott LaChance. I know Bill Torrey and Al Arbour were revered for their work in the 70's and early 80's, and rightfully and deservedly so, but the wheels just came off in the mid 80's when the WHL decided to stop churning our top notch prospects for us.

 

[scott99]

He was gangly, skated awkwardly, but it was easy to project something there. I remember seeing him at an AHL all star game, score an amazing goal, stick handling and skating around guys to score a beautiful goal. I said to myself, where did THAT come from ?