News Article: Chara charts course for a healthy return

[njbruin*]

Omg, he only hit 51 mph. This guy is toast. Trade him or ship him to Prov
for the rest of his contract.
Whats this bs about "rode along on the yacht" ? He is suppose to be rehabbing
not sipping booze on a yacht, probably surrounded by beach babes.



In all seriousness, I think he'll come back. Not to the player he once was, but 90 %
which is still #1 worthy.

What is this yacht they speak of ?

Is that the new political correct way to say floating.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

i have a hard time taking your posts seriously now that I saw you post Rask was a small goalie the other day

Really? Yes he is 6'2, and a stick figure. Compared to the 6'2-6'7, 220+ lbs goalies? Size doesn't only relate to height. Also, I believe I called him a 'smaller' goalie.

 

[Man Rocket]

Really? Yes he is 6'2, and a stick figure. Compared to the 6'2-6'7, 220+ lbs goalies? Size doesn't only relate to height. Also, I believe I called him a 'smaller' goalie.

fair enough perhaps i misread. however i still wouldnt call him a smaller goalie even though hes sub 200 lbs. i wont go more into it since its OT for this thread

 

[Over the volcano]

I wouldn't bet against chara. He's been injured sure, but if any athlete can work their way into playing shape it's that guy.

 

[BB88]

Chara can be the best 2nd pairing D in the league, someone who is used as a pk/d-zone beast, this way he could be a great shutdown guy in the playoffs also.

He made a lot of bad decisions, passes during this year, is that all just confidence or bad plays, also won't his knee be always a bit weaker?
We can't play him 25mins per night anymore, save his legs for real games.

maybe he should come a little lighter next year and help his knees.

 

[neelynugs]

I thought the cap hit remained constant for the life of the contract, that it was the total payout across the length of term divided by the length of term. Despite his salary going to $4M during the last year of his contract, does the cap hit actually reduce, perhaps due to his age?

i believe the rule is that if you sign a long term deal, any years of that deal where you are 40 years old or older are calculated for cap at the actual dollar amount. so his cap hit was averaged out slightly higher in the previous years...and that last year, at 40 years old, he counts for $4M flat.

 

[ReggieMoto]

Via mobile it's difficult to edit posts and add quotes. So I edited my post with a response to Fire Julien and didn't quote him. Sorry about that.

Okay. No prob. I get that, trust me.

 

[ORR2Sanderson2ORR]

Chara can be the best 2nd pairing D in the league, someone who is used as a pk/d-zone beast, this way he could be a great shutdown guy in the playoffs also.

He made a lot of bad decisions, passes during this year, is that all just confidence or bad plays, also won't his knee be always a bit weaker?
We can't play him 25mins per night anymore, save his legs for real games.

maybe he should come a little lighter next year and help his knees.

Chara although a beast He's basically all Muscle,skin and bones. I don't think he could get much lighter.

 

[BB88]

Chara although a beast He's basically all Muscle,skin and bones. I don't think he could get much lighter.

Easily could drop a bit, ofcourse I'm not saying he is fat that would be stupid but as a fitness "athlete" I'd say that with his size you can easily drop 10-15pounds without any problems. Get a bit faster hopefully.


His size now is his biggest weakness, in his fight against age and knee injury.
I'm 6'4 with knee problems and don't like to go higher than 235pounds, and I'm 14 years younger than him, can't be easy for him and his knees

 

[cat400]

As the off-season approaches, I rather read articles like this where Big Z is getting healthy and is confident that he has a few good years left in the tank.

 

[talkinaway]

To dig up a meme from 8 or so years ago - LEAVE CHARA ALONE!

Seriously. Dude gets a freak injury at the start of the season - I Zaprudered the hell out of that clip and couldn't see the obvious injury. Anyone other player, and I'd wonder about needing to put that player in bubble wrap, but Chara's conditioning is bar-none the best in the league. (Okay, those pull-ups this year were suspect, but come ON.)

The problem was that we have no plan going forward. Yes, he's great. But he's NOT going to always be the #1 D, and we needed to start planning and adjusting for that last year. According to Chiarelli, that plan included cap dumping Boychuk. Combine that with multiple injuries to virtually everyone in front of Rask (Miller x2, Krug's uncalled thumb slash with an AWFUL Twitter pic, Hamilton's season ender), and you're asking too much of even the superhuman that is Chara.

So, back off, Internet. No, we don't have the Chara of 2010-1. Yes, for his current cap hit, he's not a bargain - but we're paying for the Chara of 2011, and there's definitely some ketchup in the bottle - you just gotta thump it where it says "33 varieties", and it'll come out.

 

[bossfan]

I thought that it was reported that the PCL tear is permanent so that combined with having to wear a knee brace has to make him slower and with the NHL moving to a faster game it has to work against him.

Love his attitude and that he knows what was being said about him. A Chara with something to prove will be a very good defenseman but I don't think he can be the #1 shut down guy that the B's need.

 

[BruinDust]

Chara will come back next season motivated, healthy, and will be a very, very important player again for Boston. Will he be 2009 Chara? No, but he will be very effective.

But they Bruins do need to find a partner who compliments Chara so he can adjust his game somewhat at this stage of his career. By a partner I mean someone not named Hamilton.

 

[Three Dog]

i feel like he's been reading this forum

heh. That was my first thought when I read that too.


----------------------------------

I think there's a lot of frustration here, high expectations and knee jerk reaction amongst the fan base. I get the cap space problem, but Chara is one piece that I've read here (fairly consistantly) that a lot of people would like to trade away. and I really disagree with that. ....largely because I agree with what Chara had to say. I really don't think this season was an indication of an "aging defenseman thats spent his use". His size, experience, skill set,and no b.s. behaviour on the ice is not something I want to see lost. There are a lot of factors that contributed to this seasons short comings. ....healthy again, he'll be still well above an avergare D-man in my eyes.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

One idea I've wondered at is Krug with Chara.

In past years Chara has played with:
Ward
Boychuk
Kampfer
Ference
Kaberle
Seidenberg
McQuaid
Hamilton
Meszaros?
Wideman

Etc.

Partners where he is forced to play an offensive game that he no longer 'should' have to at this stage.

I'd give him a few games with Krug honestly. Have him turn into Hal Gill on steroids, and play defense. Cover the blue line while Krug skates the puck around.

For years Chara has covered up weaknesses of a partner. I think he can make up for the size deficit of Krug, keep his game simple and healthy.

And watch our transition game erupt with Krug out there more.

Need more speed? That comes from more Krug and Hamilton (Hamilton needs to stabilize his game or we are screwed!).

I've wanted Seids and Hamilton together going back to last season anyways, when I wanted Chara-Boychuk last season.

 

[BB88]

One idea I've wondered at is Krug with Chara.

In past years Chara has played with:
Ward
Boychuk
Kampfer
Ference
Kaberle
Seidenberg
McQuaid
Hamilton
Meszaros?
Wideman

Etc.

Partners where he is forced to play an offensive game that he no longer 'should' have to at this stage.

I'd give him a few games with Krug honestly. Have him turn into Hal Gill on steroids, and play defense. Cover the blue line while Krug skates the puck around.

For years Chara has covered up weaknesses of a partner. I think he can make up for the size deficit of Krug, keep his game simple and healthy.

And watch our transition game erupt with Krug out there more.

Need more speed? That comes from more Krug and Hamilton (Hamilton needs to stabilize his game or we are screwed!).

I've wanted Seids and Hamilton together going back to last season anyways, when I wanted Chara-Boychuk last season.

He can play with Krug but on the 2nd pairing, we need that top D to bring talent and give us the chance to limit his minutes.

I've thought that Hamilton right now is pure offensive player and he has been the partner for Chara?

 

[alg363636]

Chara is completely capable #1 Dman. Anyone saying that is simply incorrect. He's not the best in the league and might be on the lower scale of #1 guys, but he has it. The issue is that with his age, size and skill he needs be utilized properly.

He isn't Chara of 2011. He can't play 25 minutes a night being the only anchor of his pairing and expected to shut down the best guys in the business. He needs a steady partner and a #3 who can eat a ton of minutes for him. I love Dougie and he's going to be great, but we can all agree we saw a lot of growing pains. He couldn't offer the support Chara needed. Then with Seids collapse we didn't have anyone who could effectively eat Chara's minutes.

If we are going into this season expecting Chara to anchor our defense again, we need a strong #2-3.

 

[whatsbruin]

Is that the new political correct way to say floating.

No. The original post said :

"Chara, who shed his walking boot Thursday, took slap shots off concrete Saturday — hitting just 51 miles per hour on the radar gun — and rode along on the yacht, filling one afternoon of an offseason that began far earlier than the Bruins had imagined."

I've never heard that expression before, so I repeated it, and then asked for an
explanation.

 

[ORR2Sanderson2ORR]

Easily could drop a bit, ofcourse I'm not saying he is fat that would be stupid but as a fitness "athlete" I'd say that with his size you can easily drop 10-15pounds without any problems. Get a bit faster hopefully.


His size now is his biggest weakness, in his fight against age and knee injury.
I'm 6'4 with knee problems and don't like to go higher than 235pounds, and I'm 14 years younger than him, can't be easy for him and his knees

Chara realistically couldn't afford to drop 10-15lbs, he's a fitness freak and he would be losing all Muscle and I really don't feel its going to make him that much more fleet a foot.

It'll probably do just the opposite as Chara's strength has always been his, strength, his reach, and his meanness. I feel his size is his biggest advantage along with his reach if you take his strength away you'll diminish his major asset and at this stage in his career you can't try to make a Mac Truck turn into a Lamborghini when their getting low on miles so to speak.

If the Bruins lower his minutes play him on the second pairing and let him be mean and aggressive, he could still be productive but he can't be expected to be asked to play 25-30 minutes a game and be the shut down defender he once was game in and game out. But I wouldn't ask him to shed pounds as that would make him even less affective as you'd being taking away one of his biggest asset his strength . Chara wasn't slowed by extra weight he's a premier athlete an extraordinary one remarkably fit, not like the average Joe, his bad wheel and age slowed him down.

 

[BB88]

Chara realistically couldn't afford to drop 10-15lbs, he's a fitness freak and he would be losing all Muscle and I really don't feel its going to make him that much more fleet a foot.

It'll probably do just the opposite as Chara's strength has always been his, strength, his reach, and his meanness. I feel his size is his biggest advantage along with his reach if you take his strength away you'll diminish his major asset and at this stage in his career you can't try to make a Mac Truck turn into a Lamborghini when their getting low on miles so to speak.

If the Bruins lower his minutes play him on the second pairing and let him be mean and aggressive, he could still be productive but he can't be expected to be asked to play 25-30 minutes a game and be the shut down defender he once was game in and game out. But I wouldn't ask him to shed pounds as that would make him even less affective as you'd being taking away one of his biggest asset his strength . Chara wasn't slowed by extra weight he's a premier athlete an extraordinary one remarkably fit, not like the average Joe, his bad wheel and age slowed him down.

I don't think that Chara is shredded and in contest shape, if he is then he shouldn't drop weight. But I can tell you honestly that 10-15 pounds dropped right doesn't hurt your strenght at all, I always get stronger and faster when I drop that 10 pounds, have more energy also. If you know what you do you lose zero muscle and he has great trainers.

But again I didn't suggest dropping a bit of weight because he is fat, I said it could help his knee alot, there's lots of pressure on his knee with that weight and didn't they say earlier that it will never be 100%.

That injury made him slow, he didn't have confidence in his game, that resulted that he didn't hit like he has before and wasn't as nasty, so if coming up a bit lighter helps his knee and that way his confidence I'd say do it.

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

Chara will come back next season motivated, healthy, and will be a very, very important player again for Boston. Will he be 2009 Chara? No, but he will be very effective.

But they Bruins do need to find a partner who compliments Chara so he can adjust his game somewhat at this stage of his career. By a partner I mean someone not named Hamilton.

Yes,I don't like the Chara - Hamilton pairing ,not sure who the right guy for Z would be but it isn't Dougie .

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

We judge you on your ****** play since the 2013 playoffs, not on your age.

When he is a norris trophy finalist in 2014?

Sometimes a few posters here should be judged on their performance maybe but im sure theyd get much lower grades than chara

 

[KnightofBoston]

If the right players make the right steps then

Chara Krug
hamilton Morrow
Seidenberg McQuaid

Could be a decent defensive squad

Get Chara off the PP and tell the youngins, including Lucic, Marchand, Bergeron, Krejci to step it up

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Yes,I don't like the Chara - Hamilton pairing ,not sure who the right guy for Z would be but it isn't Dougie .

Chara should be allowed to take a step back into an adam mcquaid type of role focusing on shut down defense and beong a monster. Let krug and hamilton and morrow carry the load offensively.

Seidenberg has always been the best partner for chara... make those 2 our second pairing and find a new partner for hamilton (morrow?)

Its too bad krug makes too much to be a pp specialist... lets hope he can still improve his dzone coverage

 

[Numbah4]

When he is a norris trophy finalist in 2014?

Sometimes a few posters here should be judged on their performance maybe but im sure theyd get much lower grades than chara

I was just going to post the same thing. 17G 23A and a plus 25 on The President's Trophy Winning Team while playing the most minutes. Amazing how stupid some of these posters are.