Zdeno Chara, Quietly Still a Top Pair D at age 42

[BigBadBruins7708]

Dont look now, but Zdeno Chara is quietly having himself a great start to the season and is playing like top pair/#1 D

5-7-12, +17
21:46 min/gm
3:10 sh toi/gm
no PP time (only 0:02 pp toi/gm)
59% d-zone start

his 12 ES points are good for 12th in the league among D-men. Tied with Burns, Karlsson, Doughty...and ahead of Hedman, Giordano, Jones, Pietrangelo

his +17 is good for 3rd in the league among all skaters. He only has 16 ES GA while playing 18:30 ES min/gm

his 2.2 defensive point shares are 5th in the league, ahead of Carlson, Giordano, Jones, Hedman, Pietrangelo. The leader is Heiskanen at 2.7, so he's not far off that pace.

Click to read more...

 

[BostonBruins11]

shhhhhhhhhh....

 

[TOGuy14]

I haven't watched much of Chara at all this season but I will say this:

He got CONSTANTLY skated on last year in the playoffs by pretty much every Leafs forward. He was basically a turnstile for seven games. The only thing he was able to do to even remotely slow them down were blatant interference / holding / obstruction plays (some of which were called as penalties, most of which were ignored because he got the star treatment)

He is still great at clearing the crease and playing in a zone setup, but he looked abysmal in the open ice.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

He was insane in the playoffs last year, too

He wasn't engaging much offensively and definitely wasn't carrying the puck, but on his side of the ice he was the best player in playoffs imo. Every attack against him was forced to the outside.

 

[ChurchOfMatthews]

Guy's a beast. Hard to imagine still being in the league at his age. My knees ache just thinking about it.

 

[ZenOil]

Wow that's amazing. He is a health freak and a genetic freak. Great role model.

 

[NyQuil]

Quietly roaring back to burn down villages but never really gone?

He's a mystery wrapped in a riddle pan-fried in an engima.

Senators did a tribute to him during the last Boston-Ottawa game.

Always liked and admired Big Z.

 

[wintersej]

I haven't watched much of Chara at all this season but I will say this:

He got CONSTANTLY skated on last year in the playoffs by pretty much every Leafs forward. He was basically a turnstile for seven games. The only thing he was able to do to even remotely slow them down were blatant interference / holding / obstruction plays (some of which were called as penalties, most of which were ignored because he got the star treatment)

He is still great at clearing the crease and playing in a zone setup, but he looked abysmal in the open ice.

Toronto and the other speed teams are though for him. He does a good job against Matthews and Tavares though, but he has always struggled against guys in the Marner (Nylander, Johansson, Kapanen) mold and there are more of those guys in the league now. I actually don’t think he is that far off from prime Chara, the game is just different.

 

[jetsforever]

Amazing how he's still going after all these years

 

[Necrobutcher]

It' the vegan diet.

 

[weinsink]

I haven't watched much of Chara at all this season but I will say this:

He got CONSTANTLY skated on last year in the playoffs by pretty much every Leafs forward. He was basically a turnstile for seven games. The only thing he was able to do to even remotely slow them down were blatant interference / holding / obstruction plays (some of which were called as penalties, most of which were ignored because he got the star treatment)

He is still great at clearing the crease and playing in a zone setup, but he looked abysmal in the open ice.

At 42 he would be toronto's top defenceman..touche!

 

[BadBruins]

Toronto and the other speed teams are though for him. He does a good job against Matthews and Tavares though, but he has always struggled against guys in the Marner (Nylander, Johansson, Kapanen) mold and there are more of those guys in the league now. I actually don’t think he is that far off from prime Chara, the game is just different.

Yes and even prime Chara would get burned in the open ice every so often. That's the nature of playing heavy minutes against the most skilled players on the opposite team. At the end of the day, he still usually gets the best of those matchups.

His hockey sense and IQ get vastly underrated due to his historical size and shooting ability. It's a big reason he's still relevant in the game today.

 

[MetM]

I haven't watched much of Chara at all this season but I will say this:

He got CONSTANTLY skated on last year in the playoffs by pretty much every Leafs forward. He was basically a turnstile for seven games. The only thing he was able to do to even remotely slow them down were blatant interference / holding / obstruction plays (some of which were called as penalties, most of which were ignored because he got the star treatment)

He is still great at clearing the crease and playing in a zone setup, but he looked abysmal in the open ice.

so... you're saying..... He is a STAR?!

 

[Number8]

At 42 he would be toronto's top defenceman..touche!

By a not insignificant margin too!

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Still a good player but yeah, speed is his enemy. But that's not really a shock, speed has always burned Chara. Its when the opposition tries to cycle is where he makes his money. Which is the majority of the time.

 

[Thucydides]

Chara started a plant based diet a couple years ago. I remember him saying how much better he felt. It’s obviously working. So awesome to still see him playing so well.

 

[MetM]

Seriously, the guy is a great captain, he's a beast still on the ice. He somehow managed to adapt to the new NHL (yeah his long reach saves him often) even if he obviously slowed down.
Great role model off the ice too, I hope he stays with the team after retirement.
Fun fact: the guy speaks 7 languages.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

By a not insignificant margin too!

Every time I wanna respect the Bruins, I read stuff like this and I'm reminded why I dont.

 

[Kranix]

Did Chara ever almost fight John Scott

 

[MetM]

Every time I wanna respect the Bruins, I read stuff like this and I'm reminded why I dont.

"the Bruins" posted something you didn't like?

 

[Man Bear Pig]

"the Bruins" posted something you didn't like?

Yes, I literally meant the Bruins. The actual bear.

 

[Estlin]

It' the vegan diet.

That and Coke:

 

[Man Bear Pig]

That and Coke:

That's an 8 litre bottle

 

[BlackFrancis]

I haven't watched much of Chara at all this season but I will say this:

He got CONSTANTLY skated on last year in the playoffs by pretty much every Leafs forward. He was basically a turnstile for seven games. The only thing he was able to do to even remotely slow them down were blatant interference / holding / obstruction plays (some of which were called as penalties, most of which were ignored because he got the star treatment)

He is still great at clearing the crease and playing in a zone setup, but he looked abysmal in the open ice.

Valid observation. The MCL tear sapped what little quickness he still possessed. I was worried in the preseason, as he looked slower, if anything. But he appears to be moving fine now.

 

[ESH]

I haven't watched much of Chara at all this season but I will say this:

He got CONSTANTLY skated on last year in the playoffs by pretty much every Leafs forward. He was basically a turnstile for seven games. The only thing he was able to do to even remotely slow them down were blatant interference / holding / obstruction plays (some of which were called as penalties, most of which were ignored because he got the star treatment)

He is still great at clearing the crease and playing in a zone setup, but he looked abysmal in the open ice.

He was insane in the playoffs last year, too

He wasn't engaging much offensively and definitely wasn't carrying the puck, but on his side of the ice he was the best player in playoffs imo. Every attack against him was forced to the outside.

Who am I supposed to believe