Former Bruins Zdeno Chara signs with WASHINGTON - II

[TP]

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@Fenway can you liven this up? thanks!

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[Alicat]

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@Fenway can you liven this up? thanks!

This is all a bad dream right?

 

[Gordoff]

Same good Chara was to Savard and Bergeron and every other Bruin who ever suffered a concussion from a dirty hit under Chara's watch lol

Oh okay, so he was supposed to prevent that. Okay I understand now. Well since he's gone there won't be any move concussions, Miller will take care of it.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

@DangleCity

Regarding Chara skating/puck skills:


Half of Tampa's defense! St Louis had Edmunson and a few other grenade tossers. Washington had one or two as well. They do still have a role, in shutting down premier offensive talent.

The NHL is transitioning to skating three zone defensemen but it will be a few more generations before every team has six of them.

 

[Gordoff]

This is all a bad dream right?

They're called nightmares so yeah.

 

[Gee Wally]

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@Fenway can you liven this up? thanks!

done

 

[LouJersey]

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@Fenway can you liven this up? thanks!

must we? Haha

we were so lucky to have him for so long. I will miss him for sure. I don’t think a five hour video tribute would be enough in all honesty.

for you younger fans, this team was a laughing stock for a long time. Franchise hit rock bottom and then, a fierce leader and competitor signed and a legend was born. Chara made you proud to be a fan again, and he dominated. He was the start of the greatest run of any of my teams in 43 years of watching sports. He helped give me my only title the past 25 years and I will forever love him.

forget athlete, There aren’t many humans created like him anymore Total class.

coworker of mine retired after 48 years and honestly I have no idea what I’m going to do without him, such an emotional day and then this. The feeling of loss is so strong right now

 

[LSCII]

Man, so much gnashing of teeth in these threads. You all act like this is the same guy from 2011. He's not. He'll be 10 years past that when the season starts and is literally on the 19th hole.

 

[BlackCrowes]

Personally, I’m torn on this. I do see the value in finding out if guys like Lauzon, Zboril or Vaak can cut it on a regular basis. But at the expense of a force of nature like Chara, who has declined but still has aspects of the game where he could help us? It’s tough. I guess at the end of the day there will be points in every game where I will say to myself “Thank God that wasn’t Chara out there....”. And then there will be games where we have a one goal lead, with 90 seconds left in the third on the PK where I’ll say “ohhh man.....”

 

[LSCII]

must we? Haha

we were so lucky to have him for so long. I will miss him for sure. I don’t think a five hour video tribute would be enough in all honesty.

for you younger fans, this team was a laughing stock for a long time. Franchise hit rock bottom and then, a fierce leader and competitor signed and a legend was born. Chara made you proud to be a fan again, and he dominated. He was the start of the greatest run of any of my teams in 43 years of watching sports. He helped give me my only title the past 25 years and I will forever love him.

forget athlete, There aren’t many humans created like him anymore Total class.

coworker of mine retired after 48 years and honestly I have no idea what I’m going to do without him, such an emotional day and then this. The feeling of loss is so strong right now

You getting soft on us in your old age, brother? Amazing how your perspective changes with age, isn't it? While it sucks to see him go, I hated watching his slow decline more than him leaving because it was always in view during each game. I have nothing but great memories of him in his prime as a Bruin and those will live on forever.

 

[LouJersey]

You getting soft on us in your old age, brother? Amazing how your perspective changes with age, isn't it? While it sucks to see him go, I hated watching his slow decline more than him leaving because it was always in view during each game. I have nothing but great memories of him in his prime as a Bruin and those will live on forever.

yes don’t confuse my waxing poetic with not agreeing with the move

 

[KrejciMVP]

Bruins need to get a player prospect like lafrenaire. Its time.

 

[Fenian24]

Bruins need to get a player prospect like lafrenaire. Its time.

They should have a chance this year

 

[Bruinaura]

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@Fenway can you liven this up? thanks!

How scared are you now? lol

I like, but do not like, your new avatar

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

Heh, Bruins pay depth player that hasn't played for over 2 seasons more than their former captain got.

Not saying we should have re-signed Chara, but I'd prefer him at less cap than Kevan 'do I still have kneecaps' Miller.

And who made those decisions? All falls on Sweeney and the management. Can't say I'm happy with the (lack of) moves he's made since the pandemic started.

 

[PB37]

We all saw the writing on the wall. I think the Bruins were hoping he would retire and take a front office gig, but the big man wants to keep playing.

I think deep down, we all knew this was going to happen. Chara is still elite in small spaces, which is why he's a beast on the PK. But ask him to skate for or with the puck, and he was exposed.

I wish Chara well but this was a good ( and painfull ) decision by the Bruins.

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

Man, so much gnashing of teeth in these threads. You all act like this is the same guy from 2011. He's not. He'll be 10 years past that when the season starts and is literally on the 19th hole.

I was feeling sad earlier so thought I would put on some Bruins hockey : game 2 vs Tampa . After watching about 5 minutes of the game I began to feel a little more at peace with the decision. Don’t get me wrong , I loved Chara and I’m not suggesting that Tampa series was truly representative of his play but he bumbled every pass McAvoy sent him and was slow and out of position constantly.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

must we? Haha

we were so lucky to have him for so long. I will miss him for sure. I don’t think a five hour video tribute would be enough in all honesty.

for you younger fans, this team was a laughing stock for a long time. Franchise hit rock bottom and then, a fierce leader and competitor signed and a legend was born. Chara made you proud to be a fan again, and he dominated. He was the start of the greatest run of any of my teams in 43 years of watching sports. He helped give me my only title the past 25 years and I will forever love him.

forget athlete, There aren’t many humans created like him anymore Total class.

coworker of mine retired after 48 years and honestly I have no idea what I’m going to do without him, such an emotional day and then this. The feeling of loss is so strong right now

That would have been in the 1960's.

When are you talking about?

 

[rocketdan9]

It was time

Bruins extended him and extended him ... past 40. Very rare for this to happen

At some point they couldnt any longer

 

[remer]

I think there are many variables in this decision. Maybe Zee didn't want to play third line defender. Perhaps he didn't want to be asked to sit for a few games. Perhaps he was thinking that maybe Washington had a better chance to win the Cup. Who really knows. It will likely come out. The price tag was similiar to what Boston offered him. With bonus money, Chara will make 1.525 million in Washington. It was time. I think Neely and Sweeney saw it during the RTP. That's why Neely commented that the organization had to be brutally honest. Chara was past his prime and Krug was too small to defend, would demand too many years at a too high of a cost. Krejci and Rask are likely next and maybe moved by the deadline. This team needs a new influx of talent. The rebuild is on.

 

[AK37]

I think this speaks volumes about how the Bruins are confident that Vaakanainen and Zboril are ready to establish themselves as NHL regulars this season

I'm not saying either will be a superstar, but they're both 1st round draft picks with plenty of potential and both have been seasoned and learned to play the pro game in Providence. I have been saying for the past year that Zboril had some really excellent games at Providence and I thought he was definitely ready. I'm not talking excellent stats-wise, but that steady D-man game where he makes a bunch of those small plays that are so valuable. You watch the difference between Vaakanainen and/or Zboril versus Chara when it comes to turning around and getting back to retrieve a puck in their own end, the ability to skate the puck, the ability to retrieve and fire a crisp breakout pass which leads to offense the other way. These things are overlooked because it's not stats driven, but they're so important to winning hockey. They are both young and of course they'll make some mistakes, but giving these guys significant time at the NHL level is going to very important to this team and what our D core looks like over the next 5 seasons. If one or two of Vaakanainen, Zboril and Lauzon take the next step in their development and can just become that solid every day NHL D-man that can either play a steady game on the left side next to McAvoy - it's going to be huge. I know Zboril takes a lot of heat or gets labeled a bust, but I think many people will be pleasantly surprised once the kid is given a shot.

People also need to understand that not all prospects develop the same and bust into the lineup at 19 or 20....and that is OK. The Bruins have been a contending team with very good depth which has been good and bad in some ways....it's forced Senyshyn, Frederic, Vaakanainen, Zboril to spend more time in the AHL because there simply wasn't a spot for them to slide into an everyday role with Boston. People get impatient and assume these kids suck, but there is value to letting these kids mature and develop

Lets face it - we all love Chara, but it was time to move on.....he has his value on the PK and leadership, but watching him struggle to skate back and get to pucks was brutal at times. He can be a total liability when the puck is on his stick, his passing was not pretty/accurate/crisp and his shot has been getting worse season after season. I'm not saying these kids are going to be all-stars, but I do think in some ways the Bruins are going to be better off and there are plenty of areas of the game where these kids will absolutely be able to give the Bruins more than Chara could

 

[TD Charlie]

Wait wait wait. Bonus money too? That kinda changes things a bit. Kinda sorta somewhat maybe a little bit.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

I would love to see Lauzon get some more time, he's not a star by any means but I really like his game.

 

[TCB]

Man, so much gnashing of teeth in these threads. You all act like this is the same guy from 2011. He's not. He'll be 10 years past that when the season starts and is literally on the 19th hole.

I don't think its that at all its more that Sweeney seems totally inept with his responsibilities. I mean there seems to be no Rhyme or Reason in what he does or better yet on what he doesn't do.

 

[JOKER 192]

They should have a chance this year

Come on , You don't really believe that.