Chara, on the other hand, would eventually join the Bruins, become their captain and lead the team to a Stanley Cup. When Chara won a Stanley Cup in Boston, he accomplished something that only one other European-born player had done in history. Joining in the ranks of Niklas Lidstrom who had done so in , Chara became only the second European-born and trained player to captain an NHL team to a Stanley Cup victory.
In fact, Chara, Lidstrom and Ovechkin remain the only three players in history to have done so. Born in Trencin, Czechoslovakia now Slovakia , Chara has had a storied friendship with Ottawa Senators forward Marian Gaborik and Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa due to the fact that they all grew up in the same town.
While both Gaborik and Hossa have won Stanley Cups, neither of them did so as the captains of their team. The two players to do so before him? Fluent in Slovak, Czech, Polish, Russian, German, Swedish and of course English, Chara has made it a point throughout his life to learn as much as he possibly could. Some are prominent, such as Chris Pronger, the 6-foot-6 future Hall of Famer sidelined by a concussion.
But there is no limit on the length of your arms or the depth of your talent and work ethic. Chara spent his first four seasons with the Islanders and struggled on a bad team.
He was minus in back-to-back seasons. Then he went to the Ottawa Senators and blossomed with a good team. He was plus, plus, plus, plus He began to produce offensively. He took a lot of pride playing against top lines.
Chara continued to evolve after he joined the Bruins in He became the foundation as they built a championship team, demanding the best from himself and everyone around him. He saw Chara do everything expected at the rink, then go home and do more — more miles on the bike, more pounds in weights. He found out Chara expected passes on his tape. At all times. In warm-up. It takes more energy to move pounds of mass, and teams try to wear down Chara by hitting him and outskating him.
He knows how, when and where to position his body, and he gets it there. He knows how, when and where to position his stick, and he puts it there. The front of the net is protected. Passing and shooting lanes are blocked. Bruins rookie Torey Krug is a small, mobile defenseman. At 5-foot-9, he is a full foot shorter than Chara. Still, he watches and learns. Chara has a nasty mean streak.
He socked the face of the game in the face — right after Crosby had healed from a broken jaw and taken off a plastic guard. The top of Grimaldi's head is at Chara's shoulders which is just nuts. The year-old gave the hockey world the picture it didn't know it needed, but will now not be able to live without, so thank you Rocco!
Tallest: RW Serron Noel -- 6-foot Shortest: LW Ryan Lomberg -- 5-foot Los Angeles Kings. Tallest: C Quinton Byfield -- 6-foot Shortest: C Blake Lizotte -- 5-foot Montreal Canadiens. Shortest: RW Cole Caufield -- 5-foot Nashville Predators. Shortest: RW Rocco Grimaldi -- 5-foot New Jersey Devils. Shortest: C Chase De Leo -- 5-foot New York Islanders. Tallest: D Zdeno Chara -- 6-foot Shortest: LW Ruslan Iskhakov -- 5-foot New York Rangers.
Ottawa Senators. Tallest: G Mads Sogaard -- 6-foot Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh Penguins.
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