Boston Bruins Opinion: Why its time for Zdeno Chara to hang up his skates
By Tom Dufton
Is Boston Bruins 40-year-old defenseman Zdeno Chara way past his prime?
Let’s just set the record straight, I am and always will be a fan of Boston Bruins star Zdeno Chara. It is certain he will end up in the NHL Hall of Fame in Canada.
That is why it hurts to write this. Besides being such a nice guy, Chara was a great player in the black & gold, however the stats suggest it may be time for the Chara to hang up his skates.
What do the stats say?
According to the NHL.com, Zdeno Chara has had two assist in 10 games and a plus/minus of plus six. Meanwhile other defensemen like Anton Stralman from the Tampa Bay Lightning has a plus/minus of plus 12 and Drew Doughty from the Los Angeles Kings has a plus/minus of plus 10, with these numbers also taken from the NHL website.
So this means Chara is behind both of them in the stats, and he didn’t even rank in the top 10 for plus/minus leaders, and it shows. His time on ice (or TOI) is still an average of 23 minutes, which is what it has generally been for his career.
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Chara has been in the league for a long time
Now, obviously as you get older it’s harder and harder, to keep up with whatever sport you play (unless your Tom Brady, in which I’m honored that you are reading this).
But back to the main point, it’s hard to keep up with the youth when you are older. Now Chara is 40 years old, and in terms of a hockey player that is extremely old and he has been in the league since 1997 (I was born in ’96 by the way, so he’s been in the league one year short of my entire life, so let that sink in).
Is he what he used to be?
Age is definitely showing on Chara in how he has slowed down. He is clearly not as fast as he used to be, which is obvious to anyone who has watched him play. He won’t ever get to the place where he is scoring 20 goals a season again, and he often looks slow and lumbering on the defensive end.
Next: Boston Bruins: Ryan Donato a forgotten prospect?
Maybe it’s time for him to really consider retirement as an option and join the Boston Bruins staff as a defensemen coach.