Zdeno Chara deserves a spot in this Bruins all-time exclusive club; Who's next?
Zdeno Chara will go down as one of the best defensemen to ever play for the Boston Bruins, and looking at franchise history, he joins a very exclusive club.
The Bruins have been blessed with franchise altering defensemen, from Bobby Orr, to Brad Park, to Ray Bourque, then to Zdeno Chara, it's pretty incredible. Big Zee 100% deserves to be included among the likes of the Hall of Famers that came before him.
As per Steve Buckley of The Athletic:
''Chara's place in Boston sports history is not solely defined by those 14 seasons, including that magical Cup run in the spring of 2011. For to be a Bruins fan of a certain age is to have been gifted with a half-century of being able to step inside the Garden � the old one, the new one � to watch and appreciate a seemingly never-ending line of the greatest defensemen in hockey history, Chara included.''
Bruins president Cam Neely was lucky enough to skate alongside a defenseman like Bourque, and he's proud of the defenders that have come through Boston:
''To go from Bobby Orr to Brad Park to Ray Bourque to Zdeno Chara, that's pretty amazing I don't know if many other teams can say they've had those kinds of anchors on the blue line for that many years.''
And the tradition will undoubtedly continue with Charlie McAvoy on the Bruins blueline. McAvoy had the honour of playing alongside Chara in his early years, and he discussed how that impacted his career:
''That's something I gained an appreciation for as soon as I got here.''
�'Getting to build a relationship with Bobby and then meeting Ray along with the way, knowing not only what they did for the game but how they came back to be a part of the organization, that's so incredibly special.''
�'And then, to have played with Z After that, it sort of depends on you to be the next wave and carry the torch.'
�'Getting to build a relationship with Bobby and then meeting Ray along with the way, knowing not only what they did for the game but how they came back to be a part of the organization, that's so incredibly special.''
�'And then, to have played with Z After that, it sort of depends on you to be the next wave and carry the torch.'
NHL players in this story
Charlie McAvoy
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