Ennis lit up the AHL with the Sabres' minor-league affiliate this past season, notching 65 points en route to being named MVP of the league.
But now, not only has he been thrown into the fire of an intense Stanley Cup playoff battle with just 10 NHL games under his belt — the 5-foot-9 Ennis has been matched up against the towering 6-foot-9 reigning Norris Trophy winner. For Ennis, there really is no way he can physically match Chara, but he hopes to drive him nuts with his blazing speed.
“It has been fun. He is a really good player and a big guy and a strong player,” Ennis said. “Myself, I have been trying to use my speed and just battle really hard. He is a lot stronger than I am, and I just need to know when to use my speed and other [skills].”
Ennis’ teammate, Tyler Myers, is often compared to Chara because of his towering presence at 6-foot-8. He knows first hand how the crafty Ennis can get around a big defenseman like Chara because he’s had plenty of firsthand experience being burnt by the 20-year-old winger.
Myers, who has received plenty of praise for his rookie season and is expected to be nominated for the Calder Trophy, heaped some hefty praise on his teammate.
“I find that the smaller, really shiftier guys are the hardest to handle for me,” Myers said. “[Ennis] can really turn on a dime. It is really more containment for me than being physical. I don’t try to kill him in practice. But a guy like that is very similar to Martin St. Louis — very shifty, very skilled. With those smaller, skilled guys, I think I contain more, but you don’t try to play up to him and match his speed or he may burn you.”
Ennis returned the praise to his teammate and is grateful he has had the experience of practicing with and playing against a defenseman similar in stature to Chara.
“I think he really is a unique player. I have never really seen a player that big and that mobile and offensive and can shut you down,” Ennis said of Myers. “I played with Myers in the world juniors and stuff and played against him in the Western League, so it has helped getting used to that long reach and getting used to really tall players with long reach like that.”
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, when discussing how Boston’s big players stepped up in Game 2, joked that he has the perfect player to stop the giant Slovak.
“You look at Boston, they got a big game out of Chara. He is one of their special players,” Ruff said. “We can’t let that happen again. He will try to make it happen, but we can’t. Maybe we will put Ennis on him and make sure that he doesn’t do it again.”
But Ennis knows he will be called on again and he will be ready.
“You just go out and use your strengths, and for me, that’s speed,” Ennis said. “That’s what I need to do, just skate around him.”
