It was quite a year for Zdeno Chara. The Bruins captain began the season by signing a lucrative extension before the club opened its campaign close to his native Slovakia with a pair of games in Prague in the neighboring Czech Republic in October. He ended it by hoisting the Stanley Cup above his head in Vancouver in June. In between there were some bumps as Chara found himself at the center of controversy and the subject of criticism, but he also solidified his spot among the game's elite defensemen with his strong play on the ice and finally received some recognition for his steady leadership.
2010-11 stats: 81 games, 14-30-44, plus-33, 88 PIMs
Playoffs: 24 games, 2-7-9, plus-16, 34 PIMs
Contract status: Signed through 2017-18, $6.917-million cap hit
Preseason expectations: With Chara set to enter the final year of his contract, the Bruins made sure their captain didn't reach free agency by locking him up to a seven-year extension. He was expected to remain one of the elite defensemen in the league, lead the club on and off the ice and log huge minutes while playing in all situations.
Regular-season evaluation: It was a bit of a rollercoaster of a regular season for Chara. He got off to a solid start after signing his extension and hit several high points midway through the season with his first career hat trick against Carolina on Jan. 17 and breaking his own record to win another hardest shot competition during All-Star weekend. But after that hat trick, he went 19 games without another goal, not scoring again until March 5 against Pittsburgh. Three days later came his lowest point, when he hit Max Pacioretty into a stanchion between the benches in Montreal. Pacioretty suffered a broken vertebra and concussion and did not play again. Chara was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct, but was not suspended. That decision by the league led to a firestorm of criticism and a police investigation in Montreal that still officially remains open.
Chara weathered the attacks, and actually seemed to pick up his play with 2-8-10 totals in the seven games after the incident, capped by a three-assist performance in Boston's 7-0 win over the Canadiens in the rematch at the Garden on March 24. Despite the controversy, Chara, who led the league in plus/minus and finished sixth in average ice time at 25:26, was named a finalist for the Norris Trophy and won the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
Playoff evaluation: Chara's postseason got off to a rocky start. He was hospitalized for dehydration and forced to miss Game 2 of the opening round against the Habs. He returned to find his club facing an 0-2 hole while making his first return to Montreal since the hit on Pacioretty. Upon his return to the lineup in Game 3, he also found himself with a new defensive partner. Claude Julien put Chara and Dennis Seidenberg together at that point, and the duo went on to form the most dominant shutdown pairing in the playoffs.
Their play over the course of the remainder of that series and subsequent series against Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Vancouver was one of the biggest factors in Boston's Cup victory. They were particularly effective in the Final in shutting down the Canucks' high-powered top line of Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Alexandre Burrows, making the Sedins virtual non-factors in the series. Chara again led the league in plus/minus and was fifth in ice time (27:39), and he played at least twice as many games as the four players ahead of him. After collecting 153 hits and 111 blocked shots in the regular season, he added another 64 hits and 32 blocks in the postseason.
2011-12 outlook: Chara may not be the most popular player in the building when the Bruins play on the road, but few skaters in the league are more respected for the impact they can have on a game. His Norris nomination and Messier Award win reveal that, as does the Bruins' desire to get an extension done a year before he could hit the open market.
After leading the Bruins to their first Cup in nearly four decades, Chara will be looked to for leadership once again this season when the Bruins try to defend that title with a target on their backs as reigning champions. The Bruins may be able to lessen the workload on him a bit with the addition of Joe Corvo and development of Adam McQuaid, but Chara is sure to still be among the league's ice time leaders and a crucial component of the Bruins defense.
Coming Tuesday, August 2: Dennis Seidenberg
