Friday night’s meeting between the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders represented a nice, round number for former teammates Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk.
The game was the 1,200th of Chara’s illustrious NHL career — a career that began, coincidentally, when the now-38-year-old Bruins defenseman made his debut for the Islanders back on Nov. 19, 1997 — and the 400th for Boychuk, who is in his second season with New York after spending the previous five on the Boston blue line.
“Every game in the NHL is very special,” Chara, who leads all active D-men in games played, told reporters after morning skate at Barclays Center. “I’ve said it many times. I’m very humbled to be part of this league and, obviously, this team, and be playing for this long. Just, again, it’s a privilege to be playing this game.”
Chara’s road to the game’s highest level was considerably smoother than Boychuk’s. The former’s pro hockey résumé includes just 71 games in the American Hockey League, while the latter’s features 374 with five different affiliates (Hershey, Lowell, Albany, Lake Erie and Providence).
Boychuk, 31, appeared in just four games for the team that drafted him (the Colorado Avalanche) but received his big break when the Bruins acquired him in a 2008 trade. He became a full-time NHLer in his second season with Boston and went on to play a major role on the B’s 2011 Stanley Cup championship team.
“(For my 400th game to be) against the Bruins, too — wow,” Boychuk told reporters, via BostonBruins.com. “Just being in the minors for so long, you kind of just get labeled as a ‘good minor league guy,’ and for the Bruins to trade for me and give me an opportunity, I’m always grateful for that.
“Winning a Stanley Cup there was also unbelievable, but 400 games … at first, I didn’t think about it — that I would get there. But you know, after being in the league for a little while, it’s kind of satisfying that I do get to play in that many games.”
Both defensemen have enjoyed productive seasons thus far. Chara has notched four assists in four games since returning from an upper body injury, and Boychuk has contributed one goal and two helpers to an Islanders team that sits atop the Metropolitan Division.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
