Zdeno Chara is on the mend.
The Boston Bruins defenseman is expected to miss more than a month with a right MCL injury suffered Nov. 14 against the Colorado Avalanche. At 41 years old, Chara surely faces a tougher road back than some of his younger peers would.
But the Bruins captain is doing everything he can to return to the ice. Chara caught up with WEEI’s Matt Kalman on Thanksgiving morning during a charity event for the homeless.
“I’ll do what I can to support my team off the ice and work really hard to get back as soon as I can, as strong as I can,” Chara told Kalman.
Chara is notorious for taking fitness and nutrition very, very seriously. So, when someone who does everything they can to prevent injury ultimately succumbs to one, it’s a real kick in the gut.
“It’s something that you never plan or wish for. But they do happen … probably the least expected time and place … that’s what kind of gets you,” Chara said. “You’re always working on preventing injuries, that’s the No. 1 thing. You do all the stretching or all the agility stuff or things that kind of help you to stay healthy and then it’s just one kind of a tweak or hit or blocked shot and there you go, you have it. So that’s what’s kind of frustrating, that a lot of times you do what you can do to the maximum effort and it still happens.
“It doesn’t matter what age, they just come. And you can be really injury-free for 10 seasons and then all of a sudden you have three, four in a row. So that’s sports, that’s hockey, we expect that, and we move on. It’s just frustrating.”
Chara is scheduled to be reevaluated in four weeks. The Bruins likely will be extra cautious with their future Hall of Fame defenseman, considering his age and importance to the team.
Boston is 2-0-2 since Chara went down.
