Zdeno Chara equaled the NHL record in the number of matches played by the defender and will still improve it. Obviously, for such an enrollment, you need to be accompanied by longevity and good health in your career. Let us recall the pilgrimage of a Slovak veteran.
His record-breaking journey began on November 19, 1997, when he erased a zero in the duel box and played his first seven minutes in the Islanders league in a 3-2 win over Detroit. They drafted him from 56th place in 1996 after never choosing him at the draft a year earlier.
Even then, Chára set his first record – he became the highest player in league history.
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The “Big Z” scored for the first time on April 15, 1998 against the Rangers, and on January 29, 1999, scored his first goal in the NHL. This happened already in the season in which he definitely established himself in the league.
He played 231 matches in the New York team jersey before he was part of the famous exchange of Alexei Jasin. He was won by Ottawa, in which his star began to shine, and in 2014 he also got into the first all-star team of the season.
He played 299 games for the Senators and during this period he experienced the first two participations in the All-Star Game. He made his debut on February 2, 2003, and in his second participation, he won the toughest shot competition for the first time. The team ended when the club preferred a new contract with Wade Redden.
As a free agent, Chara signed up for Boston, where he became captain (he had the part as the third Slovak in the league after Stan Mikit and Peter Šťastný) and an icon. During this time, he won the Norris Trophy, the Mark Messier Award and the Stanley Cup winner. Twice he was part of the first all-star team of the season, adding four participation in the All-Star Game and another four triumphs in the shooting hardness competition. He set one with a hitherto valid league record of 175.1 km / h.
In the Bruins Chára jersey, he also played his jubilee thousand match as the fourth Slovak in league history. It happened on March 24, 2012 against Los Angeles.
“I wanted to win this match. I wanted to remember him as a winning match. I couldn’t ask for anything more, “ he said after winning 4: 2. “When you reach such a number, you just say, ‘My God,’ but it’s gone. This tells you that you have to enjoy it and give your best. It will happen quickly and before you realize it, you will hang the skates on the nail. “
A native of Trenčín, a few years later as the sixth player in club history, he played 1,000 matches exclusively in the Boston jersey. He eventually dressed him 1023 times before the “Bears” were no longer interested in his services.
During this time, he became the oldest active player in the competition, ending Matt Cullen’s career on July 10, 2019. In his Boston era, Chara also reached the 1,500 NHL game, which could be described as the 21st player in history. It happened on November 5, 2019 in Montreal.
“After coming to the NHL in 1997, I dreamed mainly of becoming part of the league and not of playing 1,500 games in it. Year after year, I tried to do my best and fulfill my tasks, “ he remarked.
He has already reached his next milestone, 1,600 matches, in the Washington jersey, with which he signed a one-year contract before last season. He played 55 matches for him. Before the current year, the return to Long Island became a reality, in the jersey of which he managed to equal Chris Chelios’ record with 1651 NHL games.
Chara had not yet said the last word on his pilgrimage. He is currently losing one match to equal Mark Recchi in seventh place in the overall ranking of all skaters.
If he decided to continue his career after the season, how the seventh player in history could play his 1700th game in the NHL. He would also have to set a new European record. He holds with 1733 duels Jaromír Jágr. Patrick Marleau set the overall league record with 1,779 duels.
Zdeno Chára equaled Chris Chelios’ NHL record in the number of matches played by the defender. Thus he divided 1651 duels among the four teams he joined. pic.twitter.com/roEWlGcnwb
– Jozef Struhár (@JozefStruhar) February 23, 2022
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