Chara has no regrets after costly tilt
Defenceman hit with one-game suspension after starting scrap in final minutes of Friday game
OTTAWA — Ottawa defenceman Zdeno Chara might have one less game to play and be a little lighter in the wallet, but he has no regrets about his fight late in Friday night’s game versus the Los Angeles Kings that resulted in his one-game suspension and a $10,000 fine to Senators coach Bryan Murray.
“It was kind of out of control and I decided to do what was right for my team,” Chara said Sunday before Ottawa left to begin a four- game road trip, beginning today in Florida.
Ottawa had the day off Saturday when NHL executive vicepresident and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell dished out the punishment to Chara and the Senators resulting from the late stages of Ottawa’s 5- 1 victory over the Kings at the Corel Centre a night earlier.
After the third period started with the ejection of Chris Neil for a hit from behind on L. A.’s Dustin Brown, a series of fights broke out as the period wore on, culminating in Chara receiving an instigator penalty, fighting major, 10- minute misconduct and game misconduct after a fight with Kings defenceman Tim Gleason with 3:21 remaining.
Under new rules, any player instigating a fight in the final five minutes of a game receives an automatic suspension and the team is fined. Chara had no problems with the ruling and said he’d do it again if the situation arose.
Murray joked Sunday that he’d be short on cash for Christmas gifts as a result of the fine. Chara suggested that he’d pick up the tab, however.
The Senators were particularly incensed with Kings’ pest Sean Avery, who punched the helmet off the head of goalie Dominik Hasek and was confronted by Ottawa enforcer Brian McGrattan.
“He’s running the goalie, he’s punching the goalie,” Chara said. “What happens next?”
L.A.’ s Jeff Cowan responded by fighting Senators centre Chris Kelly and later, the six-foot-nine, 260-pound Chara took on the sixfoot214-pound Gleason, a player who’s not known for his fighting skills.
“ I respect the [ NHL’s] decision,” Chara said. “It was emotional. At that point, you’re frustrated. … That’s not my style of the game to pick a guy who’s not physical. It’s nothing personal. That’s my first priority, to stick up for my team.”
Murray was disappointed with the suspension, which will leave h i m w i t h o u t h i s t o p two defenceman since Wade Redden is still out with a knee injury.
“ It’s always tough to lose one of your top players for an aftereffect in a previous game,” he said. “[Chara] got carried away … and was upset about Kelly getting beat up by Cowan when Cowan wouldn’t even talk to Neil or McGrattan so he responded accordingly.
“Brian McGrattan has apologized to me twice for going after Avery. What happens with me is people basically suggest that I called down the line to send Zdeno Chara to fight at the end of a game when you know there’s a $10,000 [ fine] and a game suspension. To have that implied by some people really disturbs me.”
After years of being considered too soft to be successful, the incident is the latest example of the Senators’ re-invention as a bigger, stronger team under Murray than it was under former coach Jacques Martin. Canadian Press