Long road ahead before NHL can resume play
Chara thinks 3-4 weeks of training needed
Hunkered down in his Florida home since late March, Zdeno Chara looked well tanned and well-rested. And given the Bruins’ captain’s dedication to fitness over the decades, it’s a good bet that he’s still well-conditioned.
But like most hockey players who’ve spoken publicly about the possibility of returning to play after this now two-month long coronavirus shutdown, Chara believes it will take up to a month of training time for players to be ready for game action. Even then, it wouldn’t replicate what Chara does in preparation for a new season.
“We are so used to skating, even in the summer months … I start skating mid-July and I skate through the whole of August – three times, sometimes four times a week – and then pretty much every day or every other day in early September,” Chara said on a Zoom call Tuesday with season ticket holders. “And then when training camp starts, we are on the ice every day. I don’t know how long it’s going to take if we get into it pretty frequently. My guess is it has to be at least three, four weeks until we actually start feeling very comfortable and going back into the routines and feeling like we’re picking up the pace and feeling like we’re connected on the ice again.”
Chara’s workout-warrior mentality is legendary, but like everybody else he’s been limited during this shutdown.
“It’s a little challenging right now,” said Chara. “All the practice facilities, all the rinks, gyms are closed. So you have to use your imagination and be creative. I’ve been able to move to Florida and I have a few free weights, bikes, rubber bands, all the fitness equipment that I have available. I can only do it outside, so when it gets nice and sunny, it gets a little hot and you get pretty tanned up. Other than that, I can’t complain. It’s been challenging but I’m trying my best to stay in shape and be ready.”
Well, you didn’t think he got the tan by just lounging by the pool do you?
Chara touched on an array of topics, spanning his lengthy career:
•The idea of playing without fans will be strange, but not without it’s pleasant aspects.
“That’s what it’s going to be if we start, for sure. We won’t be able to have fans in the stands. But it will kind of bring up little memories from when we played as kids,” said the Slovak. “We didn’t have really any fans in the stands. Once I came over to play juniors in Western Hockey League, I was amazed. There were five, six, 10 thousand fans watching games. But back home, we didn’t have that many fans at all. So definitely it’s going to be something different, something we’ll have to get used to. But I guess that’s the only way we’ll be able to continue to play at this point.”
•Chara discussed his personal growth as a captain from the time he joined the sputtering organization in 2006 to the elite team it is now.
“Early on in my captaincy years I tried to take everything on my shoulders and tried to do a lot out and took a lot of pressure on myself,” said Chara. “It was a challenging time. I think the team was going through some changes, some rebuild. We got a new general manager (Peter Chiarelli), a new coaching staff (headed by Dave Lewis), and after the first season we again got new coaches (Claude Julien’s staff). Players were coming in, players were leaving. There were a lot of different pieces in and out. So everything was a little bit challenging. But as time went on, you started to realize you had to share that leadership and responsibility and we started getting more experienced players and players with experiences from winning Stanley Cups. So it really helped me to become a better captain, to have my teammates along with me. It’s one of those things where you have to accept certain situations and just go with it, use your instincts, use your guts and make the best decisions for the team. And try to be yourself. Never think of yourself as any more or less than any other player and try to do the best for the team.”
•Asked about the toughest player he’s had to defend, Chara gave a nod to rising superstar Connor McDavid, but he keeps former Red Wing Pavel Datsyuk on the highest pedestal.
“If I had to pick a player who in my opinion was very unpredictable in every way it was Pavel Datsyuk,” said Chara. “Pavel was a player that played the game the right way. I can’t say enough about the way he played. He played hard. If you needed him to be, he was very strong. If the team needed it, he went to the front of the net. Obviously his skill assets were above 99.9% of the players in the league. You can’t really find that many players with so many weapons.”
He also gave kudos to teammate Patrice Bergeron.
“In practices, he’s always competing, always doing the right things on the ice,” said Chara.
•Asked about Brad
Marchand, Chara chuckled a bit.
“I love the way he competes You’ve got to give him credit. He competes. He works hard,” he said. “He came a long way since I saw him playing in World Juniors. And then he came to us for his first training camp. Definitely, he means well. He competes. He tries to do his best. Sometimes, yes, his emotions get the best of him. But he’s working on it and it just shows he has so much energy and passion and he really cares.”
•Playing on the same street that Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque plied their trade, Chara has had a small but vocal group of detractors during his time in Boston. But even they couldn’t help but appreciate the big man when Chara suited up for Game 5 of the Cup final last spring after having his jawed shattered in the previous game.
“I was just happy I was able to get on the ice,” said Chara. “All the doctors and surgeons did an amazing job to get me ready in less than 48 hours. I think it took 30some hours from the surgery till I was able to suit up for Game 5 and it was an absolutely amazing welcome from the fans. I really felt a very special feeling with that kind of reception and appreciation. I don’t take it for granted. It was very amazing. It’s something I will never forget. It just shows how much people care about hockey, how much they care about players and their health. I was just trying to help my team and do my best in such a short span after the surgery.”
•Chara is open to the idea of working in hockey when his playing career is over.
“There’s a lot I can offer, but we’ll see what the future brings,” said Chara.