Z RETURNS TO BOSTON
Zdeno Chara returns to empty Garden
It is hard to definitively determine just what the loudest fan response has ever been at the TD Garden. But if you had to narrow it down to, say, two or three of the tops, then it’s safe to say that 17,565-strong roar heard on June 6, 2019, would be in there.
That’s the night of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals when former captain Zdeno Chara, his jaw shattered from a puck in Game 4 in St. Louis, defied all odds and expectations and improbably suited up for the contest. The sight, and the accompanying sound, of him standing on the blue line for pre-game introductions was spine-tingling.
Chara will hear nothing like that on Wednesday when he plays at the Garden for the first time since signing with the Washington Capitals after a 14-year, Hall-of-Fame-cementing career with the Bruins. Fans will not be allowed back in the Garden.
But that can’t break the bond he feels for the people of Boston, and he had a message for them when he met reporters on Zoom on Tuesday.
“I think from Day One in 2006 when I signed with the Boston Bruins, I feel really connected with the Boston fans and the city of Boston,”
said Chara. “I developed so many great friendships and connections. We went through so many ups and downs together. We always felt their energy and support being with us and behind us in those times and the best moment that we can all share is to bring the Stanley Cup back to Boston in 2011. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate and how lucky and blessed I am to share these celebrations with the fans, everything they’ve done for me and my family, all these communities I’ve been a part of. So I just want to thank them for everything they’ve done for me and my family, for the support and for the love.”
A full building for Chara’s return would have been nice — one of the millions of moments, big and small, lost to the pandemic — but it’s a reality we’ve all gotten used to.
“I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing. I think it’s kind of it is what it is,” said Chara. “We have to respect the protocols, we have to respect the safety of the fans and the players and everyone working there at the facilities. It’s the most important things. Yeah, it would be great to have fans at the arena and cheering us on and experiencing these energy swings during the games. But it’s been quite some time that we are used to playing without the fans. We just have to create our own energy and feed off that.”
Despite no fans in the building just yet, the club will certainly find a way to acknowledge and honor Chara’s return. And his contributions to the culture that’s been established here is not lost on one of its main beneficiaries — coach Bruce Cassidy.
He remembers that Game 5 well.
“It was an unbelievable response from Z to be in the lineup. Just coming in that morning, I just assumed he wouldn’t be able to play. And he was ready to go,” said Cassidy.