 |
For the second year in a row, Zdeno Chara won the hardest-shot contest at the All-Star Game festivities, clocking in at 103.1 miles per hour. (TAMI CHAPPELL/Reuters) |
ATLANTA - Of all the low points in the disastrous 2006-07 Bruins season, the following episode could qualify as one of the worst.
It took place on April 1, 2007, at
Up by two goals, New Jersey defenseman Colin White started giving nearly every Bruin the business, ripping them for yet another disappointing year and instructing them to fetch their golf clubs.
It was amid the humiliation that Zdeno Chara decided he'd heard enough, disgusted with White but just as frustrated by the truth of the defenseman's words. Chara, signed by Boston the summer before to a five-year, $37.5 million deal, would finish the season with zero fights, a team-high 94 giveaways, and a minus-21 rating, an underperforming captain of a team that would eventually see its coach get the gate after completing only one-quarter of his contract.
Chara opened the door to the New Jersey bench, planted his skate on the ledge, and pointed to White. Chara pledged that if White didn't apologize, he would pull him off the bench and deliver a beating in front of his teammates.
Two of Chara's teammates confirmed that White said he was sorry.
Making amends
The encounter with White may have been the first step in Chara's turnaround from what Julien called his worst year as an NHLer.
Chara, awarded the captaincy in training camp last season, never seemed to be comfortable wearing the "C"; he simply expected that if he worked hard and led by example, everything would fall into place. Chara was misused by former coach Dave Lewis, who designated him the quarterback of the umbrella-formation power play, skated him on the right and left sides, instructed him not to fight, and ran him into the ground (a league-high 27:57 of ice time per game).
"After last season, I was really disappointed," said Chara, who was in Atlanta for NHL All-Star festivities and won the hardest-shot contest with a 103.1-mile-per-hour rocket last night. "I wasn't happy with the way we ended up.
"I want to win. I want to be on a winning team. So after the season was over, I took some time off. I really thought about things, what needed to be done, and what I needed to do to be more effective."
In Ottawa, Chara had played with the snarl that led to his big payday with Boston. In 2003-04, Chara had 41 points, 147 penalty minutes, and recorded a plus-33 rating. After the lockout, in the final year of his contract with the Senators, Chara scored a career-best 43 points, earning 135 penalty minutes and a plus-17 rating.
"He was the best shutdown defenseman in the game," said Ottawa coach John Paddock, who was an assistant during Chara's final year as a Senator. "I still believe that. Being 6-9 with that reach, and you don't need to have a tough guy. He can do that, too, when it's needed. I think the world of him."
Chara, however, was just another part in the Ottawa machine, manning a blue line that included Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Wade Redden, and Andrej Meszaros. A primary reason he signed with Boston was the opportunity to be The Man, the foundation around which first-year general manager Peter Chiarelli could assemble his club for years. But Lewis's questionable game plan and the shaky supporting cast led the captain to commit his fatal mistake: trying to do too much with too little.
"I tried to help the team a lot last year," said Chara. "I ended up doing too much, which is not a bad thing, but you realize that you are the best when you do what you do best."
This past fall, Chara's makeover continued when he threw down with Islanders tough guy Kip Brennan in an exhibition game, dropping the gloves for the first time as a Bruin. On Oct. 25, when he was challenged by Chicago heavyweight David Koci, Chara responded with his first official fight in a Boston uniform.
With one straight right, Chara opened a cut on Koci's forehead and broke the tough guy's nose, leaving the Blackhawk's face looking like a Jackson Pollock painting. The message had been sent: The old Chara was back.
"There's a lot of mass behind a punch from big Z," said Bruins teammate Milan Lucic, another All-Star weekend participant. "He's definitely a guy you don't want to mess with. I'm not getting on his bad side."
Norris consideration?
Before the start of the season, Chiarelli predicted Chara would be one of the league's top three defensemen, pointing to the 30-year-old's track record as the basis for his statement.
Chara, one of five Bruins to appear in all 49 games so far, could challenge Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom and Anaheim's Chris Pronger for the title as the league's best defenseman. With the structure created by Julien and assistant coach Craig Ramsay, Chara has played a focused game whose simplicity, ironically, has showcased the breadth and depth of his abilities.
"He's playing better now than he ever did in Ottawa," said Chiarelli.
Chara has been strictly a left-side defenseman this season, skating with Dennis Wideman and Aaron Ward. His duties have been straightforward: shut down the opposing top gunners, help his teammates transition from defense to offense, drop the gloves when necessary (bouts with Pittsburgh's Georges Laraque and Montreal's Guillaume Latendresse), and serve as one of two point men on the power play (16 of 34 points on the man-advantage).
But he's no longer strictly a thumper - although he leads the team with 152 hits - who relies on intimidation. Because of Julien's insistence on a tight box-plus-one system that emphasizes net-front coverage, Chara hasn't run around as in years past. Instead, he's turned his 65-inch stick into practically another appendage. During one sequence in a 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers Jan. 19, Chara filled passing lanes with his stick and swept aside goalmouth attempts.
He's played a quieter but cleaner, more efficient game, using his stick and positioning to complement his strength and conditioning.
At the other end, Chara hasn't been as stationary at the point. On occasion, he has gone back-door to serve as a down-low presence. Against the Rangers, Chara participated in the shootout for the first time this season, ripping a between-the-circles slapper past Henrik Lundqvist.
Behind the scenes, Chara has been more assertive as a second-year captain. He still leads by example, but he's been chirping more on the bench and in the room between periods.
"I think he's one of the best leaders by example you'll find in the game of hockey," said Lucic. "Just with his approach to how hard he works in the gym and in practice, no matter what. He's always there and he's there to compete.
"He's also always saying the little things in the room on what we have to do. There's a lot you can learn from a pro and All-Star like him."
Chara's been rewarded, as he was voted a starter for tonight's All-Star Game for the first time in his career. With a strong second half, Chara could push for Norris consideration - something that would have been laughable a year ago.
"After last year, he wanted to prove everybody wrong," said Matt Keator, Chara's agent. "He's always been questioned. He's been cut from his junior teams. People said stuff about him last year. He's out to prove people wrong."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
