Chara returning to form
Defenseman showing strength on offense
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NEWARK, N.J. - He is nowhere to be seen among the top-scoring defensemen, and thus not often mentioned in early chatter about the Norris Trophy.
But at least one NHL executive believes that Zdeno Chara, a Norris finalist last season, should be under consideration again.
"Playing very well," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said of his captain. "Just look at him when he's behind the net with the puck. Guys can't get at him. He's just so strong."
In 2007-08, Chara had a career year, setting personal bests in goals (17), assists (34), and points (51). But after having offseason shoulder surgery (which led to a weaker and less accurate slap shot), he got off to a slow start, and his offensive production (6-14 - 20) is behind his 2007-08 pace.
But recently, both sides of Chara's game have rounded into form. He has 9 points in 10 games this month. Against St. Louis Sunday, Chara turned in a two-assist night, and he added a helper last night.
He has been even more effective in his own zone. On Sunday, St. Louis coach Andy Murray tried to match his top line of David Backes, Keith Tkachuk, and Brad Boyes against Boston's fourth line of Vladimir Sobotka, Martin St. Pierre, and Shawn Thornton. After several shifts, Claude Julien determined that his fourth-liners were up to the challenge, but the Boston coach made sure to deploy Chara on the back end against Tkachuk's line.
Chara, who has been without regular partner Aaron Ward for the entire month, has been matched against some of the league's most dangerous forwards lately. He smothered Alex Ovechkin so effectively that the Washington sniper switched from left wing to right wing to elude him. Chara was sent out against Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk. He kept Carolina's Eric Staal off the scoresheet. Last night, Chara (29:16) shut down New Jersey's top line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, and Jamie Langenbrunner.
Nothing fancy. No thundering hits. No screaming one-timers. Just good positioning, an excellent stick, and the usual jacked-up competitive level.
"This is what we have Z for," said Julien, who has skated Chara with every other defenseman during Ward's absence. "He's our kingpin back there, both offensively and defensively.
"His size, his reach, everything - he just makes it tough on anybody who wants to play against him. Nobody likes it, whether it's top players and elite players in the league. We obviously match him up against those guys.
"I gave that fourth line a lot of credit last game for doing a great job against the Tkachuk line. At the same time, we always made sure we had some good, reliable D's back there. Z is the No. 1 guy when it comes to that."
While there is concern about Bergeron's physical status, the Bruins are just as worried about the mental impact of this concussion. Bergeron had been playing one of his best games of the season against the Hurricanes, and expressed frustration via agent Kent Hughes that he was felled by another concussion.
During a phone conversation with Bergeron, Chiarelli told him that any player who had absorbed a hit like he did (a face-to-shoulder collision with Carolina's Dennis Seidenberg) would have most likely suffered a concussion. Bergeron has yet to be placed on injured reserve.
"I think the big thing is that I had the reach on him," said Lucic, who accepted Crombeen's invitation. "When you have the reach and the strength, you're able to hold guys off like that and they're not able to punch you."
One of Lucic's first moves was to grab Crombeen around the front of his right shoulder with his left hand to tie him up. Lucic said it depended on the fight whether to grab or throw a punch first.
Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@com
