Zdeno Chara couldn’t talk, so he wrote down two words
What a legend!
Zdeno Chara
Zdeno Chara is a retired Slovak defenceman who captained the Boston Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup and stood 6 foot 9, the tallest player to appear in an NHL game up to that point. Chara played 1,680 regular season games between 1997 and 2022 for the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals, and won the Norris Trophy in 2009. Chara was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2025.
| Position | Defenceman |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 March 1977, Trencin, Czechoslovakia |
| Drafted | 1996, third round, 56th overall, New York Islanders |
| Teams | New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals |
| Career totals | 1,680 games, 209 goals, 471 assists, 680 points, 2,085 penalty minutes, plus 301 |
| Honours | Stanley Cup 2011, Norris Trophy 2009, Mark Messier Leadership Award 2011, Hockey Hall of Fame 2025 |
| Known for | Being the tallest player to appear in the NHL up to his retirement, and the hardest shot ever measured at the NHL Skills Competition |
| After hockey | Marathons, triathlon and Ironman racing; Boston retired his No. 33 in January 2026 |
How tall was Zdeno Chara?
Chara was listed at 6 foot 9, or 206 cm, and 250 pounds, which made him the tallest player ever to appear in an NHL game. No taller player had suited up in the league when Chara retired in 2022. The reach was the whole basis of how Chara defended: he could seal a wall, break up a cycle and hold a forward at arm's length without moving his feet, which is why Boston sent him out against the other team's best line for fourteen seasons. Brandon Carlo describes what standing beside that frame was actually like.
How many Stanley Cups did Zdeno Chara win?
Chara won one Stanley Cup, in 2011, as captain of the Boston Bruins. Boston beat Vancouver in seven games for the club's first title since 1972, and Chara became the first Slovak captain to lift the trophy. He was not the first European to do it, however, because Nicklas Lidstrom had already captained Detroit to the Cup in 2008. Chara reached two further Finals with Boston, losing to Chicago in 2013 and to St. Louis in 2019.
Zdeno Chara's hardest shot record
Chara won the hardest shot event at the NHL All Star Skills Competition five times, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012, and the 2012 effort was clocked at 108.8 mph, or 175.1 km/h. That was the fastest shot ever recorded at the event at the time he hit it. The number turned into shorthand for the player: enormous frame, very long lever, and a point shot that forwards on the penalty kill did not want to step in front of.
The broken jaw in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final
Chara took a deflected puck in the face during Game 4 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against St. Louis and suffered multiple fractures of his jaw. He had surgery, returned for Game 5 three nights later behind a full shield, and finished the series, which Boston lost in seven games at home. What Chara said about the broken jaw is one of the better known lines of his career, and it is mostly about what he was allowed to eat.
Where was Zdeno Chara drafted?
The New York Islanders drafted Chara in the third round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, 56th overall. Chara played four seasons on Long Island before a trade in 2001 sent him to Ottawa, where five seasons turned him into a genuine first pair defenceman. Boston signed Chara as a free agent in 2006 and made him captain straight away. After Boston, Chara played one season in Washington and a final season back with the Islanders, where he had started.
Zdeno Chara's career stats and games played record
Chara finished with 1,680 regular season games, 209 goals, 471 assists, 680 points and 2,085 penalty minutes, at plus 301. The games played figure is the record for a defenceman: Chara passed Chris Chelios in February 2022 and kept adding to it until he retired that September. He also won the Norris Trophy in 2009 as the league's best defenceman, the first Slovak to take it, and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2011.
Zdeno Chara after hockey
Chara moved straight into endurance sport. By the autumn of 2026 Chara had run marathons, raced triathlons and completed Ironman events, and had finished all six World Marathon Majors. The hockey honours arrived alongside: the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Chara in 2025, and Boston raised his No. 33 to the rafters in January 2026, the first European number the club has retired. Chara made one request at his Hall of Fame induction, and it had nothing to do with statistics. His reaction to the jersey retirement says the rest.
