Zdeno Chara
The big man Zdeno Chara is back for one more season. At the age of 42 (43 in March), he is the oldest player in the NHL. Being that old still playing means that you are hitting milestones just by playing single games at this point.
Chara is 6 penalty minutes away from reaching a career total of 1,902. While getting a penalty is considered selfish now, back in the day, if you had a large number of penalty minutes, you stuck up for your team and were considered tough. Chara doesn’t have to worry about his toughness level at this point in his career, but reaching over 1900 in his career is worth mentioning.
Only 20 players in the entire 102-year history of the NHL have played over 1,500 games. By playing 15 more games, Chara will reach that milestone and become the 21st. Reaching 1,500 is not only a testament to how much you can endure as a player, but also how great you must be to stay this long.
On a fun note, last season, Matt Cullen became the 20th player to reach that mark with the Pittsburgh Penguins and was given a golf cart. One can only imagine what the guys will get Chara with his love of outdoors and exercising.
Also, by playing 45 more games this upcoming season, Chara will have played 1000 games with the Bruins. If he plays all 82, he will have played 1,037, putting him firmly fifth in franchise history.
This might be the Big Mans last season so if he reaches all these milestones that is one way to ride off in the sunset. Another Cup wouldn’t hurt either.