The Boston Bruins announced on Monday that they Zdeno will retire Chara’s Sweater No. 33. The move comes only three years after Chara retired from the NHL and five years since he left the Bruins to play for the Washington Capitals.
“It is really without words to see that my sweater, number 33, is being raised to the trusses in TD Garden,” Chara told reporters. “This honor is greater than everything I could have imagined when I first came to Boston.”
Chara’s sweater will be the first to retire since 2022, when the Bruins retired Willie O’Re’s no. 22. Chara, however, becomes the first player from the 2000 era who retires his number by the organization.
Chara’s career through the figures (pre-boston)
Chara started his career a bit without Pardon – was prepared in 1995 in his first year of the award by the New York islanders’ residents. In 1996, however, he was generally prepared for 56th.
Na een seizoen met de Prince George Cougars van de Western Hockey League (WHL), waarin hij drie doelpunten scoorde in 49 wedstrijden, werd Chara pro in 1997-98 en trad toe tot de Affiliate, Kentucky Forglyblades van de Islanders ‘American Hockey League (AHL), die 48 wedstrijden speelde en vier doelpunten en negen assists.
In the following season he split the time between the AHL and the NHL, combining four goals and eight assists with 82 games. After three seasons in New York, Chara was traded on the Ottawa Senators in the Alexei Yashin Deal.
Chara played in a combined 299 games in the regular season with the senators, registered 51 goals and 95 assists, before signing as a free agent at the Bruins on July 1, 2006.
Chara’s career at Boston
Chara found a home in Boston. He was appointed captain in his first season at the club and served in that role until 2020, when he left the team for the capitals. With De Bruins, Chara de Stanley Cup won in 2011 and was named All-Star five times (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012), in which he won the hardest shot match every year, with his blow to 108.8 miles per hour.
Chara also won the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 2009 as the best defender of the NHL, was part of the All-Decade team in 2009, won the Mark Messier Leadership Award and was recorded this year in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In addition to his NHL Awards, he also received seven team-specific awards, such as nominated by team managers and coaches. In 2008 and 2019, Chara won the John P. Bucyk Award for his contributions to the community. In 2009, one season away from his first John P. Bucyk Award, he received the second star (of the three) because he was one of the three most valuable players in the team.
After the 2011-12 season he won the Eddie Shore Award, a prize that goes to a player who is an example of crowds and determination. Finally, in 2024, Chara landed the ultimate prizes for the player of Elke Bruins by being appointed as both the top 100 best Bruins players of all time and to their all-cunning team.
Chara is the longest player in the NHL history, on 6-foot-9. He was also born the first NHL player in the Eastern Bloc to win an NHL team in Captain on a Stanley Cup victory, and he played most matches by a defender in the NHL history.
He has the record for most game 7 performances in the NHL history, and the record for the oldest defender to score a game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup play-offs, twice for the play-offs and one in the Stanley Cup final.
Where is Chara now?
This season, Chara will again join De Bruins as an adviser to Hockey Operations, who works as an intermediary between players and coaching staff to help with communication.
Chara’s pension ceremony will take place January 15, 2026, before Boston’s 7 pm matchup against the Seattle Kraken.
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