Zdeno Chara Skates in 1,652nd Game
Move over Chris Chelios, there’s a new record holder when it comes to longevity on the blue line in the NHL. New York Islander’s defenseman Zdeno Chara took part in his record 1,652nd career game Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.
Hall of famer Chris Chelios previously held the record for 12 years after skating in his final game back in 2010. Chara is currently midway through his 24th NHL campaign, and will be turning 45 years old next month.
The key difference however is that while Chelios was playing extremely sheltered minutes towards the end of his career, “Big Z” is currently averaging over 18 minutes of ice time a night with New York, while sitting in 13th place in the league for fighting majors. No small feat considering most in the league learned long ago to avoid being on the receiving end of the 6’9” 250lb blue liner’s fists.
With stops in Ottawa, Boston, Washington, and New York over the past 24 years, Chara accumulated 207G, 467A, and 2073PIMs in his illustrious career. Originally passed over in the 1995 NHL entry draft, the native of Trencin, Slovakia was taken 56th overall by the Islanders in 1996.
After suiting up for 231 games with the Islanders, Chara was included in a deal with Bill Muckalt, and the 2nd overall pick in the 2001 draft to acquire Alexei Yashin from the Ottawa Senators. The Sens would go on to select Jason Spezza and turn the corner with their franchise, while the Isles had a markedly different experience with Yashin on Long Island.
The milestone now moves Chara into 7th place on the all time games played list. Unless the towering blue liner elects to suit up for another NHL campaign it’s unlikely he moves much higher than that as Joe Thornton remains active, and Ron Francis is roughly 80 games ahead of him for 5th place all time.
Though Chara has made no announcements regarding his plans for 2022-23, it’s widely expected he will retire at season’s end. During his media availability, the Slovakian stated “I’m very lucky and grateful to still be playing the game…I’ve had many amazing people around me for 25 years.”
The Islanders are next in action on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings as they continue their West Coast road trip.
-Photo: Lisa Gansky. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.