Plenty of other people have talked about the Bruins and Zdeno Chara facing off in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but we had not yet heard from Chara himself until Saturday, when he met with reporters via Zoom prior to Saturday night's Game 1.
Unsurprisingly, Chara downplayed the personal side of this matchup.
"It's all about the team. It's nothing personal," Chara told reporters. "It's just the way it worked out, and that's the way it is."
The Bruins have also downplayed the significance of facing Chara throughout this week, echoing the idea that they're facing the Capitals, not just Chara.
"We've played against them so many times this year, but it's always fun to line up against Z," said Charlie McAvoy, Chara's former D partner. "Obviously we have a special bond, but this is the Bruins vs. the Capitals, and that's really it."
After 14 years in Boston and 14 years as the Bruins' captain, the now-44-year-old Chara signed a one-year, $795,000 deal with Washington this past offseason. The Bruins had reportedly shown interest in keeping Chara, but only in more of a rotational role rather than as an everyday player.
Chara has proven he can in fact still handle an everyday role, as he played 55 of 56 games for the Capitals this season, averaging 18:19 time on ice per game in a mostly third-pairing role.
He was the team's top penalty-killer and still handled some of their toughest defensive assignments against top opposition, meaning he could see a lot of the Bruins' top two lines in this series.
