Bleacher Report - Zdeno Chara

How Heavily Will Boston Bruins Lean on Zdeno Chara Against New York Rangers?

Nicholas Goss — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:08:41 -0400

The Boston Bruins rely on captain and No. 1 defenseman Zdeno Chara to log 27-plus minutes of ice time and defend opposing teams' best forwards each night during the playoffs.

But with head coach Claude Julien facing the possibility of having to insert three rookie defensemen into his lineup for the Bruins' second-round series against the New York Rangers because of injuries to veterans, he's going to need Chara to take on an even bigger role in the team's success.

With a depleted blue line in Monday's Game 7 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chara was forced to play a playoff career high 35:46 of ice time (38 shifts), which even for a man who keeps himself in great shape, is a heavy burden at this stage of the season. It was an effort that his teammates greatly appreciated.

"I think everyone knows how good he is and how fit he is," said Bruins rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton after Monday's game. "So we were just back there laughing at his 35 minutes. And it’s obviously just a credit to him for being able to do that all game, and working that hard and I think being a big part of the comeback."

The 6'9" defenseman leads all NHL players with 28:54 of ice time per game during the playoffs, but for the Bruins to beat a talented Rangers team with a top-six forward group that includes a lot of speed, size and skill, the B's captain will probably have to log at least 30 minutes in every game of this series.

However, Julien is confident that his top defenseman will be able to overcome this sort of challenge.

"We know Zdeno can take a lot of minutes. He’s got the body, he’s got the frame, he’s got the conditioning to be able to do that," said Julien.

"But at the same time, you also have to utilize your players and have some trust in them. How much you use them obviously depends on how well they’re playing, but it certainly won’t be because we’re making them nervous."

The players that Julien will depend on include rookies Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug (who was called up from the AHL earlier this week) and Hamilton. These three players have just five games of playoff experience between them, with the chance that Krug will make his postseason debut on Thursday.

The reason why these rookies will see their roles increase is because veteran defensemen Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference and Wade Redden are all battling injuries. Ference and Redden were scratched in Game 7, while Seidenberg picked up a lower-body injury on his second shift in the first period and was able to play just 37 seconds.

None of these players skated with the team at Wednesday's practice, and Julien has not given the media many details on their status for Thursday's series opener.

"You saw none of them on the ice today. That’s the situation. I’m in the training room every day talking to my trainers. A lot of that stuff is day-to-day until we get them through. There’s injuries, there’s no hiding that fact, except that sometimes you can get players through those and sometimes you can’t.

If one or more of these three veterans are unable to play against the Rangers in Game 1, Julien will need to play Chara more than usual at even strength and in special teams situations. Having three rookie D-men in the lineup is not an ideal situation given their lack of playoff experience, especially when the opponent is a team with an incredible amount of experience and skill such as the Rangers.

With that said, Chara is going to matched up against the Blueshirts' top two lines quite a bit in this series, and he might have to take on this challenge without his shut-down partner Seidenberg alongside him. This means that Chara will shoulder much of the responsibility in defending top Rangers forwards like Rick Nash, Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan. He will be the Bruins' only shut-down defenseman on the roster in the event that Seidenberg doesn't play.

That's a lot to ask of one player, but as the most difficult defenseman in the NHL to play against, there's no one else the Bruins would rather have in that role.

The main concern for Julien is that his 36-year-old workhorse (with over 1,000 games of NHL experience) wears down over the course of this series because New York does a fantastic job of tiring its opponents physically with a heavy style of play and lots of checking.

The trade deadline acquisitions of forwards Ryane Clowe, Derek Dorsett and Derick Brassard made the Rangers a deeper and more physical team, and one of these players' goals will be to rough up Chara as much as possible.

Chara hit the TD Garden ice a lot more than usual in the first round, and this is because the Leafs made a strong effort to play physical against the veteran defenseman. If there's a team that could successfully execute this strategy, even better than Toronto did, it's the Rangers because of their size and strength on all four lines.

In addition to his consistently strong play in his own zone, Chara also makes an impact in offensive situations, most notably on the power play. His booming slap shot and ability to move the puck from the point makes him a valuable part of the Bruins' power play, which they will need to be effective for Boston to score enough goals on an elite goaltender like Rangers superstar Henrik Lundqvist.

There isn't a situation in which Chara won't be at or near the top of Julien's list of best available options. He leads all Bruins players during the playoffs in time on ice at even strength and on the penalty kill, while ranking third in power-play time on ice.

In Monday's Game 7, he led the team in all three categories, and it wouldn't be surprising if this happened in every game against the Rangers.

Unless the Bruins are fortunate enough to get two of their three injured defenseman back in the lineup for Thursday, they will have no choice but to play Chara for 30-plus minutes.

Chara's ability to play at a high level while logging a ton of minutes against an elite team will greatly impact the Bruins' chances of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons.

This isn't going to be an easy series for Chara, but if there's anyone in the NHL capable of succeeding in this type of role, it's the Bruins captain.

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Nicholas Goss is an NHL Lead Writer at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter. He was a credentialed reporter at the 2011 Stanley Cup Final and 2012 NHL playoffs in Boston. He's also a credentialed reporter at the 2013 NHL playoffs in Boston. Nick has covered the Bruins since the 2010-11 season. All quotes obtained firsthand.

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Why Zdeno Chara Is Suddenly Vulnerable on the Boston Bruins' Blue Line

Steve Silverman — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:26:08 -0400

Zdeno Chara has long been the most intimidating player in the NHL.

Standing 6'9" and 255 pounds, Chara is the biggest player in the league and also has the hardest slap shot in the league.

Nicklas Lidstrom retired at the end of last season, and Erik Karlsson spent most of the 2013 season on the sidelines with an Achilles injury.

Those two events opened the door for Chara to win his second Norris Trophy and regain the title of the NHL's best defenseman.

However, it didn't play out that way on the ice. When finalists for the Norris Trophy were announced last week, you did not see Chara's name.

The finalists are Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild and P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens.

There were no loud moans and complaints out of the Boston front office when Chara was not included among the finalists. General manager Peter Chiarelli and head coach Claude Julien were not outraged when Chara was ignored.

There's a reason for that. Chara remains an intimidating presence and still does many things right on the ice. However, there is a vulnerability to his game that surfaced in 2013 and was not seen in previous years.

When Chara has to handle a puck close to his body or he gets hit hard when he is searching for the puck, he is not always going to make a play that favors the Bruins.

In the past, if a player tried to check Chara or get physical with him in any way, the player would typically bounce off Chara and fall to the ice in some inglorious manner.

Now it seems that when Chara gets hit hard by a smaller man, he absorbs that hit and often loses possession.

Smaller players have a leverage advantage over Chara when they are moving at a high rate of speed. When they hit him at chest level, they can move him backward—and take the puck away from him.

He has also simply lost possession more this season than he has at any time in the past.

Chara's statistics indicate some drop-off as the 2013 season progressed. He finished the regular season with seven goals, but he scored just one of them in the final 24 games.

Chara finished at plus-14 during the regular season. That may seem respectable, but he was plus-33 in each of the last two regular seasons.

Chara was minus-two over the last 12 regular-season games. That's when the Bruins slumped and missed out on a chance to win the Northeast Division and take the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference away from the Montreal Canadiens.

Chara can still lead the Bruins, carry the biscuit up the ice, fire the puck like a rocket and block shots.

He is still the Bruins' best defenseman. However, when opposing teams used to try to avoid Chara at all times and send their best lines out against lesser defensemen, there doesn't seem to be as much fear of Big Z when he is on the ice and the Bruins are trying to protect a lead.

Chara tied for 73rd in blocked shots this season with 64, he ranked 21st in hits with 101 and he was also charged with 34 giveaways while taking the puck away from opponents just 12 times.

Those are numbers that indicate that he may no longer be Superman.

Chara is still a good player who is an asset to the Bruins.

But based on his play this year—particularly over the second half of the season—he is not the dominant player he was prior to 2013.

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Toronto Maple Leafs Can Put Together One More Win in Boston by Sticking to Plan

J.P. Gaston — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:28:06 -0400

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a great season so far, and it's followed them into the playoffs tonight, forcing a Game 7 meeting with the Boston Bruins.

So what will it take for the team from T.O. to beat out those Beantowners once and for all?

Toronto has manager to put together a solid series so far by doing three things: utilizing their speed, keeping it physical and collapsing on defense.

The latter of these three points is probably the largest part of their winning strategy. A team can win by scoring on any kind of fluke play, but it is impossible to win if you can't get the puck in the net. Toronto has been very effective at collapsing on their own net when the puck is in the vicinity and following one simple rule: pick up a man.

When collapsing, taking a man is more important than taking the puck. In your own zone, and especially around your net, you have an extra body—the goalie. If you can collapse and pick up an attacker, you leave your goalie with a great look at the puck and a chance to freeze it. Toronto has done this very well, and it was a key reason for their win in Game 6. The Leafs must to do the same in Game 7 if they want to keep up.

Toronto has also utilized both size and speed effectively in their wins over Boston as well.

What is important to remember is that Boston is a tried and tested seven-game-per-round playoff team. They can and will endure. However, the Leafs are young and can use their exuberance to their advantage by keeping it quick. While Boston can endure, it's evident is that they are tiring. Toronto players had more "pep in their step" Sunday, and if this carries into tomorrow, Boston is in trouble.

The final key here is the focus on the physical play that Toronto has kept up through the series. Hitting the Bruins prevents them from running away with the puck like they do to so many teams. Boston's process is typically to physically dominate you, wear you down, make you respect everything they do, then control the play and take you out on the score sheet.

Toronto simply has not let this happen. They've stayed physical against the Bruins and have demanded they respect their hits. This keeps them more tentative on the puck and less likely to take chances across open ice that they do so often. Zdeno Chara, specifically, has been held out of plays and appeared more like "just another player."

In the end, this is going to be a battle. Boston is going to come out strong, and they're going to try and push Toronto around. If the Leafs can withstand this push and can continue what has led them to success through the first six games, they can definitely pull out a Game 7 win over what looks to be a tiring Bruin team. No matter what, this should be an exciting "winner takes all" matchup.

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