Chara's Character Helped Shape a Culture

BOSTON - Cam Neely knows all too well what it means to play through pain.
His career was cut short by knee and hip injuries that hampered his ability to stay on the ice during the latter half of his 13-year career and ultimately forced him to retire at only 31.
As such, there is hardly anyone better equipped to understand what Zdeno Chara was going through in June 2019 after breaking his jaw midway through the Stanley Cup Final.
But what Neely witnessed the Boston captain play through over the final three games against the Blues is unparalleled and something that still sticks with the Bruins president some three years later.

"I went to go visit him after he broke his jaw in the playoffs in '19 in the hospital, and he's telling me he's playing Game 5. I've had surgeries where you're out, they put you out…to me, that just showed everything about Zdeno," said Neely. "Not only the toughness, but the commitment and understanding there are only so many kicks at the can and he wanted to be a part of it. I give him all the credit in the world. I don't know how many athletes could do that."
Chara's willingness to suit up as Boston chased a championship is just one example amidst a countless array of moments and actions that defined a career that is destined to be worthy of the Hockey Hall of Fame and the TD Garden rafters. It was the Slovakia native's incomparable combination of commitment, drive, leadership, character, and ability that helped turn him into one of the greatest defensemen in the history of the National Hockey League and one of the most influential and inspirational players to ever don the Spoked-B.
And it's why his decision on Tuesday to retire after 24 seasons, 1,680 regular season games, 200 Stanley Cup Playoff contests, a Norris Trophy, and a Stanley Cup was do deserving of recognition.
"He was a great mentor, a great person, a great friend," Patrice Bergeron said of his predecessor as Bruins captain. "I am thankful for his friendship and everything that he meant to the Boston Bruins organization. This day brings back a lot of memories. Congratulations to the big man for everything that he's accomplished. As we all know, a sure Hall of Famer, especially on and off the ice. That's the most important part."

It was that combination of on-ice talent and off-ice expectations that shaped a culture and kickstarted an era of Bruins hockey that won't soon be forgotten. After arriving on the scene in July 2006 from Ottawa via free agency, Chara took over the Boston captaincy and immediately began to put his stamp on a dressing room that was in dire need of a shakeup after a six-year stretch of three first-round exits and three postseason misses.
"I think it grew as it went along. It's always hard when you don't have successful teams and you're not winning. There's habits that creep in that you don't even mean to be bad habits. It's the just the way that things go. I think that was one of the things that he and we all wanted to change," said Bergeron, who arrived in Boston three years before Chara.
"A lot of guys came in, as he talked about, to help as we went along - Shawn Thornton and Mark Recchi, guys who had won before. They start to come into the locker room and help in that way. But his competitiveness, the way that he demanded guys to compete and work, as he talked about, in practices - it was always hard, going after each other; there's no hard feelings, guys were just going.
"Once you start doing that and have that kind of mentality…then you start to get some results. And when you get results, things start to snowball, and it becomes something positive. We had some - and we still do - guys that are willing to buy into that."
Chara believed that without a change in attitude and approach, the Bruins would not be successful. He was determined to create a shift that would put the organization back on the right track.
"Without that, you can't win. You need to have a culture," said Chara. "You need to have players that want to follow - and it wasn't just me. It was a team effort. I would have never done it without Patrice. I never would have done it without Brad [Marchand] coming in and following Patrice's lead. We had guys stepping in, willing to come from other teams and adjust to that culture.
"We pushed each other. We were practicing as hard as we could against each other, but we were still OK with it. We set goals, and slowly and surely, we were climbing and making these steps, but without the culture and without someone planting the seed and basically putting the foot down that this is how it's going to be - yeah, it was hard at the beginning; it was not probably easy, and not everybody wanted to kind of change.
"But it was necessary. I felt it was necessary for this organization and for this team to make a change. We had Cam arrive, we have Donny [Sweeney] step in, we have different people coming in and helping change the culture and make it better. Ultimately, we end up winning the Stanley Cup in 2011, and we came close two other times."

Given the level of sucess that the Bruins had following Chara's arrival, Neely believes that the five-year, $37.5 million deal that the blue liner signed with Boston on July 1, 2006 is "arguably the best free agent signing, probably, in history."
"Especially where the team was at that particular moment in time," said Neely. "Then what Zdeno not only brought on the ice but also in the locker room...the leadership abilities and qualities he has and the demand that he had for his teammates to follow a certain lead and to really build back the culture of this organization, I think, was key."
And while Chara was the one steering the ship, he made sure to point to his teammates as the ones that were driving him to be at his best.
"We always competed against each other in the practices, but we knew that that would make the best of us; it would just bring the best out of us," said Chara. "I always kept telling them, if the practice is harder than the game, then that's how it should be so then the games became easier…I think the biggest challenge you face is against yourself. You have to look at yourself every night before you step on the ice and make sure you're ready. That's the challenge you face every day.
"You better be ready, because if you're not, then you are not giving your best; you're not giving 100% to the team, and it's not fair if you don't. So, as much as you compete against others, I think the biggest challenge or biggest task is competing against yourself and being at your best."
When the Bruins reached that pinnacle in 2011, Chara realized how important the work that they had done over the course of the previous four seasons was in setting the tone for their eventual breakthrough against the Vancouver Canucks and the decade that followed, a span that included two more trips to the Stanley Cup Final and two Presidents' Trophy-winning clubs.
"If you say what [2011] means to me, I would correct you - what it means to us. We won it together. It's not me because I was the captain. We did it together," said Chara. "We had such a committed group. We all bought in to what we did prior years in the practices. Every day, we made commitments to each other and to the team and the organization.
"To finally accomplish it in winning the Stanley Cup, it was such a relief and such a happy moment for everybody, because we did it together. We did it as a group. And the celebration is just something we will never forget. If you ask any of us, that's the best memories we have.
"I think it's pretty special, this city, the fanbase we have, the success the teams have around here. It's pretty special. I'm very happy - this is our home. My kids were born here, and we call it home, and we love this city and the fans."
That special bond with Boston is exactly why Chara wanted to make sure he finished his career in the Spoked-B.
"It's a privilege," said Chara. "It's such a huge honor to be part of this organization for so long and to retire as a Boston Bruin. It's a huge amount of honor."