Chara Named Finalist for Masterton Trophy

The National Hockey League announced today that Zdeno Chara is a finalist for the 2022 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey. The winner is selected from a poll among members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and announced on Friday, June 3.
Chara is one of three finalists for the award, alongsideKevin Hayes of the Philadelphia Flyers and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens.

This past season, Chara's 24th in the NHL, he scored two goals and 12 assists for 14 points. Chara
scored his second goal of the season
on
his final shot of the season
on April 29th against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He led the team in penalty minutes (85) and finished second in plus/minus with a +8 rating.
Chara set the
NHL record for games played by a defenseman
on February 24, playing in his 1,652nd game, passing Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios' previous record of 1,651 games. He finished last season with career totals of 1,680 games, 209 goals and 471 assists for 680 points with the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Islanders. The Trencin, Slovakia native was originally drafted by the Islanders in the third round (56th overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

Chara served as the captain of the Boston Bruins for 14 seasons. He won the Norris Trophy with the Bruins as the NHL's best defenseman in 2008-09 after recording a career-high 19 goals and 31 assists in 80 games. He was the recipient of the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2010-11 for his exemplary leadership both on and off the ice. He is a six-time NHL All-Star (2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12) and recipient of the Golden Puck as Slovakia's Player of the Year three times (2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12).
Chara won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011, becoming the second European-born captain to win the Stanley Cup (Nicklas Lidstrom) and the only captain from Slovakia. Chara recorded 70 points (18 goals, 52 assists) in 200 career playoff games.
Chara represented Slovakia in international play on several occasions, including three Olympics (2006, 2010, 2014). He served as alternate captain for Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, scoring two goals in six games to help the team to a second-place finish at the tournament.