Chara says hockey is secondary for him, Bruins with season paused

When the NHL season was paused due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the Boston Bruins were on top of the League, barreling toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs and, they hoped, another try at the Stanley Cup.

Now it's unclear what will happen with the 2019-2020 season. But that's not the main concern for Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

"It is one of those situations that you can't really control," the defenseman said in a video call arranged by the NHL on Monday. "I think that right now we all have to look after each other and after our families. I know it's kind of a cliche answer in these days, I think hockey is secondary.

"But if you have to look at it that way, yeah, it is hard to pause the League at that stage where we were at with few games (12) remaining and so close to the playoffs and [the] team played well, with confidence. We were obviously at a good pace. But who knows. We can't always wish for the perfect situations.

"Hopefully we will play again. We'll see when that is going to be."

After losing to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season, the Bruins led the NHL with 100 points when the season was paused March 12.

They also had been on an impressive run, having just ended the Philadephia Flyers' nine-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory March 10, and winning five of six games before the pause. Boston had gone 16-4-0 since Jan. 21.

The issue is more pressing for Chara than perhaps anyone else on the Bruins. Chara, who in his 22nd NHL season, turned 43 on March 18. He is the oldest player in the League. His window, and that of his team, might be closing.

But that's not where Chara's head is at the moment.

"It's been kind of a little bit different than what we're used to, but at the same time trying to make the best out of the situation that it is right now," said Chara, who has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) and is plus-26 in 68 games this season.

He's thinking more of the everyday, more pressing concerns. That included heading to Florida earlier in the pause to give his family some more space to spread out and give himself some more ability to work out. They arrived on his birthday.

"We decided to drive on the 17th," Chara said. "It was a quick decision. We decided to come down to Florida. It was almost 24 hours. So by the time we got back to the house here in Florida, it was March 18. No really big celebrations. Tried to keep it a little under the radar. You reach a certain age, you kind of try to hide it."

Chara said he has been spending most of his time indoors, hanging out with his wife and three kids and doing his best to maintain his fitness level. He is staying in a gated community with access to a bike, weights and a pool.

"I think like everybody else, the first few days you're taking it easy and just using your imagination, your body, and then as you go further, I've been lucky I had a few things here - dumbbells, stationary bike, access to a pool," Chara said of ways to keep his body in shape. "That was one of the reasons we decided to drive down here, to spend a little more time outside but also to have workout places, not being in public gyms, but in my own environment. Trying to do what I can."