Chara again adjusting leadership approach with Bruins during season pause

Zdeno Chara realized that after a few weeks of the NHL season being paused, he and his Boston Bruins teammates, normally a close-knit, near-family group, hadn't really communicated all that much. So he set out to change that.

Normally the Bruins would be seeing each other every day as they prepared for the end of the regular season, the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a chance at a run to the Stanley Cup. But with the NHL on pause since March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the players had scattered around the world.

"It was quite challenging early on," Chara said Tuesday during a town hall with Bruins season ticket holders. "After we got postponed, I think everybody was in a situation of unknown waters. We were listening to news? We were waiting to see what we're going to be able to do as a team, as individuals? Would we be able to stay in Boston? Could we leave?

"And after four or five weeks I realized we hadn't really talked that much. We had a few exchanged text messages as a group but nothing from that point. So the last two, three weeks, we've been doing regularly some Zoom calls and trying to see each other, talk to each other, stay connected and keeping ourselves updated, so it's been a lot of fun."

That first Bruins Zoom call was April 28. Organized by team leaders Chara and Patrice Bergeron, it was just another example of the ways where Chara makes sure to reach out to his teammates. It's something he's done on an individual level for a while, because he is team captain and because that's what he feels is right.

"Throughout each season he's reached out to me at some point during the season and the offseason," defenseman Brandon Carlo said recently. "He does a good job of giving you your space as well. … During the season when you're around him all the time, that's when his true leadership skills come out, especially during the games, during the practices. Very blessed to have him as a leader. Continue to learn from him."

But what meant more to Carlo was to hear from Chara as a friend, not just as a teammate.

Carlo isn't the only Bruins player during Chara's 14 seasons with Boston to have that kind of relationship with the 43-year-old defenseman.

"In all honesty he's been one of the most influential people in my career as a professional hockey player, especially in this town," defenseman Torey Krug said recently.

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Chara currently is the longest-serving captain in the NHL, having been named to the role in 2006-07, one season before Sidney Crosby was named captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

How much longer Chara stays in that role remains an unanswered question. He is not signed beyond this season but has maintained that he is not interested in retirement, that there is not yet an end in sight to his NHL career and he did not address his future during the call Tuesday. He signed a one-year contract March 28, 2018, for the 2018-19 season, and another one-year contract March 23, 2019, that covered this season.

One thing that has changed for Chara during his time in Boston has been his approach to leadership as the Bruins changed around him.

"I think that early on in my captaincy years I tried to take everything up on my shoulders and tried to do a lot out there and everywhere and then took a lot of pressure on myself," he said. "It was a challenging time."

New management came in. A new coaching staff. The Bruins got more veterans and now is getting younger again.

"As the time went on, you started to realize that you have to share that leadership and responsibilities and we started getting more experienced players and players with experiences from winning Stanley Cups," Chara said. "Older players. So it really helped me to become a better captain, to have my teammates along with me. It's just one of those things you have to accept certain situations and just go with it and use your instincts. Use your guts. Making some best decisions for the team and try to be yourself and never think of yourself any more or less than any other player. Try to do the best for the team."

Which is what he's doing now during these most unusual of circumstances.

"Being a friend, being a teammate, it's always very important to me, helping younger players to adapt to the game the best I can from my experiences," Chara said. "I just love the game. I don't think it's that much to do with the captaincy. It's just to be there for my teammates, any shape, any way I can."