Islanders honor Chara for most NHL games played by defenseman

The New York Islanders celebrated Zdeno Chara and his record-breaking number of games played by an NHL defenseman before the matchup against the St. Louis Blues at UBS Arena on Saturday. The team put together a video tribute and gifted Chara a special sweater for the occasion.

"For him to break the record is not really a surprise to anybody who knows him," former Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk said in an

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Rather, Boychuk is interested to see how much Chara will break the record by. On Feb. 24, Chara played in his 1,652nd game, breaking Chris Chelios' former record by one. In doing so, Chara also moved into seventh for most overall games played in NHL history.
"He takes pride in coming to the rink every day," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "He's one of those guys that doesn't take a day off, doesn't take a shift off. He really takes care of everyone around him and there's a reason why he's had such a successful and long career."

During the pre-game ceremony, Chara was gifted a custom jersey by the Islanders. The sweater read his usual nameplate, but instead of his normal No. 33, the number was "1,652."

Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said Chara's competitiveness is what makes him such a good leader.
"He's so disciplined," Bergeron said. "You can't tell him he can't do something, or if you do, it's the best thing you could do for him. He'll make sure he finds a way to do it."