Zdeno Chara is no stranger to the Stanley Cup Final, and he’s been on both sides of the outcome — as a champion in 2011, and as a loser in 2013 as well as this year.
You have to credit the guy for knowing how to navigate a defeat with class, however. Chara took to Instagram with a lengthy message thanking Bruins fans for their support.
“It’s been only few days, but I can still hear the overwhelming cheers and applause from our fans. I knew we had the best fans ,but I didn’t realized how special and remarkable you are till I stood in front of you before Game 5.It was an unbelievable experience to have your support. I couldn’t help to fight back tears, but so happy to respond to adversity and be there with my teammates. It was unbelievable feeling of pride and honor to be a Bostonian. We as Bruins fell short of our team goal, but we’re so grateful that we made you proud.This group of players and coaches are very special.I can’t say enough about how many times our team responded the right way to adversity and embrace the challenges. We believe in hard work.We treat each other equally and with respect.We trust each other and depend on each other, but mostly we love to play for this community. On behalf of all of the players and from the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of our fans for your support and loyalty this year. We never could have made it this far without you. We will be back...”
Well, you can’t say that Chara doesn’t have a way with his words. It would’ve been neat for him if he could captain the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in his age-42 season — he was at least able to claim the record for the oldest defenceman to ever score in the Final — but he’ll be back to try again next year.
Chara and the Bruins were certainly battling some odds, considering the injury bug that ravaged the team. For the last three games of the Final, he was playing through a fractured jaw, held together by “two plates, some wires and screws.”
