(Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18

The long wait for former National Hockey League defenseman Zdeno Chara to have his jersey number 33 retired by the Boston Bruins is over. Tonight, Chara will have his number 33 raised to the TD Garden rafters ahead of the Bruins’ game against the Seattle Kraken.

The Bruins have seen many great defensemen play for their franchise, and Chara will go down as one of them. Chara helped change the culture to help the Bruins be a consistent winning team and served as the team’s captain in all 14 seasons he spent in Beantown. However, there is one thing that may sting from the Chara era in Boston, and that’s the fact that the Bruins only won one Stanley Cup during his tenure.

Chara played 14 seasons as a Bruin from 2006 to 2020. The Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup championship over the Vancouver Canucks will be remembered when Chara was the first to hoist the trophy, as it ended the team’s 39-year Stanley Cup drought.

However, some may not realize the amount of heartbreak the Bruins endured during the Chara era. To make the playoffs 11 times in Chara’s 14 seasons is impressive, but the painful playoff woes will forever sting during that era and are a lot more painful than people may remember.

Six times the Bruins were eliminated in a Game 7 during the Chara era. In two of those losses, the Bruins were eliminated by the hated Montreal Canadiens in 2008 and 2014. The 2014 loss in the second round of the playoffs will sting a lot, considering the Bruins finished with the best record in the NHL and lost Game 7 on home ice. The 2010 Game 7 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the playoffs is part of hockey history because of the Flyers completing the 0-3 series comeback to win the series at Boston in Game 7. The last Game 7 loss will forever sting when the St. Louis Blues won the 2019 Stanley Cup Final in Boston.

In three of the playoff matchups in the Chara era, the Bruins were eliminated in overtime. To add more pain, all three times the Bruins were eliminated in overtime, it happened on home ice. The first one was in the second round of the 2009 playoffs when Scott Walker scored a double-overtime goal to send the Carolina Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference Finals. In the Bruins’ title defense in 2012, Joel Ward scored the overtime hero to help the seventh-seeded Washington Capitals eliminate the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. The last one was in the first round of the 2017 playoffs against the Ottawa Senators when Clarke MacArthur’s overtime winner eliminated the Bruins in six games.

Can’t mention the Bruins in the Chara era without mentioning the losses in June. The Bruins’ 2019 Stanley Cup loss to the Blues was mentioned earlier, but the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals loss to the Chicago Blackhawks will forever sting. The Bruins led the series 2-1, then lost the next two games to trail the series 3-2 heading into Game 6 back in Boston. The Bruins led 2-1 late in the third period in Game 6, then the Blackhawks scored two goals in 17 seconds to take a 3-2 lead with under one minute to play, and then won the Stanley Cup.

Twice during the Chara era, the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs when they won the Presidents’ Trophy. As mentioned earlier, 2014 was the first time against the Canadiens, and the second time happened in the second round of the 2020 playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Even with painful playoff woes as a team, Chara’s legacy in Boston will forever remain strong. Chara won the 2009 Norris Trophy and 2011 Messier Trophy, along with making five All-Star Games. Chara finished his Bruins tenure recording 481 points with an incredible +240 rating while playing in 1,023 games. Chara gave Bruin fans many moments that they will forever remember.

From his hat trick against the Hurricanes in 2011, to his hard slapshots, to his big hits, and playing with a broken jaw in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals. Bruin fans will forever love Big Z, and tonight is the night to celebrate.