Just months shy of 20 years from the day he first set foot on Causeway Street as a Bruin, Zdeno Chara left his lasting thumbprint on the franchise Wednesday night with the hoisting of his No. 33 to the Garden rafters.
No one will wear the number again, and it would stretch the imagination to think anyone, no matter the number on their back, ever will play the game with the discipline, dedication, skill, and ferocity that Chara brought to the job for his 14 seasons in Black and Gold.
“I’m speechless — literally, I am speechless,” Chara said in the 15-minute media session that followed the classy on-ice ceremony. “It’s one of those things that, no matter how many times you picture it or imagine it, when it’s actually happening, it’s so much better and so much nicer.”
Chara, 48, enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Game in November and these days a special advisor to the club and coaching staff, was surrounded by a number of the franchise’s greats during a ceremony that lasted 52 minutes.
Ray Bourque (77), Terry O’Reilly (24), Willie O’Ree (22), Rick Middleton (16), John Bucyk (9), Cam Neely (8), and Bobby Orr (4) — all with their numbers previously hoisted high — were introduced to the sellout crowd and took seats at center ice for the festivities. Former defenseman and close Chara pal Andrew Ference was the emcee.
Ex-Chara teammates Tuukka Rask, Mark Recchi, Dennis Seidenberg, David Krejci, and Patrice Bergeron, all members of the 2010-11 Stanley Cup-winning team along with Ference and the honoree, had the honor of toting Chara’s No. 33 banner to the ice and placing it in position for its journey to the rafters.
As the 6-foot-9-inch Chara stood near the blue line, across the ice from the Boston bench, and watched wife Tatiana and their three children — daughter Elliz and twin sons Ben and Zach — pull on the ropes that brought his banner into place, tucked nearly between O’Reilly and Bourque.
A stoic Chara smiled frequently during the ceremony, and at points appeared on the verge of tears.
“We love you, Chara!’” one fan belted out from the upper bowl, reminiscent of the night decades ago when the Celtics retired Bob Cousy’s No. 14.
Prior to No. 33 being put in its place, the crowd broke into a chant of, “Thank you, Chara … thank you, Chara!”
It was then, Chara said later, that his emotions nearly got the best of him.
“Yeah, I was very close to getting very emotional, especially when the fans started to chant,” he said. “I almost cracked there. I was very close. You do what you love to do and when you’re getting appreciated, and people are realizing what you do and how much you’re giving back through your efforts … sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
“But I think the fans, what they most appreciate is the effort. You keep trying to win and it makes everybody happy. It’s not always going to be possible, but I think when they show those cheers and when they see how much you are willing to push yourself and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for that result so everybody can have that joy of winning, I think that’s when you’re really realizing how much it’s worth it.”
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