Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand knows better than to raise former teammate Zdeno Chara, even though he is now an opponent.
“No, you do not want to stab the bear,” Marchand said.
Chara faces the Bruins for the first time on Saturday since leaving Boston as a free agent and signing with the Washington Capitals in the off-season. The Bruins wanted to reduce his playing time to make younger defenders look longer.
Chara, 43, felt he could still be a regular contributor to the NHL, ending his 14-year stint at Boston with a one-year contract at DC
“I love them like my brothers,” Chara said Friday. “We understand that it’s a business. We have to play for our teams and fight it out. But at the same time we have something very deep, that goes back a long way and we will cherish the memories.”
Marchand knows what worship shared between Bruins and Chara will not transfer to the ice.
“He’s the kind of guy where you’re an opponent when he’s out there. He’s not going to have any friends there. He’s going to play the game and compete and fight,” Marchand said. “I’m not going to stab the bear in any way. The biggest thing I can do is skate away from him. If you get within reach or his grip, you’re not going anywhere.”
Chara said he also did not expect anything extraordinary from Marchand during their first meeting.
“I do not think it will be any different,” he said. “He is a man who will always go there and compete for his teams. I think we had a lot of training against each other and both competed quite hard. I expect nothing different from him or from anyone else.”
Chara scored an ice time of 20:29 per game for Washington. In eight games, he has a goal and two assistants, scoring his first as a capital in their victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday. Asked if he is being proven that he can still be a regular player instead of the part that Bruins saw for him, Chara said: “I’m just trying to focus on helping this team as well as possible.”
Saturday’s game (19:00 ET, ESPN +) is more than this emotional reunion: The Capitals are in the Eastern Division with 13 points in eight games in first place, and Boston is behind them with 11 points in seven games.
“I don’t think it’s going to be that much about playing against the Boston Bruins. I think it’s two very good teams playing for two points that will be there tomorrow to grab,” Chara said.
Still, it’s Zdeno Chara against the Boston Bruins. The former captain. The defending star. The man who first lifted the Stanley Cup in 2011 when Boston won for the first time in 39 years.
“It would be strange to see him in a different uniform,” Marchand said.