- Zdeno Chara unlaced his skates and left them at center ice after his farewell game in Trencin
- He walked off holding hands with his twin sons while both benches raised their sticks
- Read below for the video and what Chara said afterward
Zdeno Chara left his skates on the ice.
The 49-year-old dropped to a knee at the end of Zee’s Final Shift on Friday night, unlaced both of them and set them down on the logo at center ice. Boxers leave gloves in the ring. This was the hockey version of that, in a sold-out building in his hometown of Trencin, Slovakia.
Here is how the night ended:
Chara walked off in his socks with a twin son on each hand. Ben and Zack were dressed for the occasion in matching No. 33 sweaters with Zee’s Final Shift stitched across the nameplate, and every player on both benches raised a stick as the three of them went past.
Watch the video of the walk-off:
Asked afterward how the whole night felt, the Slovakian kept turning the answer back on the crowd.
“It’s amazing, great. Thank you to the audience for coming; I appreciate it, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.”
Chara said it in the postgame scrum, and the video catches him still catching his breath:
The game put a Team Boston roster of Bruins alumni against a Rest of the World side loaded with Slovak and Czech greats. Chara dressed for both benches and got a shift alongside Ben and Zack.
He also matched his own 108.8 mph hardest shot record during the second intermission, 14 years after he set it.
Friday closed the book on a career that ran 24 seasons and 1,680 games, more than any defenseman has played. Chara put up 680 points for the Islanders, Senators, Bruins and Capitals, won the Norris in 2009, captained Boston to the 2011 Stanley Cup and went into the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Class of 2025.
Marathons and Ironman races have filled his time since he stopped playing in 2022. A proper goodbye on the ice had to wait until Friday, and the skates are still sitting in Trencin.
