The final game in Zdeno Chara's NHL career came to an end on Friday in Slovakia, in an emotionally charged afternoon.
The day featured all sorts of former teammates of Chara's, alongside scores of Slovakian National teammates and a whole celebration of one of the greatest defensemen to ever play the game.
Team Boston featured Boston Bruins past and present, including: Patrice Bergeron, Chris Kelly, Milan Lucic, David Pastrnak, Mark Recchi, Michael Ryder, Josef Stumpel, Marco Sturm, Ray Bourque, Johnny Boychuk, Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg, Adam McQuaid, and Jaroslav Halak. Tim Thomas and Matt Keator coached the team.
The Rest of the World roster included Anže Kopitar, Marian Hossa, Tomas Vanek, Jaromir Jagr, Robert Reichel, Jakub Voracek, Miroslav Satan, Ziggy Palffy, Michal Handzus, Andrej Sekera, Radek Hamr, Aaron Ward, Tomas Kaberle, and former international soccer star Petr Cech as goaltender. They were coached by Peter Bondra and Marian Gaborik.
As for the day itself, Chara's introduction set the crowd on fire:
The game itself had its own highlights, but perhaps the best moment came after, when Chara matched his NHL record 108.8 MPH slapshot, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Finally, after that ended, Chara proved once again what means the most to him.
He skated to center ice, unlaced his skates, and placed them at center ice.
Then, Chara grabbed the hands of his two boys, and walked off the right through a saluting crowd, and saluting rosters full of Boston and NHL legends alike, signalling the end of Chara's time on the ice.
It doesn't get any more beautiful or poignant than that moment right there.
Chara's future remains in Boston, as he continues to work in the front office as a liaison between the locker room and management, all while growing his role seemingly every season.
