Isles’ Chara breaks Chelios’ games played record

Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.

Zdeno Chara stands alone.

The New York Islanders blueliner set a record for most games played by an NHL defenseman after he skated in his 1,652nd career contest Thursday in San Jose.

Hall of Fame defender Chris Chelios had held the previous mark since 2010, when he retired after 26 seasons in the NHL. Chara is also tied for having played the seventh-most games ever at any position in the league.

Out of deference to Chelios and what he accomplished, Chara has opted not to speak publicly on the impending milestone until it’s officially passed. For his part, Chelios told NHL.com earlier this week that, “I’m not going to say I’m happy [the record is being broken], but it doesn’t bother me one bit that a guy like him is the guy breaking the record. Congratulations to him, it’s a heck of a feat.”

Chara, who turns 45 next month, is in his 24th pro campaign, putting in 18:31 average time on ice while adding eight assists in 43 games. Over the course of his career between the Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals, Chara has amassed 207 goals and 674 points and sits 32nd overall in that span with an average time on ice of 23:34. Checking in at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, Chara has been an intimidating force patrolling NHL blue lines since day one. The Trencin, Slovakia, native was drafted in the third round, 56th overall, by the Islanders during the 1996 Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut on Nov. 19, 1997.

Chara spent parts of four seasons with New York before he was traded to Ottawa in 2001. After four years there, Chara would leave to begin the most celebrated phase of his career in Boston.

In July 2006, Chara was an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Bruins, who immediately named him the team’s captain. He would hold that mantle through the next 14 seasons in Boston, through years filled with individual and collective success.

Chara won the Norris Trophy in 2009 as the NHL’s best defenseman, after posting a career-high 19 goals in the 2008-09 regular season. It stands as his only Norris win to date, amid six nominations for the award.

In 2011, Chara and the Bruins defeated Vancouver to win the first — and only — Stanley Cup of his career. Chara became the first Slovak player to ever captain an NHL club to a Cup victory and joined Nicklas Lidstrom as just the second European skater to accomplish that feat.

Chara would return to the Cup Final in 2013 and 2019, where Boston fell to the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues, respectively.

By July 2019, Chara was the oldest active player in the NHL and in November of that year became the 21st skater in history to appear in 1,500 games.

When his contract in Boston expired after the 2019-20 season, Chara opted to join Washington on a one-year deal in December 2020. His career came full circle when Chara re-joined the Islanders on another one-year pact in September 2021.

Whether this year will be the end of the road for Chara remains to be seen, but it’s unlikely to produce another postseason run. New York entered Thursday’s game with a 19-20-7 record and sitting seven points back of a Wild Card playoff spot. In addition to his 1,652 regular season appearances, Chara has skated in 200 playoff games to date.

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