Zdeno Chara's Unseen Leadership On Display In 'Road To Winter Classic' Finale
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- It has certainly not been an ideal season for 38-year-old Zdeno Chara, just as it has not been the greatest year thus far for the Boston Bruins. While they still are clinging to the final playoff spot in the East, the 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the Canadiens at the Winter Classic on New Year's Day was without a doubt the low point of the season.
As such, there may not have been too much interest in the Boston area on Wednesday night when Epix aired the season finale of "Road To The Winter Classic." (That is, of course, putting aside the general lack of interest due to the show not being on HBO anymore.)
But there were some great behind-the-scenes clips from Wednesday night's show, including:
--Frank Vatrano handing 30 Winter Classic tickets to the youth hockey team in Springfield. (He's from East Longmeadow, which neighbors Springfield.)
--Footage of the Bruins' best game of the year, the 7-3 win over the Senators which included all sorts of mayhem.
--Erik Karlsson saying this to the referees after Brad Marchand's suspension-worthy hit on Mark Borowiecki: "That's a dangerous play right there. That's what I think. And I think he does it purposely and he's trying to hurt our guy. I think it's a reckless play and intentional."
--This exchange between Bill Belichick, who was out skating on the rink with Claude Julien, and Cam Neely:
Belichick: "Hey. How are you doing Cam? Good to see you, man. Do I take my gloves off? Is that the ... "
Neely: "Well, if you wanna go."
--Some just-plain-cool splicing of footage from the legends game and footage from the '70s and '80s. It was a few minutes of the show that if you watched, you wouldn't be able to hold back at least one smile.
--Pardon the pun, but an all-out epic read from narrator Bill Camp before the Winter Classic began: "Men wearing these uniforms representing these teams have met 909 times before. And as much as the Winter Classic is a modern phenomenon, their hockey ancestors are doubtlessly part of this panorama, skating in spirit alongside their contemporary counterparts. They are two of the great franchises in all of sports, their long histories interwoven. And now today, they're the focus once again -- only this time, in the open air."
--Claude Julien saying to his team during the first period, "Right now, it's a f------ embarrassment."
--Claude later throwing down the gauntlet to the team after the dreadful first period.
"I'm challenging everybody in here, if you think you can play here, then show me. Because I want to see it," Julien said in the locker room. "Let's not just assume that we belong here and we deserve to be here. I'm challenging everybody here, be a totally, totally different team from what we were in that first period. This is our frigging building, these are our frigging fans, and we don't f------ come in here and embarrass 'em. K? We come in this building and show some pride. Well let's pick up our game here, let's show some pride here from the first guy to the last, because this isn't good enough right now."
--After seeing Matt Beleskey throw hits around like a wild man, P.K. Subban shouting at him: "Settle down, you f---!"
--Brendan Gallagher ruthlessly chirping Max Talbot: "You're so useless out here. So useless." Dude, that is not nice.
--Canadiens goalie and Massachusetts native Mike Condon reacting to P.K. Subban's excessive man-hug after the game: "Get the f--- off me, you little s---."
While it was a fairly entertaining program, there was one particular part that stood out.
That came during the first intermission of the actual Winter Classic, after the Bruins had been outshot 14-3 and barely had the puck for the full 20 minutes. Clearly, the team needed something, some sort of life, and it was captain Zdeno Chara to make the effort to provide it.
Now, Chara's captaincy in Boston has always been somewhat complicated. He's not the typical outspoken type of player that matches the prototype of a player to wear a "C" on his chest. He's always been considered a "quiet leader," one who lets the example he sets on the ice do the talking for him. And in many behind-the-scenes moments on "Behind The B," Chara has for the most part looked to fit that description.
But not on New Year's Day, and not on that moment. Chara sat in the locker room after first intermission as frustrated as the rest of his teammates, but he issued a rather stern statement to the rest of the Bruins that the negativity needed to stop immediately.
"Our attitude on the bench has got to improve," Chara urged. "We all know that we gotta be better, but we can't be f------ negative. We can't have 24 guys coming to the bench saying, 'F---, come on, f---.' It can't happen. We've got to find a way to build on things. Be more positive."
Oh, and it should be noted that this was Chara's face while speaking:
"Create some energy. Feed off that.," he said. "We've got to be better. We know that. But let's pick it up f------ mentally, too. OK? So let's go, boys. Let's be more positive. Let's pick it up, like we can."
It wasn't a typical "rah-rah, let's go boys" type of message that anyone can give when things are going well. It was more like a "Dad's mad" speech that probably put some fear into the remainder of the Bruins roster and reminded them why they're there in the first place.
Obviously, the Bruins would get outscored 2-0 in the second period and 2-1 in the third, but the Bruins did manage to outshoot Montreal 25-16 over the final 40 minutes. The effort, at least, improved.
(Bruins fans can be heartened by the fact that after the second period, it was captain-in-waiting Patrice Bergeron who delivered the message to the team in a tone not often heard from the typically soft-spoken Bergeron. The captaincy will be in good hands whenever it is that Chara decides to hang up his skates.)
Now, some of that has to do with the fact that it could not have possibly gotten any worse. But still, that moment from Chara provided a glimpse of the captain that those of us on the outside rarely get to see.
You can watch the episode at EpixHD.com.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
