Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is closing on 1,000 games played as a Bruin. He should reach that feat next Saturday at the New York Islanders, where his NHL career began. Currently, the Bruins captain sits on 1,527 NHL games played overall.
Can Chara ever beat the all-time record set by Gordie Howe (1,767 games)? Jaromir Jagr, the NHL legend and former Boston Bruins player, thinks so. The Czech legendary No. 68 sits third on this list with 1,733 games played, right behind Howe and Mark Messier, who skated in 1,756 games.
“Listen, it was always a threat facing Zdeno Chara. Every game against him was so special. He tried to do everything possible to deprive me of scoring, and I tried to do anything attainable to score, of course,” said Jagr on his Facebook page in a video interview.
“Zdeno works incredibly hard, takes nothing for granted. I cheer up for him because I think he can beat the NHL all-time record in the most games played. He can become the player with the most games played. With the emphasis of how does he practice and how much he loves hockey, I believe he can do it,” said Jagr.
It’s not the first nor will it be the last time that Chara receives significant praise from the NHL legend and former teammate. Chara works incredibly hard at every given day and every shift on the ice.
However, if Chara was able to truly beat this all-time record, he would need to play at least until the 2022-23 season. After the 2022-23 season, Chara would be a 46-year-old. Possibly, Chara can reach 1,767 contests played before his 46th birthday. That was the time when Jagr himself left the NHL.
Nevertheless, Chara has to, potentially, watch out for some concurrence. Patrick Marleau can reach Howe’s record next season, while his teammate Joe Thornton needs more than 160 games to reach Howe’s feat. It will be an enthralling contest, to say the least.
