Zdeno Chara is always looking to stay ahead of the curve.
Going into his 14th season as Bruins captain, and 22nd campaign of a Hall-of-Fame career, Chara’s expectations are to remain entrenched in his usual role with Boston — log minutes in a top-pairing role, anchor the penalty kill and serve as mentor to a large crop of younger blue liners.
Chara’s efforts to remain competitive and effective in a league that continues to get younger and younger have been well-documented. The 42-year-old skater is a workout machine, who has adopted a plant-based diet over the last couple of years in order to keep his body in peak condition to deal with the wear and tear that comes with six to eight months of NHL hockey.
But a large portion of remaining viable in today’s game also revolves around adapting to a sport that has continued to favor puck possession and skill over punishing open-ice hits and snarl in recent years.
Now, let's be clear — Chara is still more than willing to use his 6-foot-9, 250-pound frame when the opportunity presents itself on the ice. Just ask Riley Nash back in May.
But in 2019, those opportunities are few and far between — especially if we were to compare it to Chara's early days with the Bruins.
“I think there is still room to make hits and make the physical part a big part of the game. But lately or the last two years, the puck is the key," Chara said. "I think you’ve got to play the puck first. It’s always nice to finish checks and make a big hit, but I think to be able to prevent the pass going through you or stopping the play with your stick, I think it’s more effective or valuable in these new games then going out there, making a big hit but the puck still goes through and somebody else picks it up and makes the play.
"(The) priority now — the puck is the key. It’s hard to compare those times when guys were being told, ‘Hey, finish the check. That’s your job. Don’t worry about the puck.’ But now, it’s a little bit different. You’ve got to play the puck first. It’s the key, it’s number one right now. And then, if there’s room to add to that and finish a guy and eliminate him with a good body positioning or a finishing check, then that’s when you do it. But the game is too fast now just to chase hits and go all over the place. The puck is the fastest player out there, so you have to take care of the puck first."
With over two decades of NHL hockey under his belt, of course Chara has had to adjust to the changing dynamics involved in his sport. But even defensemen 20 years his junior can attest to how much their roles have changed over the span of a couple of seasons.
He might stand tall at 6-foot-5 and clock in at 212 pounds, but Brandon Carlo isn't exactly the second coming of Scott Stevens out on the blue line. While he's already built a reputation as a stout penalty killer and stingy defender, Carlo often doesn't use his large frame to punish opposing skaters out on the open ice — with the 22-year-old defenseman averaging just a hair over 50 penalty minutes in three seasons in the NHL.
It's a bit of a far cry from Carlo's tenure with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League — his last stop before signing on with the Bruins for good in 2016. Within the junior-hockey ranks, Carlo made more use of his size to dominate other skaters — averaging 92 PIM in his final two seasons with the club before moving on to Boston.
However, Carlo added that the coaching philosophies regarding playing the puck vs. pummeling the skater started to shift upon taking part in Bruins' training camp. By the time Bruce Cassidy took over the reins of the operation in February 2017, Carlo noted that the new bench boss' focus on playing "a faster-paced game involving more men on the rush" allowed him to focus more on the puck-possession aspect of the game, rather than take himself out of the play by lining up a player on a bone-crushing check.
“Even in junior, the physicality level really was a lot higher at times," Carlo said. "Just because everyone is trying to prove themselves in the physical aspect of the game. You watch games from Zee’s past and it’s insane, I can’t believe how hard these guys were running each other. But the speed of the game has changed, and so has how you develop your game. It's having a better stick, making better plays and just overall controlling the puck, rather than chipping and going and hitting guys as hard as you can.
"I prefer this game, I feel like it suits my skill and my style in a good way and help me thrive in a different way. But I think it’s important to still have a physical aspect, especially in situations where, playoffs, every hit, everybody goes nuts and you can get a lot of energy from that."
Changing your course of action when out on a shift is already challenging enough when it comes to undoing years of coaching that focused more on the body than the puck when it came to a defenseman's focus. It's more daunting when these players are put in the numerous split-second decisions that they face on a constant basis with every new shift.
"Cliffy Hockey" covers many of things that Connor Clifton performs out on the ice — but one of the mainstays is the Quinnipiac product's willingness to lay out an opposing skater whenever the opportunity arises. While Clifton can resemble a bull in a china shop at times out on the ice, the need to not put your club in a bad spot always outweighs the rush that might come from pummeling an opposing skater and drawing the fans out of their seats.
Oliver Bjorkstrand is introduced to Cliffy Hockey. pic.twitter.com/bhH3U07wAN
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 28, 2019