The Boston Bruins will lift defenceman Zdeno Chara’s No. 33 to the rafters when they take on the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 15.
Chara played 14 seasons with the Bruins from 2006-2020 and captained the team for his entire tenure. His number will be only the 13th to be retired in team history.
The 6-foot-9 defenceman recorded 148 goals and 481 points in 1,023 career games in Boston while averaging 24:29 of ice time.
Chara helped the Bruins end a 39-year Stanley Cup drought when the Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in 2011.
The seven-time all-star won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman in 2009 after recording 19 goals and 50 points in 80 games while averaging 26:04 of ice time. He also won the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2011.
Drafted 56th overall by the New York Islanders in 1996, Chara played 24 seasons in the NHL, recording 209 goals and 680 points in 1,680 games split between the Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Bruins, and Washington Capitals.
Chara will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in November and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame earlier this year.
The Trencin, Slovakia, native represented his country three times at the Winter Olympic Games, finishing as high as fourth place in 2010. He also represented Slovakia seven times at the World Championship, taking home silver in 2000 and 2012.
Chara was recently brought back into the Bruins organization on Sept. 25 when he was hired as a hockey operations advisor and mentor.