Chára in 2022. Islanders legends Clark Gillies (Number 9 retired)
and Mike Bossy (Number 22 retired) had died that year.
February 24, 2022: The San Jose Sharks beat the New York Islanders, 4-3 in a shootout at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Zdeno Chára, the 6-foot-9 defenseman, played 16 minutes and 26 seconds, and had a single shot, missed, neither scoring a goal nor assisting on one.
Nevertheless, it was the 1,652nd game of Chára's NHL career. This set a new record for defensemen, surpassing the 1,651 played by Chris Chelios from 1984 to 2010. Chara retired after the season, raising the record to 1,680.
Born in 1977 in Slovakia, "Big Z" used his size to intimidate the opposition. But it didn't always work. On February 1, 2006 game at the Meadowlands, he picked a fight with Brian Gionta of the New Jersey Devils. "Gio" was listed as 5-foot-7, and that may have been charitable. But he fought Chara to a standstill for a full minute before the officials broke it up. I was there, I saw it, and the Devils beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3.
Chara played in the NHL for the Islanders from 1997 to 2001, the Senators from 2001 to 2006, the Boston Bruins from 2006 to 2020, the 2020-21 season for the Washington Capitals, and his last season, 2021-22, back with the Islanders. He wasn't just a thug: He could actually play, scoring 209 goals and providing 471 assists, but also racking up 2,085 penalty minutes.
He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, and reached the Finals with them but lost in 2013 and 2019. He played in 6 NHL All-Star Games, won the Norris Trophy as best defenseman in 2009, and was named to the NHL's 2000s and 2010s All-Decade Teams. He played for Slovakia in the 2006, '10 and '14 Winter Olympics.
UPDATE: In 2025, Chára was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Bruins retired his Number 33.
As of the conclusion of the 2025-26 NHL season, the active leader in games played by a defenseman is Brent Burns of the Colorado Avalanche, with 1,579. He is 41 years old, and would have to play at least into the 2027-28 season to break the record.
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February 24, 2022 was a Thursday. This was also the day that Russia started a war by invading Ukraine. I have a separate entry for that event.
There were 7 other games in the NHL that night:
* The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-1 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Florida Panthers, 6-3 at the FLA Live Arena (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of
Sunrise, Florida.
* The Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars, 2-1 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-1 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Seattle Kraken, 3-2 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Jake DeBrusk scored the winning goal, 33 seconds into overtime.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames, 7-1 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Baseball and football were out of season. There were 7 games in the NBA:
* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Boston Bruins, 129-106 at the Barclays Center.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-103 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 112-108 at the United Center in Chicago. DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points for Da Bulls.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 119-114 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. D'Angelo Russell scored 37 for the T-Wolves.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-104 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Sacramento Kings, 128-110 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Domantas Sabonis scored 33.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 132-95 at the Moda Center in Portland.
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