BOSTON — Marco Sturm can pinpoint the exact moment Zdeno Chara changed the culture for the Boston Bruins.
The Hall of Fame defenseman had his No. 33 retired during an impressive pregame ceremony Thursday, Jan. 15, at TD Garden, and every story you heard about Chara’s impact focused on him leading by example. After all, he was named captain even before he played his first game after signing as a free agent on July 1, 2006.
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The organization struggled in the early to mid-2000s and Chara wanted to reignite the team’s passion. Sturm and Chara were teammates for four seasons (2006-2010) in Boston, and the current coach was recently asked for his favorite Chara moment.
“It’s still my favorite story,” Sturm said. “When the guys didn’t go hard enough, he grabbed our tough guy and had a fight in practice because he wasn’t going hard enough. Got him out and all of a sudden, the Bruins culture in practice changed that day. That was just amazing. We worked hard. We had fun, but it was all business when we practiced.”
Former Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara speaks at a ceremony to retire his number before a game between the Bruins and the Seattle Kraken at TD Garden on Thursday, Jan. 15.
Sturm explained that story to the current players during practice a month ago.
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“That story comes up a lot because it was a game-changer — it really was,” Sturm said. “It was one punch and that was Zdeno Chara. I think it’s a great story.”
So, when he was asked who the teammate was on the receiving end of Chara’s in-practice discipline, Sturm wouldn’t disclose it. “I know who it is but I don’t want his name to be out there,” Sturm said with a laugh.
That player, however, was more than happy to talk about that incident with the captain.
Former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is introduced at a ceremony to retire his number before a game between Boston and the Seattle Kraken at TD Garden on Thursday, Jan. 15.
Introducing Jeremy Reich.
“Dumbest thing I ever did but I survived it somehow,” he said during a recent interview even before Sturm shared his favorite Chara moment.
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Reich, who also spent four seasons with the Providence Bruins, played a total of 90 games during two seasons (2006-2007, 2007-2008) for the Bruins. He began his second season as a healthy scratch for the first 12 games and remembers one practice vividly.
It was early November and coach Claude Julien was conducting a 3-on-3 drill below the blue line, which was one of his favorites, when Reich and Chara began battling for the puck in the corner.
Center Jeremy Reich played two seasons with the Bruins from 2006 to 2008.
“He two-handed me behind the legs, so I turned around and two-handed him,” Reich said. “The play kept going on for another 10 seconds, and all the players and coaches were on the blue line, and [Chara] did it again, so I turned around, slashed him and used a little bit of profanity. I reacted, which was really dumb — dropped my gloves and threw a couple of punches. I didn’t reach him, obviously, and he hit me once, knocked me down and I was bleeding. I got back up and threw a couple of more punches. He hit me again and I went down.”
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Reich remembers that Shawn Thornton finally stepped in to break it up and said to Reich: “You’re such an idiot. What are you doing?”
“I went back to the blue line and Claude was telling me to get off the ice and go see the trainer,” Reich said. “I told him I was fine, but he said, ‘You’re bleeding everywhere.’ I didn’t go off and finished the practice. It was pretty funny.”
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After practice, the two talked and there were no hard feelings about the beating Chara handed Reich.
“It was completely fine,” Reich said. “There was no animosity toward each other.”
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The next game, however, he was in the lineup against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 4 at TD Garden.
“I think that kind of got me in the lineup,” he said. “I can thank Zee for that one.”
Reich also believes it was the start of the culture change on the ice and in the locker room for the Bruins.
“I completely agree with Marco,” Reich said. “That was the type of guy Zee was, and he probably could have put me in the hospital. I’m assuming he let off quite a bit, but he was just trying to say we need to battle in practice and turn it over into games. He was a great captain and led by example and that example was me that practice.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Zdeno Chara’s unique way to motivate his Bruins teammates