{"id":410352,"date":"2026-01-16T06:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/410352\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T06:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:53:10","slug":"bruins-fans-celebrate-zdeno-chara-at-number-retirement-ceremony-nbc-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/410352\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruins fans celebrate Zdeno Chara at number retirement ceremony \u2013 NBC Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boston Bruins<\/a> honored one of the most iconic players in franchise history Thursday night, officially retiring Zdeno Chara’s No. 33 jersey and raising it into the rafters at TD Garden before their game against Seattle.<\/p>\n

Fans packed the arena for the ceremony, many leaving with commemorative bobbleheads and memories of a player who helped deliver the Bruins’ sixth Stanley Cup in 2011.<\/p>\n

As the banner ascended, the moment symbolized Chara’s lasting impact on the organization and the city.<\/p>\n

“Big Z” was immortalized at TD Garden, his jersey number retired forever by the Bruins. Chara, the 6-foot-9 Slovak defenseman and former captain, reflected on the honor by emphasizing the collective journey behind the achievement.<\/p>\n

“Having my jersey in the rafters isn’t just about me. It’s about all of us, and No. 33 will be connecting us forever,” he said.<\/p>\n

The ceremony brought together Bruins legends, former teammates, and generations of fans. Former goaltender Tim Thomas highlighted Chara’s unique presence on the ice.<\/p>\n

“He had that size that made him a special player, and as a goalie, especially, how could I not feel safe playing behind him?” he said.<\/p>\n

Patrice Bergeron also praised Chara’s leadership.<\/p>\n

“From the get-go, I knew he was the right guy to lead this organization,” he said.<\/p>\n

For many fans, Chara was more than a player \u2014 he was an idol.<\/p>\n

“He was always someone that my dad talked about when I was growing up, so he was always a big name in my house, and just to be here for his jersey being raised in the rafters is just incredible,” said Lauren Whynott.<\/p>\n

The McGuiness family said Chara was the reason they fell in love with hockey.<\/p>\n

“2011 was what switched me over to the Bruins,” said Fran McGuiness.<\/p>\n

“I grew up in Ireland, where we didn’t even have a hockey rink, and now, I have a rockstar hockey player on my family,” Fran’s husband, Ciaran, said of their son, Conor.<\/p>\n

“My best memory, obviously, has got to be 2019 Stanley Cup Final, coming back with a broken jaw and playing through it. That’s just amazing,” Connor remembered.<\/p>\n

The Bruins also paid tribute with a video celebrating Chara’s 14-year tenure with the team, from joining the organization in 2006 to lifting the Stanley Cup in 2011. Chara expressed his hopes for the future of the franchise.<\/p>\n

“What you would kind of like to see is just continue that culture being carried,” said Chara during a press conference following the ceremony.<\/p>\n

He closed the night with a heartfelt message to the city: “Boston, we love you. Thank you guys so much.”<\/p>\n

Chara, now 48, continues to live in Boston and serves as the Bruins’ hockey operations advisor. He becomes the 13th player in franchise history to have his jersey retired, joining legends like Ray Bourque, who was also in attendance.<\/p>\n

The celebration capped off a memorable night as the Bruins went on to defeat Seattle 4-2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boston Bruins honored one of the most iconic players in franchise history Thursday night, officially retiring Zdeno…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[154,95,5132,530,5,4,7957],"class_list":{"0":"post-410352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-bruins","8":"tag-boston","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-bostonbruins","11":"tag-bruins","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-td-garden"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115903463612942247","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}