Chara's Mentorship Has Helped McAvoy Shine

BostonBruins.com - Zdeno Chara's place in Bruins history is already fully cemented.
For 14 seasons, the 43-year-old has captained the Black & Gold - the club's second-longest such tenure - leading them to three Stanley Cup Finals, including their sixth championship in 2011.
His lengthy resume - which also includes a Norris Trophy in 2009 - is more than worthy of a place in the Hockey of Hall of Fame whenever his career concludes. And his No. 33 is surely destined to hang from the TD Garden rafters when all is said and done.
But for the time being, Chara is continuing to build his legacy, albeit in a slightly different way.

While he remains a crucial piece of the Bruins' success as an anchor on Boston's top pairing, Chara's minutes have decreased a bit. In Boston's 3-2 Game 1 victory over the Lightning, Chara played 21:57 - still second-highest on the team - and for the playoffs is averaging 19:53, which is the lowest of any of his 11 playoff runs with the Bruins.
"It is different, but the goals and the motivation is the same," said Chara, who on Sunday night played in his 146th career postseason game with the Bruins, moving him past Wayne Cashman for sole possession of second place on the team's all-time list. "Still have a lot of passion for the game and love to compete, go out there and do my best. Try to enjoy it and embrace the opportunity."
Those changes, however, have not diminished his importance, on or off the ice. In addition to his duties as a defensive zone and penalty-killing stalwart, Chara has also taken on the role of mentor in recent years, helping to groom young blue liners Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo into top-four defensemen. Their immense growth over the past few seasons can certainly be attributed in part to the guidance they've received from the captain.
"Zee is a good tutor, he's a student of the game, a true professional," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "The off-ice part is amazing for the young guys to see why guys last in this league. I put other guys on our team in that category as well, how they train after games, in between [on off days], to get better. No days off so to speak for those guys.
"Zee enjoys doing it. I think it's been a good situation for us to give him young partners because there's no better teacher than an on-ice teacher. We can show them video, we can talk to them. We all played the game years and years ago, but these guys are living in the moment, so that's what makes the best teacher and I think it's worked out really well for both guys."
McAvoy, in particular, has taken a massive leap since the NHL's restart. Through nine games, the 22-year-old is averaging 24:56 of ice time, over three minutes more than anyone else on the Bruins' roster. The 2016 first-round pick has become a force that Cassidy and assistant coach Kevin Dean can rely on heavily in any situation.
"On the ice you're seeing a bit of the passing of the torch now," said Cassidy. "Charlie is playing more minutes, playing in all situations, things that Zee did years ago in his prime. So, that's an interesting dynamic as well, how they help each other, and there's really no competition in that regard. Maybe like a big brother, little brother kind of thing."
McAvoy, now a veteran of 184 regular-season games and 50 playoff contests, has relished the chance to play alongside Chara and learn from the 22-year vetran for nearly every one of those games, dating back to when he entered the league during the first round against Ottawa in 2017.
"It's something that I've absolutely not taken for granted at all. I consider myself extremely lucky to learn under this guy," said McAvoy, who turned to Chara with a smile and playfully blew a kiss following his answer during a joint press conference on Monday.
"He's as good as anyone in the entire league to learn under. I've learned so many lessons on the ice, off the ice. Something I don't take for granted, I'm extremely blessed and fortunate to learn under this guy and have him as a friend and a teammate."

Chara knew from the moment McAvoy arrived in Ottawa in April 2017 to play alongside him that there was an endless amount of potential. And he believes the growth of his partner's game is just beginning.
"I think that Charlie made an impact right away when he got called up for the playoffs in Ottawa," said Chara. "His abilities to see plays on the ice, his abilities to skate with the puck, defend, contribute offensively, it just keeps getting better and better.
"He's becoming an elite defenseman and player in this league. You can see that he's getting more and more ice time, he's getting the key, crucial situations in the games to make a difference. He just keeps getting better and better."
And while McAvoy has increasingly taken on more responsibility, Chara has not seen any change in the dynamic between the two of them.
"It really doesn't," he said. "You read off of each other. When you play together for a longer period of time you kind of pick up habits even without looking. You know where your partner is gonna be. We try to communicate as much as we can on the ice. We read off of each other and learn each other's strengths and weaknesses."
Despite his uptick in minutes and stature, McAvoy - like Chara has so often done over the years - deflected most of the praise that came his way, instead flipping the focus on the efforts of his teammates.
"I think any success we have as a team is by committee," said McAvoy, while noting that he has never worried about conserving energy with the rise in playing time. "It's always been like that. It's never one person who goes out and singlehandedly wins a game. Everyone pulls on the rope, especially in the playoffs. Regardless of whatever the ice time is, everyone plays a pivotal role in the game. Whatever it is, I try to play hard every shift."
With Chara and Patrice Bergeron at the top, that is the exact type of attitude that has permeated through the Bruins' dressing room for well over a decade and helped them remain one of the league's top teams through a coaching change and the countless other alterations that have occured both on and off the ice.
"The word would be grateful, grateful to have his leadership, grateful to have his abilities on the ice, grateful to have a guy I can talk to about hockey and off-ice situations, how to best deal with what's going on with the group," said Cassidy. "I'm grateful to have his respect, I think it's a mutual respect, and I think it's worked well for both of us."

Opposing View

Per Tampa coach Jon Cooper, the Lightning will be without defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who was injured during the third period of Game 1, on Tuesday night. "Didn't skate today, not playing tonight," said Cooper, who did not reveal which player would sub in for McDonagh for Game 2 (7 p.m. ET on NBCSN and 98.5 The Sports Hub).

Tuesday's Projected Lineup

Cassidy confirmed on Tuesday morning that there will be no lineup changes for the Bruins.
FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Ondrej Kase
Nick Ritchie - Charlie Coyle - Anders Bjork
Joakim Nordstrom - Sean Kuraly - Chris Wagner
DEFENSEMEN
Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk - Connor Clifton
GOALIES
Jaroslav Halak
Daniel Vladar
Scratches:Karson Kuhlman, Jeremy Lauzon, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Jack Studnicka.