Oh Shit: Bruins Lose Captain Zdeno Chara For 4-6 Weeks Due To Knee Injury In Loss To Isles

10/24/2014 3:59 PM

In each of the last two playoffs, the Bruins and their fans got a look at what the team looks like with an injured Zdeno Chara playing for them. Though game, he wasn’t nearly as effective in his role as a shutdown D and the Bruins suffered for it. Last night, they got a look at a future with no Chara and it was “U-G-L-Y, you ain’t got no alibi” ugly.

The towering perennial Norris candidate delivered a nice, thumping hit on Isles captain John Tavares a little more than halfway through the first and looked no worse for the wear. But after taking another shift, he left for the room and never returned. After the game, TSN’s Aaron Ward, who is obviously very wired into the Bruins front office, Tweeted his update that Z would be out due to a “suspected left knee ligament injury” for “4 to 6 weeks at which time they’ll evaluate need for surgery or not.” [Update: the Bruins just confirmed that he has a tear in the posterior cruciate ligament in the left knee that did in fact happen on Tavares hit. Per Bruins Twitter, PC said right now, surgery is not a likely option for Chara. “but anything can happen with anything. I can’t give you a 100% statement”.]

And with that news, Bruins fans reached for their official 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Barf Bags and promptly threw up their $10 Bud Lights. Not good. If he needs surgery, that’ll suck because of the time he’ll miss. If he doesn’t, that’ll suck because he’ll be playing on a potentially bum knee. Oh yeah, and he’ll be 38 in March. Either way, we’re getting a look at what this team will eventually look like and it’s not pleasant to look at.

Without Z, the Bruins were an absolute mess in the last two periods last night, unable to get the puck out of their own zone and constantly behind the play. Matt Bartkowski continues to be a train wreck in his own end. Kevan Miller is out for awhile with a dislocated shoulder. Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid are still playing off the rust from long layoffs. And Johnny Boychuk’s loss stings even more now than it did a few weeks ago.

This morning, the team recalled Zach Trotman and Joe Morrow but obviously neither is anything close to Chara. So the Bs went from the “problem” of having too many defenseman to possibly needing to make a move to solidify the D corps if they can’t/don’t step up in Chara’s absence. Such is life in the world of sports.

In the just 20 games Z has missed as a Bruin, the team went 8-7-5. They’ll need to tread water right around .500 just to hang around the playoff race. Because though it’s still early, the Bruins are already on the outside looking in. Anything worse than that could see them fall further out of the race. If they continue to play like they did last night, yikes. But these guys deserve the benefit of the doubt so let’s see what they do first. Suddenly, this season just took an unexpected turn with an unsure future.

Hey, maybe Commie can help out.