Former Cougar Zdeno Chara Named NHL's Top D-Man

Feature Stories 2008-09

Jun 18 2009

Former Cougar Zdeno Chara Named NHL's Top D-Man by Andy Neal

Former Cougar Zdeno Chara Named NHL's Top D-Man For the first time, a former member of the Prince George Cougars is a winner at the NHL’s annual year end awards ceremony. Zdeno Chara, a Cougar blue-liner during the 1996-97 season, captured the Norris trophy at the NHL’s awards gala in Las Vegas, NV, as the NHL’s top defenceman. Chara, the 6’9" captain of the Boston Bruins, was nominated for the award once before in 2004 when he played for the Ottawa Senators. Chara recorded 19 goals and 50 points during the 2008-09 NHL regular season, finishing 12th in scoring among NHL rear guards. The product of Trencin, Czech Republic was voted the Norris trophy winner ahead of Detroit Red Wing captain Nicklas Lidstrom, the Norris winner the last three years and six of the past seven years, and Mike Green of the Washington Capitals, who led the NHL with 31 goals. During his acceptance speech, Chara sent a message to all youth hockey players "I would like to follow up on what Pavel Datsyuk said earlier [about how young players should never quit trying]. I wasn’t supposed to make it past juniors … to all those kids who’ve been cut, it’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it and put in the hard work." In his only season with the Cougars in ’96-’97, Chara had 3 goals 22 points in 49 regular season games, collecting 120 penalty minutes. In the Cougars run to the Western Conference finals in the 1997 WHL playoffs, Chara had 1 goal and 8 assists in 15 games.
>Print^Top