While we’ve seen Max Pacioretty make his return to the ice with Montreal recently, the other half of the equation from their terrible incident back in March, Zdeno Chara, might be making an appearance in Montreal on Monday.
The Bruins have back-to-back games against Montreal coming up with one in Nova Scotia on Sunday night and the other in Montreal on Monday. Chara will be playing in one of those games. Could the Bruins actually suit him up in Montreal? Yes, they could and for Chara he tells CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty that he looks forward to playing in front of the crazy fans in Quebec.
Canadiens fans are sure to disagree with Chara about how that play with Pacioretty went down and they certainly don’t like how he plays the game, but that’s what happens in a rivalry. The great players on the opposing team are hated and Chara is most certainly Public Enemy #1 in Montreal.
You might wonder why the Bruins would potentially invite that sort of spectacle to a preseason game. Fact is, no matter when Chara plays in Montreal the game is going to be some kind of wild spectacle. Getting it out of the way in a preseason game will at least make that first game in the regular season a bit less of a zoo.
Getting Chara locked in and focused for the start of the season probably isn’t necessary, but giving him his first taste of the hate that will be rained down upon him in Montreal would certainly serve to be a hell of a way to get the competitive fire lit for the Bruins captain.