Even big guys like Zdeno Chara have to worry about head shots

You’d think that being the biggest guy in the NHL would make life a little bit easier for you. For Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, he’s bigger than most everyone else in the league by a long stretch and with the league’s new rule regarding blows to the head and blindside hits, the infamous Rule 48, Chara being as large as he is puts him at a physical disadvantage because other players heads are at elbow and shoulder level for him.

For Chara, however, he’s got other problems with the league rule. He’s worried about his own health as even his head is in danger out on the ice. Matt Kalman of The Bruins Blog tells us about how Chara tries to keep everything balanced out to keep himself and others safe out on the ice.

“As far as my height, maybe I’m a taller guy, my head isn’t in a danger zone, knock on wood,” Chara told TheBruinsBlog.net during a chat about Rule 48 Tuesday after his team’s practice. “But at the same time, you’d be surprised how many times I go to hit guys and I run into them with their heads. That happened the other night when I went to hit [St. Louis’ T.J.] Oshie in the corner. I went to hit him, he leaned in, and boom I got it right in the chin. I fell down because that knocked me down. So people don’t see it, but when you go and hit smaller guys and they lean … I got it right on my chin, I went down. It’s one of those things that sometimes the height is not always an advantage.”

I’ll admit, it’s tough to have sympathy for a guy as big as Chara. It’d be really hypocritical for us to feel bad for the 6'9" Chara and then sit here and keep poking fun at the 6'6" Chris Pronger each time he says that his height causes him to hit guys in questionable ways. Of course, Chara doesn’t have the same questionable history either.

It’s fascinating to see him discuss about how to keep himself safe from other players when trying to play physically and it’s something we don’t keep in mind when we see guys throwing the body around. Chara isn’t known as a guy that goes out of his way to make a big hit, but when he connects it’s like a force of nature. As long as he keeps the elbows tucked in he won’t have to worry about landing on Colin Campbell’s radar. After all, if someone’s going to hit Chara shoulder-to-shoulder they’re going to have to hope he’s already down on his knees.