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Chara suffered fractured ankle, will miss Worlds

Boston Bruins v Buffalo Sabres

BUFFALO, NY - OCTOBER 18: Zdeno Chara #33 of the Boston Bruins skates against the Buffalo Sabres on October 18, 2014 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara reportedly suffered a fractured ankle late in the regular season, an injury that will sideline him for the upcoming World Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic.

Update: The Bruins announced that he specifically suffered a non-displaced fracture to his left fibula and will take about a month to recover. Here’s the full statement:

The Boston Bruins announced today, Tuesday, April 21 the following injury update: defenseman Zdeno Chara has a non-displaced fracture of his left fibula and the recovery time is approximately four weeks from today. The injury will not require surgery.

According to Slovakian news outlet Sport.sme, Team Slovak head coach Vladimir Vujtek has already ruled the towering d-man out of the tournament, which will run from May 1-17. While details are scarce as to the actual injury, it’s possible Chara fractured the ankle while blocking a shot against Toronto in the Bruins’ fourth-last game of the year.

If that’s the case, it’s fairly remarkable -- Chara proceeded to play in the final three games of the season, playing at least 23 minutes in each.

This is the latest in what’s been a rough campaign, health-wise, for the 38-year-old (that turns 39 in May.) Chara earlier suffered a permanently torn PCL that left him at less than 100 percent for a good portion of the season; despite that, he still appeared in 63 games and averaged over 23 minutes per night.