Chara Talks About Facing Montreal For The First Time Since Pacioretty Hit

Added on Mar 23, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

There is already a tense rivalry between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, but its going to have a different twist on it on Thrusday night at the TD Garden. This is the first time the teams will meet on the ice since Zdeno Chara’s hit Max Pacioretty and sent shockwaves through the NHL.

It all started on March 8 at the Bell Centre when Chara tried to check Pacioretty into the boards and he ended up going head first into a metal stranchion between the two benches. After the NHL announced that they wouldn’t suspend Chara, the police in Montreal launched an investigation, major sponsors threatened to walk, and some hockey fans were furious.

Chara said he reached out to Pacioretty, but didn’t get a reply. He said “I’ve made a few attempts (to contact Pacioretty), but he hasn’t responded back yet. So far, nothing. I’m glad he’s doing much better and he’s probably going to be playing based on the reports that we’ve heard. I’m glad he’s going to be fine. That’s good news.” The news came out late last week that Pacioretty was recovering quickly, and may even be ready for the playoffs. When asked if he thought there would be retaliation for the Pacioretty, Chara just said “we’ll see.”

Chara went on to make a very interesting point about how there was a good chance they would be seeing a lot of Montreal in the post season. He said “If you look at the standings, it looks like (Bruins-Canadiens) could be the (playoff) matchup, so we’ll see what’s going to happen in the next 10 games.” He concluded with talking about how important these games are going to be for everyone, “We all know it’s a big game for both teams. The rivalry is there and the competition is there. We just need to focus on our game and establish what we’re working on in the last game. We’re focusing on our game. The Canadiens have a lot of skill and speed up front, and they’re very good system-wise. It’s tough to play against teams like that. You have to be in control. It’s part of the game to be emotional and play with a lot of jump, but you have to keep a lot of it bottled up and not let emotions take over your game.”