Zdeno Chara has been a star player in the National Hockey League for several years now. Currently, he's a member of the Washington Capitals. He's also considered one of the greatest ice hockey players ever to hail from what is now Slovakia. It's a region steeped in tradition and history of the sport, so the distinction is remarkable.
Chara is also the tallest person on record to have played in the NHL. His height led to him receiving a special waiver from the league. It allows him to use hockey sticks that are longer than league regulations normally allow.
A new batch of sticks meant for Chara recently a journey that was different than was intended.
Sent to New Jersey
A New Jersey man named Ariel Ben-Abraham is apparently used to having packages shipped to him. On February 1, three packages were delivered to him by FedEx; two of them had been expected. But the third one was a bit of a different story.
When he opened it, he found a shipment of very large hockey sticks. About 17 to 20 of them, indicates Yahoo. He would eventually discover that the hockey sticks in question were designed and meant for Zdeno Chara.
CBS reports that the package was supposed to go to the Washington Capitals practice facility located in Arlington, Virginia. More specifically, to the Capitals' equipment manager.
Ben-Abraham posted about his surprise shipment on social media. He said he wanted word of the lost sticks to make it directly to Chara and the Capitals. Rather than trying to work through the shipment company. His tactics were apparently effective. The manufacturer, True Hockey, is to have the sticks picked up and brought to the correct location.
The sticks in question are a very new type called Project X. So fresh that they haven't yet been made available to the general public. This load is to be the second sent to Chara, after an earlier one last month.
Chara was the longtime captain of the Boston Bruins
After playing professionally in Europe, Chara was selected by the New York Islands in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.
He would make his NHL debut with the Islanders. After a brief return to Slovakia, he joined the NHL's Ottawa Senators. Eventually, he went to the Boston Bruins. Throughout his tenure with the team, the team captain helped them win the 2011 Stanely Cup Finals. The Bruins also made two other Stanley Cup Finals while Chara was a member of the team.
In 2009, Chara received the James Norris Memorial Trophy and joined two years later by the Mark Messier Leadership Award. He's been named to 13 All-Star teams. During NHL lockouts, he had brief stints in the Swedish Hockey League and the Kontinental Hockey League.
Chara has been a longtime member of the Slovakian national team. He is helping them win silver medals at the World Championships twice.
Chara's played in three Olympics with the Slovakian team. In 2014, he was the country's flag bearer.
His father, Zdenek Chara, was a dominant Greco-Roman wrestler in Czechoslovakia. He was also an Olympian, competing at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
