Zdeno Chara, Bobby Orr to “throw out” 1st Winter Classic puck!

He's the tallest player to have ever suited up in the National Hockey League, and you can bet that the Stanley Cup was never raised higher by a single human on skates as it was on June 15, 2011 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver as the Boston Bruins celebrated their first title since the days of Bobby Orr in the 1970s. 

Zdeno Chara made the decision to call it a career this summer after having set the record as the NHL's all-time leader in games played by a defenseman with 1,680. He also won the Norris Trophy in 2009 as the League's top defenseman. 

Chara's former team in the Bruins will be taking on the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on January 2 at historic Fenway Park, the home of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox for the 2023 NHL Winter Classic. And for the special occasion, it will be both Orr and Chara alongside Johnny Bucyk and will be joined by with ex-Rod Sox players Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield who will "throw out" the first puck on diamond-shaped auxiliary rink! 

"There's a baseball diamond uniquely made out of ice," said NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer. "We're going to get slightly unique with how we present the puck drop, or the first pitch, we'll do a little bit of a combination. There will be Red Sox alumni, Bruins alumni and we're going to feature Bobby Orr."

"Admittedly, we're getting to a point where we're going to have to visit some of these incredible ballparks again," Mayer said. "This one was on the top of our list.

"The Bruins are right now playing incredible hockey. This is going to be a great game, the Bruins and the Penguins to start off the new year. Fenway Park. It doesn't get much better than this."