Zdeno Chara humiliates the entire 2011 Canucks roster with brutal allegations

Defenseman Zdeno Chara might have retired, he’s not done getting under the skin of other hockey players. Losing the 2011 Stanley Cup still hurts Vancouver Canucks’ fans and what Chara had to say as he revisited the heated series in an interview with Julian Edelman and Sam Morril on the Games with Names podcast won’t be painless.

The retired player made some stunning allegations concerning the 2011 Canucks roster. Chara claimed that the Canucks players began practising how they would celebrate winning the Stanley Cup, after winning the first two games in Vancouver.

“After losing two games in Vancouver, we saw players from Vancouver coming on the ice in the Garden, and they were actually practising how they would be lifting the Cup and handing off the Cup to each other,” Chara said. “And we found out about these things and we were like ‘fuck this, we are not going to allow this to happen.’ It just fuelled us.”

Chara also revealed how he heard rumours of Canucks players making arrangements with the league for family players to come to Boston, assuming they would win the championship there after winning Game 5 in Vancouver 1-0. Though he called his second claim a “rumour” and couldn’t remember after which game the question came up.

“We heard about a few things. There were some rumours that they called the league and they were asking, I believe it was after… I don’t know what game it was… they were calling the league and asking how many people or family members they can take on the ice after they win the championship,” Chara added. “We found out about these things… For us that was a huge huge motivation.”

Vancouver lost Game 6 in Boston 5-2, and Game 7 at home by a score of 4-0.

If I go back 11 years in time, it was never mentioned anywhere that the Canucks were putting up such antics, especially since practices are open to the media.

Ever since, the rivalry between the Canucks and the Bruins has been quite intense, and this is not expected to tame it.
Players from the 2011 Canucks’ roster are still heavily affected by the loss. Three years ago, Ryan Kesler spoke candidly about the 2011 loss on Sportsnet 650, and opened up about how hard that summer was.

“After that 2011 year, it affects you mentally, it affects you personally. I remember coming to the rink the next year and walking into [Rogers Arena] and all the memories just come back to you. It was hard walking into that arena because every time you stepped in, I always get that Game 7 loss back into my head.”

Chara ain’t helping here…

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