Ice hockey is one of the most popular sports in the world. The US has its own NHL which comprise of various teams such as St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators. A number of people go down to the stadium to catch a game of ice-hockey. The thrill of seeing players on ice-skates passing around a puck using hockey sticks is like none other.

Zdeno Chara is the tallest hockey player in the history of the game. At 6’9’, he has to field questions about his height and profession almost every other day. The three questions that he regularly faces are how tall he is, whether he is a basketball player and his parents were very tall. He has joked that he will wear a hat that says ‘œ6’9’, No, No’ to put queries to rest!

Some of the interesting facts about Zdeno Chara are:

Born in Trencin in Czechoslovakia to Viktoria and ZdenekChara, in 1977, he has grown up in an environment of communism.

He started training in hockey at the age of 13 under his father who is also a Greco-Roman wrestler and coaches the national team of Slovakia in the sport.

His father had competed in the Greco Roman wrestling sport in the 1976 Olympics.

Chara was encouraged to take up basketball as a sport as he was considered to be too tall for hockey.

He even considered a career as a bouncer.

His routine for practice included laps of running in the morning before breakfast, weight lifting in the basement after it and cycling at night. His father had installed an iron bar on the branches of a tree in their orchard. Every time he passed the bar, he would have to do ten pull ups on them. The training used to take a toll on him and he would often end up crying. But now, he understands the reasons for which his father put him through the training.

In 2006, he had signed a 5 year long contract with the Boston Bruins for $37.5 million. They also named him captain of the team. Prior to it, he played with the Ottawa Senators.

As a member of the Boston Bruins, he plays in the position of defence and is one of their star players. Overall, he has been playing for the past 15 years or so.

ZdenoChara is interested in knowing more about the world. He is well versed in 4 international languages viz. English, German, Russian and Czech. He has a degree in finance that he obtained online and plans to study Spanish.

For the Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi, Russia, he has been chosen as the flag bearer for Slovakia in the opening ceremony, to which he has consented.

He had to excuse himself from the games against Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues in the weekend to fulfil his duties as flag bearer.
Over the years of his career, he has proven to be one of the most dependable and talented ice hockey players. He has also helped the Boston Bruins win several laurels in tournaments such as the Stanley Cup.