Zdeno Chara Zdeno Chára ( ; born March 18 , 1977 ) is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenseman . He is the captain of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) and won the Norris Trophy while playing for them in 2008 – 09 . At 6 ft 9 ( 2 . 06 m ) , he is the tallest player ever to play in the NHL . He is also the second European born and trained captain to win the Stanley Cup . Playing career . New York Islanders ( 1997 – 2001 ) . Chára was drafted 56th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft . After four seasons with the Islanders , he was traded to the Ottawa Senators during the 2001 NHL Entry Draft . Chára was part of a package deal with Bill Muckalt and the second overall pick in that year ' s draft ( Jason Spezza ) that sent Alexei Yashin to New York . Ottawa Senators ( 2001 – 2006 ) . As a Senator for four years , Chára emerged as an elite defenseman in the league and more than doubled his previous offensive totals in his first season with Ottawa . In his second season with the team , 2002 – 03 , Chára made his first All - Star Game appearance and recorded the second hardest shot behind Al MacInnis in the skills competition . The next season , in addition to posting 16 goals and 41 points , Chára recorded the league ' s third highest plus / minus , behind Martin St . Louis and Marek Malík , culminating into his first Norris Trophy nomination . Although he would lose to Scott Niedermayer as the league ' s best defenseman , he would join Niedermayer on the NHL First All - Star Team . After the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , in which Chára played in the Swedish Elitserien for Färjestads BK , he matched his previous NHL season ' s 16 - goal total and increased to 56 points , good enough for NHL Second All - Star Team honours . As Chára did not come to terms on a new contract with Ottawa , he became an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2005 – 06 . Boston Bruins ( 2006 – present ) . Subsequently , on July 1 , 2006 , he signed a five - year , $ 37 . 5 million contract with the Boston Bruins and was named the team ' s captain , a role left vacant since Joe Thornton ' s departure during the 2005 – 06 season . He became only the third Slovak - born NHL player to become a team captain , after Peter Šťastný of the Quebec Nordiques and Stan Mikita ( co - captain ) of the Chicago Blackhawks . He was named to the 2007 All - Star Game , his second appearance , in Dallas and scored two goals in an 12 – 9 Eastern Conference loss . Chára also won the hardest shot segment of the preceding skills competition , clocking a shot at 100 . 4 mph . In 2008 , he was voted in as a starter in the All - Star Game for the first time in his career and repeated as the winner of the hardest shot competition , recording an even - faster 103 . 1 mph ( 166 km / h ) on the radar gun . On March 8 , 2008 , during a game against the Washington Capitals , Chára suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder . However , after missing five games , he played the remainder of the season including the playoffs . Upon a first - round elimination at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens , he underwent a shoulder operation on April 29 . At the end of the season , Chára received his second nomination for the Norris Trophy after tallying a career - high 17 goals , 34 assists and 51 points , marking the fifth straight season he had either matched or bested his previous season ' s points total . In 2008 – 09 , Chára was named to his fourth All - Star Game . As back - to - back champion of the hardest shot competition , Chára initiated a charity drive among the participants ( $ 1 , 000 per player ) to go to the charity of choice of the competition ' s winner . Having raised $ 24 , 000 from the six competitors and their respective teams , the NHL and the NHLPA , Chára set a new Skills Competition record , with a 105 . 4 mph ( 169 . 7 km / h ) slapshot . He donated the winnings to Right to Play . The shot passed Al Iafrate ' s previous record - making 105 . 2 mph ( 169 . 3 km / h ) slapper from just over a decade earlier . Then , at the 2011 NHL All - Star Game in Raleigh , North Carolina , he eclipsed his previous record with a shot clocked at 105 . 9 mph ( 170 . 43 km / h ) . He won the Norris Trophy for the 2008 – 09 season , beating out Mike Green of the Washington Capitals and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings . On October 9 , 2010 , Chara re - signed with the Bruins with a 7 - year deal . On January 17 , 2011 , Chara recorded his first career hat trick against the Carolina Hurricanes to make it a 7 – 0 final . He celebrated the feat by performing fellow Slovak star Peter Bondra ' s celebration , where he mocked throwing a hat into the air . On June 15 , 2011 , Chara captained the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup against the Vancouver Canucks for the first time since 1972 . On March 8 , 2011 , Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty suffered an injury following a hit by Chara . The force and location of the hit resulted in Pacioretty colliding with the stanchion at the end of the bench . He was taken off the ice on a stretcher . The extent of the injury was revealed the next day to be a non - displaced fracture to the 4th vertebra and a severe concussion . For delivering the hit Chara received a five - minute major penalty and a game misconduct , and videotape of the play was sent to NHL VP of hockey operations Mike Murphy for review . Mike Murphy decided no further punishment was warranted . However , a criminal investigation was announced by the Montreal police . On November 17 , 2011 , the Crown Prosecutor Office announced that Chara would not be criminally charged . Personal life . Before he was drafted in the NHL , back in Slovakia , his coaches told him that he was better off playing basketball instead , due to his great size . Zdeno Chára married his long - time girlfriend Tatiana Biskupicová on July 14 , 2007 , in a Catholic church in Nemšová , Slovakia . Tatiana gave birth to the couple ' s first child , daughter Elliz Victoria Chára ( or Chárová ) on April 27 , 2009 . His father , Zdenek , was a Greco - Roman wrestler who competed for Czechoslovakia in the 1976 Summer Olympics . Chára is an Athletic Ambassador for Right to Play . In July 2008 , he spent two weeks in Africa , going to Mozambique in support of the charity , and then climbing Mt . Kilimanjaro with fellow NHL player Robyn Regehr . Chára speaks seven languages : Slovak , Czech , Polish , Swedish , Russian , German , and English . International play . Chára has played for Slovakia in the following international competitions :