TORONTO — Zdeno Chara’s tower of terror routine is antiquated. It’s old, dated.
Once a fearsome figure on the blue line, the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder from Slovakia is in the cooldown stage of a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
There’s no counterargument to be made.
Despite the dip in on-ice performance, Chara, an alternate captain for Team Europe here at the World Cup of Hockey, still is a cultural behemoth, someone admired by seemingly everyone in the sport.
“He’s definitely been a tower in more ways than his physical presence,” Europe coach Ralph Krueger gushed earlier this week.