Image Credit: WHL

By CKPG Today

cougars

Former Prince George Cougar and Stanley Cup champ Zdeno Chara named to IIHF Hall of Fame

Jan 3, 2025 | 11:05 AM

CALGARY — The WHL has announced that Former Prince George Cougars defenceman Zdeno Chara has been named to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame class of 2025.

The Stanley Cup champion will be inducted on medal day at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden on May 25, 2025.

In a statement from the WHL, it highlights Chara’s hockey career including his time with the Prince George Cougars:

“[They] had recently moved to Prince George, B.C. at the time, promptly selecting the towering blueliner with the sixth overall pick in the 1996 CHL Import Draft. At 19 years old, Chara packed his bag to make the jump to North America. Chara was so tall, the Cougars had to sew parts of multiple jerseys together to make them long enough, then-Head Coach Stan Butler later revealed.”

“I knew that it would take me a while to adjust to the culture and the language and all those things,” Chara recalled in an interview with Sportsnet focusing on his time in the Northern Capital. “You create friendships for life and that’s something you can only wish for.”

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He logged three goals and 19 assists for 22 points and 120 penalty minutes in 49 games and quickly picked up the now-famous nickname, ‘Big Z’.

Chara played with four teams in the NHL, including the New York Islanders, the Ottawa Senators and most notably with the Boston Bruins, winning the 2011 Stanley Cup against the Vancouver Canucks.

Chara joins players Henrik Lundqvist (SWE), Frans Nielsen (DEN), David Vyborny (CZE), Kim Martin-Hasson (SWE) and Vicky Sunohara (CAN), as well as builder Kai Hietarinta (FIN) in the IIHF Hall of Fame class of 2025.