More than four years after playing his last professional hockey game in the spring of 2022, Zdeno Chara’s hometown – Trencin, Slovakia – honoured the tallest player ever to play in the NHL with a farewell game on Friday night. The event was called “Zee’s Last Shift” and gave Chara a chance to lace up the skates one last time.
“It was an incredibly emotional experience,” the 2025 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee told gathered media after the game. “I’m so glad I was able to spend such an amazing evening with my former teammates, friends and sons. It was unforgettable.”
Trencin showed what a great hockey city it is back in April when it hosted the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship at Pavol Demitra Ice Stadium, which also hosted this event. The Trencin fans never got a chance to give the arena’s namesake, who tragically died in the 2011 Avangard Omsk plane crash, a proper send-off, but they relished the chance to so for another favourite native son.
“I will remember it for a long time,” said Chara, who left Trencin at age 18 to play briefly in Czechia before embarking on a long career in North America. A lot of the friends he made over that time were at the game on Friday, which allowed, according to Chara, “all the players from overseas saw how great Trencin is.”
The game featured teams representing Boston and the World, with uniforms that combined the Bruins’ black, gold and white colour scheme with Dukla Trencin’s maroon and gold. Chara played the first period for the World team and the rest of the game for Boston. In the third period, he was joined by his twin 10-year-old sons Zach and Ben.
Lots of stars on the ice
The World team featured Tomas Kaberle, Andrej Sekera, Radek Hamr, Aaron Ward, Thomas Vanek, Marian Hossa, Anze Kopitar, Robert Reichel, Jaromir Jagr, Michal Handzus, Zigmund Palffy, and current Hockey Slovakia president Miroslav Satan. The coaches were Peter Bondra, Jergus Baca and another Trencin native, Marian Gaborik.
In goal for the World team was retired Czech football legend Petr Cech, who briefly played competitive ice hockey in the United Kingdom and prepared for this game by training this summer with Sparta Prague, the hockey team.
“What a great event for a great person and a champion,” said the recently retired Kopitar, who played for many years against Chara but got a chance to be his teammate at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. “He deserves all of it. He’s so humble, he’s always a team guy, and for once, he was in the spotlight. The fans were great, the city of Trencin has been absolutely great, so I’m extremely excited to be a part of it.”
The Boston team featured a collection of former Bruins, ranging in age from David Pastrnak – the only active player to take part – to 65-year-old Raymond Bourque. The other ex-Bruins, most of whom were members of the 2011 Stanley Cup championship team that Chara captained, included Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference, Adam McQuaid, Mark Recchi, Jozef Stumpel, Patrice Bergeron, Michael Ryder, Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic, with Jaroslav Halak in goal. The Boston team’s coaches were Tim Thomas, Matt Keator and Jakub Voracek.
“I feel very lucky that I was able to share the locker room for 14 years with him,” said Bergeron, who followed Chara into the IIHF Hall of Fame this year. “I was 21 years old when he came in (to Boston in 2006). I was still young and needed to get his guidance, I guess, and learn from him. It was a nice bond over time.”
Boston won the game as fans saw 21 goals
Bergeron got the game off to a flying start at the 17-second mark by scoring on a breakaway, beating Cech on a forehand deke. As is so often the case with these types of events, this game was all about the scoring, with Boston winning 13-8.
Pastrnak seemed to make an effort not to embarrass everyone else on the ice but still managed to score twice and made the most memorable play of the game when he picked off a clearing attempt by Kaberle and scored on a shot between his own legs.
There were reminders that this was August hockey – the old barn filled to capacity with over 7,000 fans on a humid day created a fog issue, requiring the players to skate laps around the rink several times on stoppages. Players faces were soaked in sweat and Halak was shown during a break holding an ice bag to his head.
“Me and Jaro Halak had a really hard time, as it was foggy and warm, but it’s such an honour for me to play with these legends of the hockey world,” said 44-year-old Cech, a lifelong hockey fan who is better known to fans for his years playing football for Chelsea and Arsenal in the English Premier League, but got to know Chara at Martin Havlat’s farewell game in 2017. “The most important thing was that the event was a success and that people enjoyed it.”
As is tradition at Dukla home games, the Trencin fans rose to their feet in the 38th minute – to signify Demitra’s number – and saluted their fallen hero. Following that, the fans remained standing to honour the memory of Zdenek Chara, Zdeno’s father, a former competitive wrestler who passed away a few months ago.
“My father was a huge sports fan and athlete,” said Chara. “He gave his heart to sports and he really wanted to see this live. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to see it.”
After the game and all the ovations were over, Chara symbolically took off his skates and left them at centre ice.
“It was an incredibly emotional experience,” the 2025 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee told gathered media after the game. “I’m so glad I was able to spend such an amazing evening with my former teammates, friends and sons. It was unforgettable.”
Trencin showed what a great hockey city it is back in April when it hosted the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship at Pavol Demitra Ice Stadium, which also hosted this event. The Trencin fans never got a chance to give the arena’s namesake, who tragically died in the 2011 Avangard Omsk plane crash, a proper send-off, but they relished the chance to so for another favourite native son.
“I will remember it for a long time,” said Chara, who left Trencin at age 18 to play briefly in Czechia before embarking on a long career in North America. A lot of the friends he made over that time were at the game on Friday, which allowed, according to Chara, “all the players from overseas saw how great Trencin is.”
The game featured teams representing Boston and the World, with uniforms that combined the Bruins’ black, gold and white colour scheme with Dukla Trencin’s maroon and gold. Chara played the first period for the World team and the rest of the game for Boston. In the third period, he was joined by his twin 10-year-old sons Zach and Ben.
Lots of stars on the ice
The World team featured Tomas Kaberle, Andrej Sekera, Radek Hamr, Aaron Ward, Thomas Vanek, Marian Hossa, Anze Kopitar, Robert Reichel, Jaromir Jagr, Michal Handzus, Zigmund Palffy, and current Hockey Slovakia president Miroslav Satan. The coaches were Peter Bondra, Jergus Baca and another Trencin native, Marian Gaborik.
In goal for the World team was retired Czech football legend Petr Cech, who briefly played competitive ice hockey in the United Kingdom and prepared for this game by training this summer with Sparta Prague, the hockey team.
“What a great event for a great person and a champion,” said the recently retired Kopitar, who played for many years against Chara but got a chance to be his teammate at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. “He deserves all of it. He’s so humble, he’s always a team guy, and for once, he was in the spotlight. The fans were great, the city of Trencin has been absolutely great, so I’m extremely excited to be a part of it.”
The Boston team featured a collection of former Bruins, ranging in age from David Pastrnak – the only active player to take part – to 65-year-old Raymond Bourque. The other ex-Bruins, most of whom were members of the 2011 Stanley Cup championship team that Chara captained, included Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference, Adam McQuaid, Mark Recchi, Jozef Stumpel, Patrice Bergeron, Michael Ryder, Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic, with Jaroslav Halak in goal. The Boston team’s coaches were Tim Thomas, Matt Keator and Jakub Voracek.
“I feel very lucky that I was able to share the locker room for 14 years with him,” said Bergeron, who followed Chara into the IIHF Hall of Fame this year. “I was 21 years old when he came in (to Boston in 2006). I was still young and needed to get his guidance, I guess, and learn from him. It was a nice bond over time.”
Boston won the game as fans saw 21 goals
Bergeron got the game off to a flying start at the 17-second mark by scoring on a breakaway, beating Cech on a forehand deke. As is so often the case with these types of events, this game was all about the scoring, with Boston winning 13-8.
Pastrnak seemed to make an effort not to embarrass everyone else on the ice but still managed to score twice and made the most memorable play of the game when he picked off a clearing attempt by Kaberle and scored on a shot between his own legs.
There were reminders that this was August hockey – the old barn filled to capacity with over 7,000 fans on a humid day created a fog issue, requiring the players to skate laps around the rink several times on stoppages. Players faces were soaked in sweat and Halak was shown during a break holding an ice bag to his head.
“Me and Jaro Halak had a really hard time, as it was foggy and warm, but it’s such an honour for me to play with these legends of the hockey world,” said 44-year-old Cech, a lifelong hockey fan who is better known to fans for his years playing football for Chelsea and Arsenal in the English Premier League, but got to know Chara at Martin Havlat’s farewell game in 2017. “The most important thing was that the event was a success and that people enjoyed it.”
As is tradition at Dukla home games, the Trencin fans rose to their feet in the 38th minute – to signify Demitra’s number – and saluted their fallen hero. Following that, the fans remained standing to honour the memory of Zdenek Chara, Zdeno’s father, a former competitive wrestler who passed away a few months ago.
“My father was a huge sports fan and athlete,” said Chara. “He gave his heart to sports and he really wanted to see this live. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to see it.”
After the game and all the ovations were over, Chara symbolically took off his skates and left them at centre ice.