Zdeno Chara is, reasonably and biologically, old enough to be Charlie McAvoy's father.
"I don't think of it like that, you know?" said McAvoy, 19, of his 40-year-old defense partner on the Boston Bruins. "He's just a hockey player."
That is true. For 20 seasons, Chara has been one of the NHL's most dominating and intimidating defensemen -- a 6-foot-9 man mountain who won the Norris Trophy in 2008-09 and was a finalist for the award on four other occasions. He has a pterodactyl's wingspan and velociraptor's comportment, with 1,800 career penalty minutes.