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It was an unusually rough year for Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

In a season in which the Black and Gold missed the postseason for the first time since 2007, and for just the second time in Chara’s nine years with the ‘C’, the 38-year-old missed 19 games (by far the most since coming to Boston in 2006) with a torn PCL in his right knee.

The year ended just as rough for Chara, too, as the Bruins have announced that Chara has suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left fibula, an injury that requires a four-week recovery. The injury will also keep Chara from suiting up for Slovakia in the World Championships in Prague this spring.

Although the Black and Gold did not say when the injury occurred, common sense and reasoning seems to suggest that it happened on Chara’s sliding blocked shot against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Apr. 4. In a bid to prevent a shorthanded goal against, the block left Chara with David Booth wrister right off the ankle. (Or if it’s easier, a spot where there’s just about not padding or support whatsoever.)

Chara was in obvious discomfort after the shot, and although he slowly staggered up to his feet and off the ice, Chara hardly missed a shift and remained in the game, a 2-1 win at TD Garden. And though the captain missed the next practice, Chara remained in the B’s lineup for their final three games of the season, three-straight losses that pushed them out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The ‘Chara has lost a step’ narrative has gained considerable steam of late, but it should have been clear as day to anybody that’s watched this team over the last five years that No. 33 was far less than 100%.

Between the knee -- which is considered ‘permanently torn’ and now the fracture in his fibula -- it’s no longer even a point of discussion. Chara was hurt. Pretty badly, too. And even though the towering Slovak doesn’t like to make excuses, you can’t really fault the blue-liner for his late-year struggles.

The fracture will not require surgery, and the Bruins expect ‘Z’ to be ready to go this fall.

Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com

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