Chára served as the Bruins' captain for all of his fourteen seasons with the franchise, from 2006 to 2020. He won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman in 2009, becoming the first Slovak player to do so, and the second European player after Nicklas Lidström. Standing at tall, Chára is the tallest person ever to play in the NHL, earning him the nickname "Big Z". In 2011, 2013 and 2019 Chára captained the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals. He is one of three European-born and raised captains to lead his team to the Stanley Cup championship (along with Nicklas Lidström and Alexander Ovechkin), and the first born and trained in the Eastern Bloc.