Chara to Skip Worlds with Fractured Ankle

When Slovakia has their first group stage game in the IIHF World Championships next week against Denmark, they will be without their two-time Olympic captain Zdeno Chara. A Slovakian newspaper reported that he sill miss the tournament with a fractured ankle.

The Boston Bruins came out later today with a statement, saying he suffered an injured left fibula and will need a month to recover. The statement below:

The Boston Bruins announced today, Tuesday, April 21 the following injury update: defenseman Zdeno Chara has a non-displaced fracture of his left fibula and the recovery time is approximately four weeks from today. The injury will not require surgery.

Details of exactly when he suffered the injury are unknown, but a tweet (and accompanying GIF) from Pete Blackburn has us believing he was injured while blocking a shot against Toronto in the fourth to last game of the season. If that’s when he hurt himself, it means he played the last three games with a fractured fibula, logging 23 or more minutes in each game.

This marks the end of an injury-filled season for Chara, who appeared in 63 games this season. He’s creeping up the age ladder as well as he turns 39 next month.

Former NHL player Miroslav Satan will captain the team in the World Championships for the third straight year.

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