Zdeno Chara was the New York Islanders 3rd round pick, 56th overall, in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. Chara is a towering defenseman who stands at 6'9" 250 lbs. When he laced up for the Islanders in November of 1997, he became the tallest player to ever play in an NHL game. The Islanders lucked upon Chara thanks to some good scouting, predominantly that of former Islander star Anders Kallur. The Islanders staff were able to obtain video tape of Zdeno playing in some junior hockey games over in the Czech Republic. Chara brought plenty enthusiasm with him over to North America in 1996-97 when he joined the Prince George Cougars of the WHL. A teammate and defensive partner of soon to be drafted defenseman Eric Brewer, Chara notched 22 points in 49 games. The next season, 1997-98, Chara turned pro with the Islanders AHL affiliate, the Kentucky Thoroughblades. He saw action in 48 games with Kentucky and managed to get named to the AHL's World Team in the leagues annual all-star game. Chara scored a goal in that game.

     After also logging ice time in 25 games with the Islanders during the 1997-98 season, Chara would pretty much become a regular on the Islanders blue line during the 1998-99 season when he appeared in 58 games. For the next two years Chara would be a mainstay for the Islanders as he would predominantly team up with 6'6" partner Eric Cairns to form the "Twin Towers" on defense. Chara had some memorable battles with cross town rival Theoren Fleury of the Rangers, who often would chop at the towering legs of the tall Slovak. In 2000-01 Chara would score one of the most memorable goals of his Islander career in the Fleet Center against the Boston Bruins. The big man skated back and forth behind the Bruins net while getting checked by diminutive forward Sergei Samsonov. Chara's size was no match as he eventually zig zagged and tucked the puck into the net behind goaltender Byron Dafoe. Along with his steady defensive play, Chara is known to be a fierce fighter.

     In 1999-00 Chara finished second in the NHL in hits with 309 in 65 games played. Washington's Brendan Witt led the league with 322 in 75 games played. Chara would come back to lead the NHL in hits for the 2000-01 season registering 373 hits in 82 games played, 19 more hits than Florida's Robert Svehla who also played 82 games. In the summer of 2001, the Islanders under new ownership and influx of money had to give to get in order to acquire a star offensive center in Alexei Yashin from the Ottawa Senators who had grown unhappy with the Russian. The Islanders would include Chara and struggling LW Bill Muckalt along with the second pick overall in the 2001 draft ( C Jason Spezza ) in exchange for Yashin on draft day, June 23, 2001.

     Chara had a career year in 2001-02 with the Senators scoring 10 goals and 23 points along with an impressive plus/minus rating of +30. Over the course of the next two seasons, Chara would get better and better. In 2003-04 his output of 16 goals and 41 points in 79 games played would develop Chara into a Norris Trophy candidate. He also continued to become one of if not the most imposing defender in the game as he played with an edge and hit everything in sight. In 2005-06 following the lockout, Chara duplicated his 16 goal season of two years ago and this time recorded a career high 43 points.

     In the summer of 2006 Chara would become an unrestricted free agent thanks to the new CBA lowering the age for unrestricted free agency to 28. With the belief that Chara would command close to the salary cap limit of $7 million and the daunting task of also having to re-sign Wade Redden, the Ottawa Senators let Chara go. He was snatched up on the second day of free agency, June 2, 2006 by surprisingly the normally cash strapped Boston Bruins.