BOSTON – Fans and media types alike rarely get to glance behind the scenes of an NHL franchise the way the HBO cameras are documenting the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins’ trial and tribulations for the 24/7 show leading up to the 2011 Winter Classic.

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Recchi vs. Campoli/By S. Bradley

BOSTON — The Bruins couldn’t do much of anything related to hockey Saturday night against Ottawa, but at least two of their veteran leaders put their fists to good use.

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Chara/By S. Bradley

Although he stands 6-foot-9 and would be the least likely NHL player to be victimized by a lateral hit to the head or one from behind, as defined by Rule 48, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara wants you to know he still receives his fair share of blows to the noggin.

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Chara/By S. Bradley

WILMINGTON, Mass. – Although there have always been rumors alluding to him being more machine than man, Zdeno Chara is not equipped to log 30 minutes per game and be the beast of the player needed for the Bruins to succeed.

Luckily for the team and its captain, the coaching staff recognizes that.

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Chara/By S. Bradley

Even before the bad news about Johnny Boychuk came out tonight, I was getting a little worried about Zdeno Chara’s workload.

Now that Boychuk is definitely going to miss about a month with a fractured bone in his forearm, the Bruins captain and his five blue-line sidekicks are going to be pushed even more.

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WILMINGTON, Mass. — Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara’s reward for logging 29:05 of ice time last night in the win at Washington was a day off from practice at Ristuccia Arena.

Boston’s special teams’ punishment for another fruitless night on the power play (0-for-4) was a solid 30 minutes of man-advantage work today.

More later.

Chara/By S. Bradley

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Bruins captain Zdeno Chara returned from Prague with more than just the two points in the standings that his team earned Sunday.

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Everyone wants to play with Chara/By S. Bradley

Here I was thinking the only thing to look forward to over the next eight days while the Bruins are overseas is the season-opener in Prague against Phoenix.

Now it turns out Oct. 9 might also be a deadline for the Bruins to get captain Zdeno Chara signed to a contract extension.

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BOSTON — After the Bruins’ morning skate in preparation for their preseason game with Florida at TD Garden, Bruins players addressed the situation with center Marc Savard. The veteran explained to the media that he’s still a “ways away” from returning due to his post-concussion syndrome symptoms.

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BOSTON — Zdeno Chara scored of his team’s three goals in the Black team’s win over White in the Bruins’ scrimmage at TD Garden today.

Here’s some postgame reaction from Boston’s captain:

BOSTON — Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was part of the first group of players that took the ice at TD Garden today on the first day of on-ice training camp.

Here’s what he had to say about the start of the new season.

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Chara/By S. Bradley

The finishing touches are almost done on his dream house near the mountains of Slovakia.

But completion of Zdeno Chara’s homeland home will have to wait now that he’s getting back to pursuing his other dream: a Stanley Cup.

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Bergeron/By S. Bradley

Your responses to my request for mailbag questions, again, overwhelmed me. As I started to write the answer to the first question in my mailbox, I realized I exceeded 700 words and wasn’t done. So without writing a Bill Simmons-like manifesto, here’s the answer to that first question:

Scott Comeau wrote:

What do you expect Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron will each get in terms of money and length of contract? I realize this is a tough question, however please give me an educated guess.

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Chara/By S. Bradley

We all know that Bruins captain Zdeno Chara played almost the entire 2009-10 season with an ugly dislocated pinky finger . After it hindered him for a while, he seemed to get used to it and was his old self for most of the second two thirds of the campaign.

Now it looks like he’s really going to have to get used to it.

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Chara/By S. Bradley

Whether he’s going to fine-tune the team he has assembled or perform a major shake-up with a trade of Marc Savard or another star center in an effort to make sure 2010-11 erases the nightmares of the spring of ’10, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has to at least be casting one eye beyond the upcoming season.

In what might be one of the more under-reported stories surrounding the Bruins, captain and superstar defenseman Zdeno Chara is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent one year from Thursday. July 1, 2010 is also the first day the Bruins, under the guidelines of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, can negotiate a contract extension for their cornerstone player.

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