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Home , Captain (ice hockey), Joe Thornton, Patrice Bergeron

CHASING MILESTONES: ZDENO CHARA AND

42-year-old Chara and 40-year-old Thornton return in 2019-20 for season No. 22

Bruins Zdeno Chara (200-442—642 in 1,485 GP) and Sharks Joe Thornton (413-1,065—1,478 in 1,566 GP) return in 2019-20 for NHL season No. 22. Chara, 42, and Thornton, 40, are the two oldest active NHL players - and the only ones in their 40s.

CHARA, THORNTON SET TO JOIN RARE COMPANY AT TURN OF THE DECADE Chara and Thornton, who both made their League debut in 1997, are the only active NHL players who have contested a game in the 1990s. Should they suit up in 2020, Chara and Thornton would become the 12th and 13th players in NHL history to play at least one game in four or more decades – a cohort unrestricted free agent also could join.

* Thornton, who was re-signed by the Sharks on Sept. 6, has appeared in 1,566 career regular- season games, sitting 12th on the NHL’s all-time list (46 from tying for 11th). Thornton skated in his first 532 games with Boston before being traded Nov. 30, 2005 to San Jose; Thornton has since appeared in 1,034 contests with the Sharks, the second-most in franchise history behind Marleau (1,493).

* Chara signed with the Bruins July 1, 2006, just seven months after Thornton was traded - giving Boston only 56 games between the departure and arrival. Chara now needs 15 regular- season games to become the 21st player in League history – and sixth defenseman – to reach the 1,500-game milestone. Chara also needs 45 games to become the sixth player to suit up in 1,000 career games with Boston; Bourque (1,518), (1,436), (1,052), (1,028) and (1,027) are the only ones to do so.

BIG Z ENTERING 14TH SEASON AS BRUINS CAPTAIN Chara was named Bruins captain ahead of the 2006-07 season, a role left vacant with Thornton’s departure the previous campaign. The native of Trencin, Slovakia is set to become the fourth player in NHL history to serve as captain or co-captain for all or part of 14 or more consecutive seasons with one franchise.

THORNTON ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYMAKERS IN NHL HISTORY . . . One of the greatest playmakers in League history, Thornton (1,065) needs 14 regular-season assists to tie (1,079) for seventh place on the NHL’s all-time list. He also needs 22 regular-season points to become the 14th player in League history to record 1,500.

* Known for his on-ice vision, Thornton’s 58 career games with three or more assists in the regular season are the 12th-most in NHL annals while his 235 career multi-assist games rank 10th all-time.

* Thornton also is tied with Garry Unger and John MacLean for 86th place on the League’s all- time regular-season goals list. His 413 career tallies are the fifth-most among active NHL players, behind Alex Ovechkin (658), (446), Ilya Kovalchuk (433) and (417).

. . . CHARA AMONG THE LEAGUE’S BEST ALL-TIME DEFENSEMEN Standing 6-foot-9 and regarded as the tallest player in NHL history, Chara is one of 22 all-time players listed as a defenseman with at least 200 career regular-season goals. He sits three tallies shy of tying ’s and Gary Suter for 20th place in League history among blueliners; Weber also is the NHL’s active leader in career goals among defensemen.

* Chara’s 200 goals and 642 points in the regular season are second-most in NHL history among players listed as 6-foot-6 or taller, trailing Eric Daze (226 G in 601 GP) and (157-541—698 in 1,167 GP) in the respective categories.

THROWING IT BACK TO THE FALL OF 1997 With Thornton and Chara being the only active players to skate an NHL game in the 1990s, #NHLStats has provided an in-depth look at some of the happenings when they made their League debut 22 years ago (Thornton: Oct. 8, 1997 at PHX, Chara: Nov. 19, 1997 at DET):

* , playing in his penultimate season, scored the final hat trick of his NHL career on Oct. 11, 1997 (3-2—5 at VAN). It was career hat trick No. 50 for The Great One, one of a plethora of League records he owns that still stands.

* The movie Titanic hadn’t yet been released – it hit North American theatres on Dec. 19, 1997, exactly one month after Chara debuted with the Islanders.

* The top song on Billboard’s Hot 100 list was “Candle in the Wind 1997” by Elton John, a re- written and re-recorded version of his 1973 hit “Candle in the Wind” released as a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

* The Nintendo 64 was celebrating its one-year anniversary in North America after being released on Sept. 29, 1996.

* Tiger Woods was coming off his first major championship; the golf great finished 12 strokes ahead of Tom Kite at the Masters on April 13, 1997, to claim his first of four Masters titles and 14 major wins to date.

* J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” had just been published – it hit shelves in the U.K. on June 26, 1997 and didn’t make its way to North American shelves until 1998.

* The infamous Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield moment occurred of few months prior on June 28, 1997, one week after Thornton was selected No. 1 by Boston at the NHL Draft in Pittsburgh.

* Bill Clinton was almost one year into his second term as U.S. president, while Jean Chrétien had recently begun his second term as Canadian prime minister after being re-elected on June 2, 1997 (the day after Game 1 of the Final).