During his tenure with the Boston Bruins, Jake DeBrusk had the opportunity to play with many NHL luminaries.
The 27-year-old forward teamed up with Stanley Cup champions Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Adam McQuaid, and Zdeno Chara, as well as veterans David Backes, Nick Foligno, and Rick Nash.
Of all the players DeBrusk has played with, only one has genuinely intimidated the 6-foot-1, 198-pound product of Edmonton, Alberta: 6-foot-9 Chara.
“Very calm demeanor. Z is such a great guy, and I adore him, but you are intimidated at first. When he appeared on “The Cam & Strick Podcast” on Tuesday, DeBrusk recalls being terrified by watching Z for the first time. “I recall the first time I saw him on the ice; it was even more terrifying. We had a one-on-one drill, and I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know how to attack this man right now.’ It’s as if I’d never seen anything like him before, but you get used to it with time.”
DeBrusk recounted that during his first training camp with the Bruins, the club was running a drill in which the defensemen would end up with the puck and the forwards would drive to the front of the net in search of a tip. The first time DeBrusk was in a rush with Chara, he leaned away from the net, unsure what to anticipate from the former captain’s shot.
Chara instructed DeBrusk to stay on the ice and stand in front of the net following practice.
“He brought out like 15 pucks and started bombing shots and told me to stay there,” DeBrusk told ESPN. “I had a couple of pieces and stuff, but I was like, ‘Oh my God.'” He started laughing at me at the end. That really demonstrates the type of guy he is, even throughout training camp practice.”
DeBrusk confessed he was afraid standing in front of the net because he couldn’t read Chara’s shots, but he thanked the renowned defenseman for teaching him a valuable lesson.
“You gotta go head first into everything, honestly, and that’s how you get through it.”
DeBrusk stated that he learnt a lot from the players in Boston and expects to transfer that knowledge to Vancouver after signing a seven-year contract with the Canucks.
