Blues F Maroon Not Ready to Renew Chara Rivalry

The Boston Bruins will get a good look at an old nemesis throughout the Stanley Cup Final when they meet Patrick Maroon and the St. Louis Blues. Maroon has scored six goals in six games against the Bruins since he emerged with the Edmonton Oilers in the spring of 2016. Not only has he been a machine when it comes to the scoresheet, but Maroon has also engaged twice with Zdeno Chara. Not many guys would try that once, let alone twice like Maroon.

The St. Louis native met with the media on Sunday as part of the annual Stanley Cup media day event. Boston Hockey Now was front and center from TD Garden, asking Maroon if he plans on another engagement with Chara at some point during the Final and what it’s like to drop the gloves with Big Z.

“It’s never fun, he’s a tough customer” began Maroon, who cracked a slight smirk. Maroon and Chara first fought on January 5th, 2017, when Maroon was in town with the Edmonton Oilers. Not only did he drop the mitts with Chara, but he also registered his first career hat-trick in Edmonton’s win that night at TD Garden.

The two sides faced off again nearly two years to the day, battling it out at TD Garden back on January 17th, this time with Maroon on the Blues.

Will there be a round three during the Final? If it’s up to Maroon, the answer to that question is no.”You never want to do that; I’ll probably never want to do it again” laughed Maroon when asked by BHN’s Jimmy Murphy. It appears that battling with arguably the NHL’s toughest customer twice was enough for the Big Rig.

Even though they have fought twice in their careers against each other, there is a very healthy respect for Chara that Maroon has. “He’s been in the game for so long and for us he’s a guy that competes every night, he’s a great player. He’s a guy that’s really a respected player around the league.”

How do you beat a future Hall-of-Famer? It’s not easy, but if anyone on the Blues would know it’s Maroon. After all, he’s had quite a bit of success in this matchup in recent seasons. “You just gotta find ways to get to him and play hard,” said Maroon, who prefers a simple approach against one of the game’s best.

Maroon Vs. Chara round three? Odds are, we won’t see that at any point during the Stanley Cup Final, at least if Maroon has say in it.