Zdeno Chara

The late Ted Williams would surely take delight in any zealous New England sports fans who, on his behalf, continue to proclaim him the greatest baseball hitter who ever lived. Even if the only scrap of concrete evidence is one solid, single-season .406 batting average, the legendary Red Sox’ left fielder and his descendant supporters would not yield in that argument then, now or in the future.

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara won his fifth straight hardest-shot title at the 2012 NHL Skills Challenge on Saturday night with a blast clocked at 107 mph in the final heat.

All-star games themselves normally aren't overly meaningful or entertaining, but the NHL may very well have the best All-Star weekend in sports. It isn't because of the game, rather it is the skills competition which will take place on Saturday night.

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara left Saturday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a lower body injury.

For any pair of NHL defensemen, toughness is a mandate. These pairings do it better than any other.

Toughness is a difficult concept to quantify. For these rankings, I considered statistical measures such as fighting, shot blocking, penalty minutes, hitting and ice time in addition to more qualitative factors, like a players’ ability to play through pain or strike fear into the hearts of his opponents.

In the fourth installment of NHL Power Rankings by position, I'm taking a look at the 10 best defenseman in the NHL today.

But first, a few ground rules. In order to qualify as a "defenseman," the player must be listed on NHL.com's 2010-11 regular season statistics page as a D and have played a minimum of one full NHL season (80-plus career NHL games). 

During the Boston Bruins championship run of 2011, the entire North American continent gave witness to NHL records and franchise records being set, tied, or broken.

The Bruins became the first team in National Hockey League history to win a seven game playoff series without scoring a power play goal. 

Before delving into the tangled guts of the now very deceased Vancouver Canucks, it should be stated clearly and succinctly that the better team won. Congratulations to that team, the Boston Bruins.

I want to say sorry for such a late entry.  I had this written up just an hour after the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup, but there were difficulties with getting a submission.

The prize was on the line on this night, and there was no extra chance for either team.

The series started with the Canucks bagging the first two games in Vancouver.  Both by only one goal.

So far, all home games were won by the home team.

If the Boston Bruins want a chance at hoisting Lord Stanley's Mug, they will have to keep the trend in Game 6 and then break it in Vancouver for a decisive Game 7.