Height, weight, reach – three components for the tale of the tape in any fight. For Zdeno Chara, those all may as well be infinity signs.
Josh Anderson took him on anyway.
Anderson is a big man – well, a young man, at just 23 years old – standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing in at a stout 221 pounds. Aside from Pierre-Luc Dubois, who’s the same height, no forward on the active roster is taller than Anderson, and none are heavier. But Chara made him look like Cam Atkinson. Still, he landed a few good punches before Chara wrestled him to the ice.
"We knew he was a little frustrated there,” said Anderson after the game. “I just decided to stick up for myself, he just asked me if I wanted to fight and I said why not. Had to second guess it for sure."
That Chara fight is likely the most salient memory so far of Anderson for most fans – and that’s saying a lot. He had a long, public contract stalemate through training camp. He got moved up to the first line last week, then scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Winnipeg a few days ago.
Let's watch Josh Anderson's OT winner a few more times. Sound good? #CBJ pic.twitter.com/FzSij1LyS1
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 28, 2017
Okay, so fighting the league’s biggest player leaves one hell of a visual impression. It’s a lasting one – it’s the kind of moment that’ll make a scoreboard introduction hype video. But he’s showing this year that he’s much more than a tough guy.
That winner against Winnipeg led John Tortorella to deadpan: “He can be a really good player in this league, if he just keeps his head on straight and doesn’t listen to his agent."
He’s certainly on the path to “really good” this year. He’s got six points in his last eight games – that's a 50-point pace over a full season – he’s sporting an impressive 53.4% Corsi and he’s getting time on different units. He was a 5-on-5 beast last year – all 29 of his points last year came that way – but he’s been more than a bottom-six bruiser this year. He’s gotten more time lately on the penalty kill and power play units, too. He’s even getting – and capitalizing on – overtime shifts.
Thanks to some Jarmo Kekalainen wizardry, the Blue Jackets have Anderson under contract for three more years at a less than $2 million per year. If that growth (or even his current production) continues, that’s a bargain.
And if we get more “Holy shit, that guy’s fighting Zdeno Chara” sort of excitement, well, he’ll be on his way to fan favorite status, too.
Follow 1st Ohio BatteryFacebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube
