When John Muckler met Zdeno Chara for the first time before the 1996 National Hockey League draft, he wasn't sure Chara was in the right place.
"He walked through the door and I said, 'This is the hockey draft, not the basketball draft,' " recalled Muckler, now the general manager of the Ottawa Senators. "I don't think he liked that very much. He looked at me like I had two heads."
Muckler's reaction wasn't surprising. Chara, the tallest player in NHL history at 6 foot 9, looks like he should be setting picks in the National Basketball Association rather than moving pucks up the ice.
The 26-year-old Slovak has evolved from a curiosity on skates to an NHL all-star who helped Ottawa post the league's best regular-season record.
Chara's also been a force in the playoffs, where the Senators lead the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in their best-of-seven, second-round series. He set up the tying goal in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime win for his fifth assist in eight postseason games this year.
Every time Chara chases down a loose puck or bangs an opposing forward into the boards, he shows something to people in his native country who advised him to follow a different career path.
"When I was growing up, people were always telling me I was too tall for hockey," Chara said. "The more they talked, the more I wanted to prove I could make it."
Chara, acquired by Ottawa from the New York Islanders as part of a trade for forward Alexei Yashin in 2001, made his first all-star team this season and finished second in an all-star game skills competition with a slap shot of 97.8 miles an hour.
Chara has thrived under Ottawa head coach Jacques Martin, who has expanded the 255-pound defenceman's role to include rushing the puck and creating chaos in front of the net on power plays. Chara tied for 20th among NHL defencemen with 39 points and ranked 17th in the league in ice time with about 25 minutes a game.
"He's been allowed to use some of his creativity here, and it's made him a better player," Ottawa defenceman Curtis Leschyshyn said.
Muckler, who's spent more than 50 years in professional hockey as a player, coach and executive, said Chara's progress proves that height and hockey can co-exist. Pittsburgh Penguins winger Steve McKenna stands 6 foot 8, while Boston Bruins defenceman Hal Gill is 6 foot 7.
"Go back 20 years, and guys 6 foot 2 were kind of the exception," Muckler said. "Now, everybody wants their defencemen to be 6 foot 3 or 6 foot 4. Within five years, you might see 20 people like Zdeno."
The Senators had to receive special approval from the league so that Chara could play with a stick three inches longer than the NHL's 63-inch limit. Chara uses the extra length to chase down pucks and display the athletic ability he inherited from his father, Zdenek, a former Olympic wrestler for the former Czechoslovakia.
Despite his height, Chara was nearly overlooked by NHL scouts. New equipment was hard to find in Slovakia, and Chara missed time during his draft year when he broke a skate and his team had difficulty finding a pair of size-19 replacements.
The Islanders acquired film of Chara and watched it on the wall in a team office. New York scout Anders Kallur said it was enough to convince the Islanders to draft Chara in the third round.
"He played hard, he played smart, he played with passion," Kallur said. "He had good mobility for a man of any size. People called him raw, or a project, because of his size. But he was no more a project than any 18-year-old."
Chara speaks five languages -- Slovak, Czech, English, German and Russian -- and likes to paint in his spare time. He also can play drums, although he doesn't have time for that hobby during the NHL's 82-game regular season.
"I do things because I enjoy them, to help myself relax," Chara said.
In the Ottawa locker room, Chara is also known for his skill with a knife and fork. He enjoys eating almost as much as skating.
"When you're 6 foot 9, you need a lot of food for fuel," Leschyshyn said.