Chara OK with 24-team format: 'We have to be grateful for the opportunity'

Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara understands that the 24-team playoff may not be 100% fair, but also recognizes there are bigger things to worry about than the postseason format.

"You can't really blame anyone or feel that it's unfair. For us, we have to be grateful for the opportunity we're getting," Chara said, per Sportsnet. "When you kind of look at the real-life perspective, what other people's families, businesses go through ... Not everybody is getting the same chance, lots of people lost a lot of financial support, businesses went down and they will never get the same opportunities, so we have to be grateful for the opportunity."

The Bruins were in the driver's seat to win the Atlantic Division prior to the season's pause. At the time of the stoppage, they sat eight points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning with 12 games left on the schedule.

Under the new playoff format, the Bruins will need to partake in a three-game round robin to determine their seeding. Bruins president Cam Neely said Wednesday that he felt the format was "disappointing" for his team.

Chara added that while the situation to return to play isn't guaranteed, players will need to accept certain risks to compete for the Stanley Cup.

"There is going to be risk involved," Chara said, according to NBC Sports' Joe Haggerty. "We just have to manage what kind of risk we are willing to accept."

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