Chris Pronger

Lore & Background

Originally selected second overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL entry draft, Pronger played for Hartford, the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks before being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers before the 2009–10 season. He was captain of the Blues, Ducks and Flyers. He appeared in the Stanley Cup Final with three different teams (Edmonton, Anaheim and Philadelphia), winning the Cup with the Ducks in 2007. Pronger won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player for the 1999–2000 season, becoming the first defenceman to win the award since Bobby Orr in 1971–72. A mainstay on Canada national team, Pronger won Olympic gold medals at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics and is a member of the Triple Gold Club. In 2017, he was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history. Pronger's playing career ended in November 2011 due to post-concussion syndrome related to three separate hits suffered during his career; he also has vision impairment due to being hit in the eye(s) by the blade of another player's stick. In October 2014, Pronger signed a contract with the NHL to assist its Player Safety Division. Pronger was suspended eight times during his NHL career. The St. Louis Blues retired Pronger's No. 44 on January 17, 2022.

In Their Own Story

The arena hummed with that particular low-frequency vibration you only get when the crowd has been on its feet for three consecutive goals and now the other team is about to face the power play. The puck dropped. Pronger won it with a shoulder drop that sent the opposing winger skidding across the boards, his stick clattering away. He didn't celebrate. He never did. He simply turned, read the ice, and fired a two-handed slap shot from the right circle — the kind that arrives at the net before the goalie's stick is even fully extended. The puck hit the crossbar with a sound like a gunshot in a library, bounced down, and the netminder fumbled it to the side. The crowd in the home section exhaled. The Senators' fourth liner in the corner looked up, shook his head, and muttered the one word every teammate and opponent used: 'Pronger.' The next shift, the opposing coach pulled his best forward out of the slot entirely. You did not want to be in the way of that shot. You simply did not.

Reader's Guide

Pronger was born in Dryden, Ontario, to Jim and Eila Pronger, an immigrant from Pori, Finland. Pronger is Finnish Canadian. Before entering the junior ranks in Ontario, he grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown. As a 15-year-old, he was identified through the Ontario U-17 program and signed with the Stratford Cullitons Jr. B (OHA) club for the 1990–91 season. One of his defence partners in Stratford was future NHLer Greg de Vries. In May 1991, Pronger indicated he was going to join his older brother Sean at Bowling Green State University to play in the NCAA instead of opting to play in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Regardless of his pre-draft indications, the Peterborough Petes selected Pronger in the sixth round in the OHL Priority Selection. Contrary to his initial intentions, Pronger reported to Peterborough. After two stand-out seasons with Peterborough, and because of being highly regarded for his rare combination of imposing size, speed, offensive skill (particularly on the power play) and physicality, Pronger was selected second overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL entry draft, behind Alexandre Daigle. Pronger made his debut in the 1993–94 NHL season, playing 81 games for the Whalers and earning a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team. However, he was one of multiple Whalers that season with off-ice issues, being one of six players arrested for a barroom brawl in Buffalo in late March, and then being arrested for drunk driving in Ohio three days after his rookie season ended. After a second season in Hartford, on July 27, 1995, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for star forward Brendan Shanahan. In the early years of his St. Louis career, Pronger played under coach and general manager Mike Keenan. In his third season with St. Louis and first as team captain, Pronger was again named to the All-Star team. That year during the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs, he had a cardiac arrest caused by commotio cordis when he was hit in the chest with a puck in a game against the Detroit Red Wings. In 1999–2000, Pronger recorded a career-high 62 points and a +52 rating. His efforts won him the Norris and Hart trophies at the end of the season. Pronger beat Art Ross winner Jaromír Jágr by just one point in Hart Trophy voting. Pronger was also named to the first All-Star team. Following the 2004–05 NHL lockout and the imposition of an NHL sala

Did You Know?

• Pronger won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player for the 1999–2000 season, becoming the first defenceman to win the award since Bobby Orr in 1971–72.
• He is a member of the Triple Gold Club, having won the Stanley Cup (2007 with Anaheim), Olympic gold (2002 and 2010), and World Championship gold (not specified in source but implied by Triple Gold Club status).
• Pronger's playing career ended in November 2011 due to post-concussion syndrome related to three separate hits.
• The St. Louis Blues retired Pronger's No. 44 on January 17, 2022.