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St. Louis Blues: Chris Pronger A Hall-Of-Famer

By Kate Cimini

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Article by A.P. Andes, posted by Kate Cimini

On June 30, 2015, two days after his contract was traded from the Philadelphia Flyers to the cap-needy Arizona Coyotes, St. Louis Blues legendary defenseman, Chris Pronger, “Captain Happy,” was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Pronger, along with the immortal Nicklas Lidstrom and Lidstrom’s former teammate Sergei Federov, was elected on the first ballot.

Pronger’s former Blues teammate, Phil Housley, four-time Olympian, gold medalist and women’s hockey trailblazer Angela Ruggiero, Peter Karmanos, Jr., and Bill Hay were also elected to the Hall. The induction ceremony will be held November 9 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

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Pronger, now 40 years old, is the only defenseman in the history of the NHL not named Bobby Orr to win both the Hart trophy as most valuable player and the Norris trophy for best defenseman in the same season. Pronger accomplished the feat while leading the St. Louis Blues as their captain to the President’s trophy in 1999-2000, amassing 62 points in 72 games and finishing with a =/- regular season total of +52.

Pronger is also a member of the rarefied “Triple Gold” club: he won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, won two gold medals in the Olympic games, and won the Worlds with Canada in 1997.

For much of his career, where Chris Pronger went the team he played on made it to the Conference Finals or the Stanley Cup Final. The Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Ducks all made it to the Final when Pronger played for them.

"Darren Pang once pronounced Chris Pronger “the best outlet passer in NHL history”"

There may have been a few greater or more talented defensemen such as Orr and Lidstrom, but Chris Pronger was more physically and territorially dominating than any defenseman I have ever seen in 50 years, with the possible exception of Scott Stevens in his peak years with the New Jersey Devils.

And, like Stevens, Pronger had a mean streak, a talent for the vicious hit, and was surely among the most hated players of his entire era.

Unless you were a Blues fan.

But at 6’6 and 220 pounds, Pronger was like Stevens exposed to radiation. His tremendously long reach and height allowed him to do things other blueliners could only dream of.

My favorite all-time Blue is not Brett Hull, Al MacInnis, or even the Great One. Not Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante, Frank St. Marseilles, or Bob Plager. My favorite Blue has always been Chris Pronger, from his very first season with the team, when he was traded from the Hartford Whalers after his second season in the NHL on July 27, 1995 for star player and fan favorite Brendan Shanahan.

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The trade was vilified in St. Louis, but before long it was hard to ever imagine the Blues without “Captain Happy,” as he came to be called. According to writer Frank Cusumano, Darren Pang once pronounced Chris Pronger “the best outlet passer in NHL history,” and I have personally never seen anyone who could pass any better.

He was also the ultimate iron horse, and according to NHL.com’s Corey Masiak, logged an average of over 25 minutes per game in every full season between 1998-99 and 2009-10, and, incredibly, over 30 minutes a game during two years for the Blues.

During all the hoopla surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith’s load of ice time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I learned that the all-time NHL record for most minutes logged in a playoff series is also held by Pronger.

In fact, when Keith won the Conn Smythe unanimously this year with his 21 points, it tied Pronger’s mark in 2006-07 with Edmonton as the highest total for any defenseman over the past 20 years.

Pronger’s last game was November 19, 2011 with the Philadelphia Flyers. In his career he amassed 157 goals and 541 assists in 1167 regular season games. He also finished with a career +/- of +183. In 173 playoff games he scored 26 goals and notched 95 assists.

He was also suspended eight times, and for some he will not be a favorite choice for the Hall. I come back again to Stevens. I hated the Devils in their glory days, and Stevens most of all. But I respected him immensely, because he simply ruled the ice when he was on it, and it is hard not to be in awe of someone who is able to dominate the sport in such a fashion.

That domination comes out of a competitiveness that simply does not understand the word “quit.” Chris Pronger left everything out on the ice. Every shift. Every game. Every time.

This is the first of a two-part series. The next part will focus on Pronger’s concussion issues and early retirement.

Next: Shattenkirk Up For Grabs?

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