St. Louis Blues: Chris Pronger Traded To Blues, A Look Back

On July 27, 1995, Chris Pronger was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for fan-favorite Brendan Shanahan, both future Hall of Famers.

Chris Pronger was drafted second overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Draft. While Shanahan was signed as a free agent on July 25, 1991, though I won’t go down that rabbit hole with this article.

There were many factors that lead to this trade. Some of those factors were known at the time of the deal, while some were leaked to the media well after the trade was finalized. Let’s take at some of those factors that brought Pronger to the Blues

To do this, we need to look back at the offseason the year prior. In July of 1994, St. Louis signed Mike Kennan coming off of his game seven Stanley Cup victory. At the time they were hoping that Keenan would bring that magic to St. Louis

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Keenan spent his first season dealing with the lockout, and building an experience-laden team built for the playoffs.

During the offseason, Keenan made one of the greatest, yet most hated, trades in Blues history.

At the time there were rumors of player discord with Keenan. Keenan was a coach that wanted it his way and would use any means necessary.

So on July 27, 1995, when Keenan traded fan-favorite Shanahan for Pronger, an unproven defenseman from Hartford, fans were outraged.

Keenan always talked up experience and using veteran players to win, so this totally went against what he stood for. It was later revealed that Shanahan was disrupting the locker room by having an affair with Craig Janney‘s wife.

Even with this information coming to light, Blues fans were still not happy with the trade. Boy did Pronger change everyone’s opinions. Pronger was a big hulking defenseman that had tons of potential but had yet to show that in his first two years with Hartford.

During his first year with the Blues, Pronger had no chance with the fans. Any mistake he made fans mercilessly booed him. He was the whipping boy that both Barret Jackman, and Jay Bouwmeester have been for this generation of Blues fans.

There are fans today that would look at Pronger’s career and ask, how could Blues fans have ever disliked Pronger? I am here to tell you it happened and I was one of those fans. Shanahan was everything a Blues fan wanted. He could score, pass and most of all, stick up for himself and his teammates with needed.

Pronger finished his first season with the Blues with a +/- of -18. This would be the last time Blues fans would see Pronger with a negative +/- until his final season wearing the Bluenote. In between those seasons, Pronger went on to become one of the best players and captains ever to put on a Blues jersey.

Pronger endeared himself to Blues fans, by playing with an edge they hadn’t seen in years. Pronger was a throwback to the early Blues years. When he was on the ice, other team’s players did not want to get anywhere around the net due to his presence.

He made it painful to play the Blues. If you were going to drive the net, you were going to earn it, and most times regret it. Pronger was the player you loved to have on your team, but would absolutely despise if he was on your rivals team.

Pronger’s best season with the Blues would come during the 1999-00 season. That season he played 79 games and ended up with 62 points good enough for third on the team. Pronger also led the NHL in +/- with a +52.

That same season the Blues won their first and only Presidents Trophy. Pronger also brought home some personal hardware that year. He won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman, and he also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league MVP.

Pronger was the first defenseman to win the Hart Trophy since 1972 when Bobby Orr won, and he is also the last defenseman to win the trophy. If you ask me that is a pretty amazing feat.

During the Keenan era, Blues fans endured many crazy things, from transactions to internal strife. As a Blues fan, I can truly say, that although I loved Shanahan, the trade for Pronger is one of the greatest trades the organization has ever made.

Next. Vince Dunn Primed For First All-Star Selection. dark

It was great to see Pronger put on number 44 again during the 2017 Winter Classic. Now it is time for the Blues organization to realize that no other Blues player should ever wear that number again, and raise it to the rafters where it belongs.

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