This aired last night during intermission of the Flames game, and part 2 is the link below it. When the third part is made available online, I'll update this post.
Dan Murphy interviews Pronger where they discuss his recovery and future in the league.
Ive only seen this on Sportsnet 20 times. 38yr old D man retires. Very compelling stuff...
I think it's the way he's going out (he hasn't retired, and likely won't until his contract has expired).
Even at 36/37, he was still a very dominant player, and undoubtedly would be this season as well. It sucks to see a guy of his calibre have to leave the game like this, instead of the way he wanted to.
Favorite moment was when the Oilers had to go into panic mode to move him and that started an exodus for many UFA's away from Edmonton.
If Pronger remained with the Oilers they would have become a force to contend with for the Flames.
He only played 1 year and they go to the cup final and he had 5 years left on that deal.
Thank you for that Pronger.
Last time a D man won the Hart like Pronger was the legendary Bobby Orr.
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Last edited by Stay Golden; 03-07-2013 at 01:47 PM.
Hated pronger because all he ever did was go to cup finals in his last few years, and did it being the biggest frickin jerk on the ice. Great player and 29 others teams during his tenure wish they had him on their squad. I would put the pronger/macinnis pairing up there with the best of all time. Even though paired with Neidermeyer was huge too.
Always been a huge Pronger fan, one of the best D-men to play the game and just a guy who knew what it took to win. Never missed the playoffs in his career. EDIT: yes he missed the playoffs in his first two years with Hartford, but after those years he never missed the playoffs.
Last edited by flames_fan_down_under; 03-07-2013 at 01:59 PM.
He is the ultimate "Hate to play against him but love to have him on your team" player. His stretch of 2006 to 2010 was the greatest stretch I have ever seen from any player when you consider influence on a team's success. It seemed any team that added him to the roster was going to make the Stanley Cup finals. Without a doubt one of the best defensemen to ever play the game.
He was an absolute jerk on the ice, but he was a winner everywhere he went.
One of the best interviews off the ice too.
It was tough watching the part of the story where he talked about how his wife had to keep his kids away from him when he was suffering from the concussion.
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As much as I hated the way his exit from Edmonton played out, there's never been a player on that team who, when he was on the ice, you just had the calmest feeling that nothing bad was going to happen. And I've been a fan since the day they joined the NHL. Controlled the play like no-one they've had for a long, long time.He played at a level during the cup run in '06 that very few Oilers have gotten to, and certainly nobody since their last cup win.
As much as I hated the way his exit from Edmonton played out, there's never been a player on that team who, when he was on the ice, you just had the calmest feeling that nothing bad was going to happen. And I've been a fan since the day they joined the NHL. Controlled the play like no-one they've had for a long, long time.He played at a level during the cup run in '06 that very few Oilers have gotten to, and certainly nobody since their last cup win.
As a Flyers fan (in addition to the Flames) I loved watching him on the ice. So calm and controlled, and made it look effortless. The guy is hockey smart, strong and uniquely gifted for the game of hockey.
Great player, but I can't help but feel karma may have gotten the best of him..
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