2015 HHOF Inductee: Chris Pronger

Chris Pronger's resume is impressive. But is it impressive enough to have him ranked as one of the top ten defensemen of all time?

2007 Stanley Cup champion

3 time Stanley Cup finalist

2002 and 2010 Olympic Gold medallist

4 time Olympian

2000 Hart Trophy winner

2000 Norris Trophy winner

4 time NHL All Star

1993 World Junior Champion

Pronger's physical prowess allowed him to play seemingly half the game. He was a mainstay on both the power play and penalty kill units, and often double shifted at regular strength. Not only was he a game breaking defenseman but he was arguably the top shutdown defenseman of his era. He always played against the top forwards every night. None of his near 28 minutes a night were easy.

The most amazing thing about Chris Pronger, in my estimation, was his ability to control the pace of the game. Late in his career he was criticized for being too slow or too old. It did not really matter, as he could read the ice and the flow of the game as well as anyone in the modern era. He seemingly slowed everything down and then when he lulled everyone to his desired level he'd shoot a bolt of lightning into the game, often in the form of a dagger-like pass for a quick break. Old timers tell me the only player that they saw control the pace of the game so well was the great Doug Harvey.

Of course Pronger had ability to bring hell, fire and brimstone to any game, too, thanks to his physical game. Pronger was one of hockey's all time great villains. Yes he was big (6'6", 220lbs) but he was down right mean. And he could be dirty. Bottom line - he was intimidating, and unpredictable.

 "You might spear a guy in the face, fight a guy, elbow a guy, slash a guy or just make a clean bodycheck... If they don't know what I'm going to do, I hold the trump card," he once said.

Pronger's offensive game is almost underrated compared to the rest of his game. Too many reduce his offensive to his truly booming slap shot. He had as great a breakout pass as anyone in the game. No, he didn't rush the puck too often or jump into the rush on fast breaks, but he was very much a force to be reckoned with.

One strike against Pronger's potential top ten status will always be the popular vote. Pronger has a lot of haters because of his style of play. He definitely ranks as one of hockey's all time great villains, but to an objective observer his villainous swagger would not hurt his ranking, and may even help it.

So is Chris Pronger one of the top ten defenseman in hockey history? Let's identify the candidates and see where Pronger ranks.

In my estimation, my top ten defensemen of all time includes the following nine players, ranked in no particular order:

Bobby Orr

Ray Bourque

Nicklas Lidstrom

Doug Harvey

Denis Potvin

Paul Coffey

Brad Park

Red Kelly

Eddie Shore

King Clancy

My ranking is hardly scientific, though I do put more emphasis on "legacy" in these rankings than some people. I consider it to be a generational equalizer. It's pretty hard to compare Shore and Clancy and even Harvey and Kelly to the modern day defensemen, but their career legacies are too important to ignore.

I would rank Pronger in a group of remarkably similar defensemen who all deserve consideration for the tenth spot: Chris Pronger, Larry Robinson, Scott Stevens, Chris Chelios, Tim Horton, Serge Savard, Viacheslav Fetisov. We could all name no shortage of other candidates, but I'm going to just focus on these seven for now.

My initial reaction is to give the edge to Larry Robinson and Viacheslav Fetisov. I'd probably rank Pronger right there with Stevens and Chelios. Wow! How do you choose between those three? Pronger's playoff performances might give him the edge, but realistically there is not much to choose between these three.

It certainly seems plausible that Chris Pronger is a top 20 defenseman of all time. He may fall to the 20-30 range on a number of lists because of his villainous ways. But objective observers have to give Pronger his due. Realistically, yes Chris Pronger is a top 20 defenseman in NHL history. I would think a ranking anywhere between 15 and 25 is very reasonable.

Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2015?

On Monday the Hockey Hall of Fame inducts Dominik Hasek, Mike Modano, Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake, coach Pat Burns and referee Bill McCreary. 

But today I thought it would be fun to take a look at the potential class for 2015.

Headlining first year eligible players is Nicklas Lidstrom.

Lidstrom is one of the very best defensemen to ever play the game. Many insist he is the 2nd best. A few even dare to suggest he was better than Bobby Orr.. In 1,564 career games, all with the Red Wings, Lidstrom finished with 1,142 points. He appeared in 11 All-Star Games throughout his career, won the Norris Trophy a record seven times including three straight years on two occasions and also won the 2002 Conn Smythe Trophy all while hoisting the Stanley Cup four times. This is as big of a lock as you'll ever see.

There are two other locks, in my eyes, but their eligibility seems to be in question. 

Sergei Fedorov was just a fantastic player, scoring 1,179 points (including 483 goals) in just 1,248 career games. He was a six-time All-Star Game participant, won the Hart Trophy in 1993-94 as the MVP and also won the Selke Trophy twice as the best defensive forward.

In the regular season he could be accused of going through the motions but come playoff time Fedorov was at his best. Impressively Fedorov scored 20 or more points in four consecutive playoffs. He is a three time Stanley Cup champion. 

Fedorov continued playing in Russia until 2012 when he retired to become manager of  the KHL team Metallurg Magnitogorsk. However he came out of retirement to play two games with CSKA Moscow at the 2013 Spengler Cup.

As I understand it, the Spengler Cup participation will not delay his Hall eligibility but I stand to be corrected on that. Regardless if it is 2015 or 2016, Sergei Fedorov should be a lock.

A bigger question eligibility question mark might be Chris Pronger. Pronger, who last played in 2012, is a certain lock, too. Pronger is a Stanley Cup champion, two time Olympic gold medalist and NHL Hart trophy and Norris trophy winner. However Pronger has never officially retired, and as an injured player he is actually unable to do so until his contract expires thanks to the salary cap.

So can the HHOF induct a player who is still considered to be active, even though he has not played for the mandatory 3 year waiting time?

"He would be eligible in 2015 as far as the way the bylaw reads and as long, obviously, as he doesn't play again prior to his election," said Jeff Denomme, president and CEO of the Hockey Hall of Fame. "If there was any question on matters pertaining to any particular candidate's eligibility, I suspect that's something the board would raise at some point, though."

Let's assume he, too, is eligible. That gives us three locks for the class of 2015 in Lidstrom, Fedorov and Pronger.

Other first year eligible players include Jason Arnott, Andrew Brunette, Tomas Holmstrom, Ethan Moreau, John Madden, Sean O'Donnell, Dwayne Roloson, Brian Rolston, Steve Staios and Marty Turco.  It is unlikely any of these players will ever be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

It should also be noted that a notable female player will also become eligible in 2015, and should also considered to be a lock. Long time USA defenseman Angela Ruggiero was one of the strongest female players ever to play the game. The Hockey Hall of Fame has a spotty record when it comes to recognizing female players, but they should have a pretty obvious inclusion in Ruggiero.

Chris Pronger Hired By Department Of Player Safety.

Yes. Chris Pronger, one of hockey's all time SOB's.  This guy:

Chris Pronger: End of the Road?

Brilliant two piece video series on Chris Pronger by Sportsnet's Dan Murphy. Pronger was one of hockey's great villains. While his swagger is gone, Murphy does a great job of "humanizing" this monster of the ice:

Watch part 1 of the series below, and then I have a question for you:

My question for you: Is Chris Pronger one of the top ten defensemen of all time?

Howe, Yzerman Closely Watch Ovechkin, Pronger

Gordie Howe was in attendance at the Wachovia Center on Tuesday as the the Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals. Naturally, everyone wanted to know what Howe thought about the Caps sensational superstar Alex Ovechkin.

"His strength, and he moves so well," Howe told NHL.com. "He doesn't mind taking a whack to get a shot. Sometimes there's guys that don't like that, they just dump it in. He can absorb a pretty good check to get a shot on net. Any guy that does that for a team is a pretty good man."

"If he got any better he'd be scary," he added.

Howe also liked the way Ovechkin met with Howe.

"There's 18 guys sitting down and he's the only one who jumped up to shake my hand," Howe said. "He shows respect for the older players."

You can bet another Detroit Red Wings great was closely watching the Caps-Flyers game too, with his eyes squarely on Ovechkin and the Flyers Chris Pronger. Steve Yzerman, general manager of the Canadian Olympic team, was closely watching the superstar matchup, as in many ways this game was an Olympic audition for Chris Pronger. Full Story

Howe, Yzerman Watching Ovechkin, Pronger Closely

Gordie Howe was in attendance at the Wachovia Center on Tuesday as the the Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals. Naturally, everyone wanted to know what Howe thought about the Caps sensational superstar Alex Ovechkin.

"His strength, and he moves so well," Howe told NHL.com. "He doesn't mind taking a whack to get a shot. Sometimes there's guys that don't like that, they just dump it in. He can absorb a pretty good check to get a shot on net. Any guy that does that for a team is a pretty good man."

"If he got any better he'd be scary," he added.

Howe also liked the way Ovechkin met with Howe.

"There's 18 guys sitting down and he's the only one who jumped up to shake my hand," Howe said. "He shows respect for the older players."

You can bet another Detroit Red Wings great was closely watching the Caps-Flyers game too, with his eyes squarely on Ovechkin and the Flyers Chris Pronger. Steve Yzerman, general manager of the Canadian Olympic team, was closely watching the superstar matchup, as in many ways this game was an Olympic audition for Chris Pronger.

Pronger, once a Team Canada mainstay, is no longer a lock for international play. The 35 year old (as of Oct. 10th) had a poor 2006 Olympics. Yes, the veteran superstar is still one of the top defensemen in the NHL, but the plodding superstar was exposed as a liability in Turin due to his poor skating.

The 2010 Olympics will be played on NHL sized ice, perhaps mitigating concerns about Pronger's agility. That, combined with his big game reputation and familiarity with Canadian lock Scott Niedermayer, many believe Pronger will back with Team Canada.

Those chances will grow immensely if Pronger can establish strong play against Ovechkin. He is the only Eastern Conference shutdown defenseman likely to make the team. Western Conference defensemen may not have a lot of experience playing against Ovechkin.

With that in mind the curious Yzerman and his scouts were all watching the Flyers - Capitals game last night, the first of four meetings between the two clubs before the Olympics.

How did he do?

The Flyers, with home ice advantage and the last line change, opted to use Pronger and Matt Carle against the Ovechkin-Alexander Semin-Nicklas Backstrom line most of the night, although the Flyers did not flinch by any means if the mobile Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn ended up out there either. Timonen, a Finn, has traditionally played well against Ovechkin, although can be overpowered by the Russian.

Ovechkin was relatively quiet in the first period. In fact, Ovechkin's only dangerous shift came against Timonen and Coburn. I thought Pronger played well in the first against Ovie, holding the blue line smartly. Nicklas Backstrom surprised Pronger with a burst of speed early in the opening stanza, making the big man clumsily stumble although no scoring chance came from the play.

Period 2

In the second period Pronger drew an assist on the game's opening goal by Mike Richards. Pronger crossed the puck to Carle who made a brilliant slap-pass to Richards with the man advantage.

Ovechkin quickly responded thanks to a great coaching move by Washington's Bruce Boudreau.
He snuck Ovechkin out with the 4th line and against the Flyers third d-pairing of Danny Syvret and Ryan Parent. Syvret was used sparingly in this game, allowing for double shifting by Pronger, Timonen and Coburn.

The Flyers quickly found themselves back on the PP, only to have Pronger nullify by taking his own penalty due to his skating. He lost the puck at the Caps blueline, as both David Steckel (not a noted speedster) and Boyd Gordon exposed Pronger's weakness.

Half way through the period Ovechkin hurried Pronger with his intimidating forechecking, forcing Pronger to unwisely throw the puck up the middle of the ice. The result was a turnover in the zone, with Ovechkin getting the puck and scoring his second of the game. Pronger, who was too slow to get back into the play, could only smash his stick over the crossbar as the Caps celebrated.

On the next even-strength shift the Flyers put Timonen and Coburn out agains the top line, partly because Pronger and Carle had recently completed a power play shift. Alexander Semin, another lock on the Russian Olympic team, undressed Coburn in a brilliant solo effort to give the Caps a 3-2 lead. The Flyers went back to Pronger and Carle on the next even-strength shift.

One player who definitely would have caught Yzerman's eye on this night was Mike Richards.
In a similar goal to the game's opening tally, Mike Richards knotted the score at 3 thanks to another brilliant pass from Carle. Moments later Carle kept the puck in the zone and fired it on net, with an opportunistic Richards recording his hat trick goal. There are no doubts in my mind that Richards will be part of the Canadian Olympic team. Carle, with 4 assists on the night, improved his chances of playing with Team USA, too.

The Flyers power play was potent on this night. Washington took a lot of penalties which made Ovechkin's presence intermittent as he does not kill penalties.

Third period and OT

Unfortunately I did not get to see the third period with the same critical eye. I would love to see some time on ice breakdown against Ovechkin. Timonen and Coburn seemed to have their responsibilities increased as the game went on. They were on the ice for the Capitals 4th and 5th goals, but also scored the game tying (Coburn) and overtime game winning goal (Timonen).

Pronger continued to see ice time against Ovechkin as well, nicely foiling Ovie in OT. Ovechkin was guilty of trying to be a little too cute on that play. He would have been better advised to attempt an outright blow-by of Pronger and at least draw a penalty.

The Verdict?

All in all, I would have to say not a great night for Pronger. His slow feet were exposed by Ovechkin and by other Caps players a few times on this night. The only times Pronger seemed fully in control was when he slowed the game down to his own pace, an impressive feat he is famous for doing.

The question facing Team Canada must be if they want a player who can play at his own pace or at break-neck pace the Russians and other Olympic teams will throw at them?

If it were my decision I would say no to Chris Pronger on the Canadian Olympic team. I base this on his previous Olympics and watching him multiple times in the post-lockout NHL while he was on the west coast.

Slap Shots: Alex Ovechkin became the third player in NHL history to score at least three points in each of his team's first three games of a season when he scored two goals to go along with one assist in the Capitals' overtime loss at Philadelphia. The other players to start a season with three consecutive three-point games were Guy Lafleur (1975-76 Canadiens) and Peter Stastny (1982-83 Nordiques) - Elias Sports Bureau

NHL Suspensions Not Working Time to introduce standard penalties?

Maybe it's just my preoccupation with hockey. Maybe its because I don't really follow any other sport closely enough. So correct me if I'm wrong. But it seems to be me that there are far more suspensions in hockey for on-ice incidents than in the NBA, NFL and MLB for on-field/on-court incidents.

Other than the whole Ron Artest affair in the NBA a couple of years back, I can't think of any famous suspensions in recent years in any of those sports. You know, unless you count criminal behavior, drug and steroid abuse, gun violations and sexual assaults associated with those athletes. (tangent: hockey players aren't a whole lot better, don't kid yourself)

But in hockey, we seem to have a new suspension every other week. I'm not really sure why that is, other than the undeniable fact that hockey condones violence. Football and basketball are physical sports, but they don't condone violence. As a result hockey has a different mentality and culture. And though us hockey fans love it, it does not make it right.

But we need to start asking ourselves what we can do to change that. Suspensions clearly are not the answer. Players keep doing dumb things. Dangerous things.

You can suspend Chris Simon for 30 games for stomping on Jarkko Ruuttu with his skate, but then Chris Pronger comes along. Todd Bertuzzi can mug Steve Moore, but a dozen other muggings have occurred since, although none nearly as disastrous.

I write this the day after the 53rd anniversary of the Rocket Richard riot, where Montreal fans rioted following Richard's suspension for attacking a player and an official. While officials are generally safe, countless player assaults have happened since.

My point - suspensions are not working. Suspensions should be not only a punishment for a particular offender, but also act as a deterrent to all future culprits. Yet the same crimes are repeated time and time again.

This week's suspension of discussion is of course Chris Pronger's 8 game ban for stomping on Ryan Kesler. Not that there is much to discuss. Everyone thinks 8 games was not enough. He purposefully stepped on another player with his sharpened skate blade.

The NHL's answer could have been easy. We've already seen this despicable act this season, and the NHL slammed repeat offender with a 30 game sentence. I thought that was too lenient in Simon's case!

So you can imagine my reaction to Pronger's 8 game ban. I did not think Pronger's act was as premeditated as Simon's, so I would have been happy with a bit less. But this 8 game sentence accomplished only one thing - make us feel sorry Chris Simon, which not long ago was unthinkable.

Perhaps the time has come for standard penalties for various offences. Let every player and team know from this point on. If you step on a player you get X games. If you try to take off a guy's head with your stick, you get X games. If you mug another player you get X games. Superstar or not. Eliminate the debate. Or at least have minimum suspensions, as every case seems to have some sort of gray area.

To some degree that's what happens in the real world. Commit a crime and you go to jail for however long. Everyone knows up front.