Top 100 Oilers: Chris Pronger (15)

6 years ago

Even before the Edmonton Oilers went on a magical playoff run that took them all the way to Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup finals, it was obvious the Oilers had found the franchise cornerstone they needed in Norris Trophy winner Chris Pronger and that the five-year contract they’d signed him to during the summer of 2005 was a bargain. Pronger was a stud, a skilled, mean, minute-eating freak and the straw that stirred the drink.

What wasn’t obvious is that date with the Carolina Hurricanes, as the eighth seed out of the Western Conference wasn’t the beginning of a return to contention by the Oilers most fans anticipated. It was a blip on the screen, a one-off. While Pronger embraced the city, his wife Lauren, a wealthy St. Louis socialite, never did. She didn’t want to be here. In the end, that simple truth spelled the end of Pronger’s tenure as an Oiler after 80 regular season games and 24 more in the playoffs. It marked the beginning of a decade of defeat and some of the darkest days in the history of this storied franchise.

Chris Pronger

Defense
Born Oct 10th, 1974 — Dryden, ONT
Height 6.06 — Weight 210 [198 cm/95 kg]

Drafted by Hartford Whalers

Round 1 #2 overall 1993 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
1993-94	19	HAR	81	5	25	30	-3	113	174	2.9
1994-95	20	HAR	43	5	9	14	-12	54	94	5.3
1995-96	21	STL	78	7	18	25	-18	110	138	5.1
1996-97	22	STL	79	11	24	35	15	143	147	7.5
1997-98	23	STL	81	9	27	36	47	180	145	6.2
1998-99	24	STL	67	13	33	46	3	113	172	7.6	2050	30:36
1999-00	25	STL	79	14	48	62	52	92	192	7.3	2389	30:14
2000-01	26	STL	51	8	39	47	21	75	121	6.6	1415	27:45
2001-02	27	STL	78	7	40	47	23	120	204	3.4	2299	29:28
2002-03	28	STL	5	1	3	4	-2	10	11	9.1	108	21:39
2003-04	29	STL	80	14	40	54	-1	88	203	6.9	2197	27:28
2005-06	31	EDM	80	12	44	56	2	74	155	7.7	2239	27:59
2006-07	32	ANA	66	13	46	59	27	69	166	7.8	1789	27:06
2007-08	33	ANA	72	12	31	43	-1	128	182	6.6	1872	26:00
2008-09	34	ANA	82	11	37	48	0	88	196	5.6	2209	26:56
2009-10	35	PHI	82	10	45	55	22	79	175	5.7	2126	25:56
2010-11	36	PHI	50	4	21	25	7	44	112	3.6	1125	22:30
2011-12	37	PHI	13	1	11	12	1	10	23	4.3	292	22:29
9 yrs		STL	598	84	272	356	140	931	1333	6.3	10459	29:03
3 yrs		ANA	220	36	114	150	26	285	544	6.6	5870	26:41
3 yrs		PHI	145	15	77	92	30	133	310	4.8	3543	24:26
2 yrs		HAR	124	10	34	44	-15	167	268	3.7
1 yr		EDM	80	12	44	56	2	74	155	7.7	2239	27:59
Career			1167	157	541	698	183	1590	2610	6.0	22111	27:28

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
1995-96	21	STL	13	1	5	6	0	16	20	5.0
1996-97	22	STL	6	1	1	2	0	22	19	5.3
1997-98	23	STL	10	1	9	10	-2	26	24	4.2
1998-99	24	STL	13	1	4	5	-2	28	43	2.3	466	35:53
1999-00	25	STL	7	3	4	7	0	32	22	13.6	212	30:14
2000-01	26	STL	15	1	7	8	10	32	35	2.9	508	33:50
2001-02	27	STL	9	1	7	8	5	24	16	6.3	251	27:51
2002-03	28	STL	7	1	3	4	3	14	15	6.7	172	24:36
2003-04	29	STL	5	0	1	1	1	16	8	0.0	139	27:54
2005-06	31	EDM	24	5	16	21	10	26	61	8.2	743	30:57
2006-07	32	ANA	19	3	12	15	10	26	58	5.2	574	30:11
2007-08	33	ANA	6	2	3	5	-1	12	12	16.7	145	24:14
2008-09	34	ANA	13	2	8	10	4	12	27	7.4	354	27:13
2009-10	35	PHI	23	4	14	18	5	36	41	9.8	668	29:03
2010-11	36	PHI	3	0	1	1	-3	4	4	0.0	42	13:55
Career			173	26	95	121	40	326	405	6.4	4274	29:41

NOTABLE

EDMONTON, AB – JUNE 12: Chris Pronger #44 of the Edmonton Oilers in action against the Carolina Hurricanes during game four of the 2006 NHL Stanley Cup Finals on June 12, 2006 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Hurricanes defeated the Oilers 2-1 to take a 3-1 game series lead. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

I can’t think of anybody in the history of the franchise, save for perhaps owner Peter Pocklington after he sold Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings, who went from hero to villain as quickly as Pronger did when his trade demand went public within days of Game 7. Obtained from the St. Louis Blues in a deal that sent Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka the other way, Pronger, a former Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy winner, arrived with five-year deal worth $31.5 million in his pocket. Pronger was the biggest catch during a summer and a season that would see GM Kevin Lowe add Michael Peca, Jaroslav Spacek, Dwayne Roloson and Sergei Samsonov in the lead-up to that fabulous playoff run.

“There’s nothing in the game he cannot do,” head coach Craig MacTavish said when Pronger was acquired from the Blues on Aug. 2, 2005. “There’s nothing in the game that he does not excel at. He’s got an edge to him, which we all know, in our division, is going to be really important this year.” It didn’t take very long for fans around here to find out MacTavish was understating in the extreme. As the season unfolded, Pronger more than delivered on his advance billing by any measure you’d care to use. He was the game-breaker and difference-maker the Oilers needed.

Pronger could move the puck. He had a great first pass. He battered opponents. He played the tough shutdown minutes. Pronger raised the bar on expectations. He wielded great influence in the dressing room. Pronger averaged 27:59 of ice time during the regular season, fourth-highest in the NHL. He tallied 12-44-56, the second-highest point total, at the time, of his career. He averaged 30:57 of ice time in the playoffs, second only to Nick Lidstrom. His 21 playoff points led the team and ranked third overall. He scored the first penalty shot goal in the history of the Stanley Cup final. Then, just like that, Pronger’s time as an Oiler was soon over.

THE STORY

Lauren Pronger spent more time living at the couple’s home in St. Louis than she did in Edmonton during the season. There had been trouble brewing for months. While I’ve got to admit I never got a whiff of that discord during the season – nobody in the local media corps did – Lowe, management and the ownership group was well aware of it. The Oilers kept a lid on all of it during the season, hoping it would sort itself out. Then, the lid blew off – two days after the Oilers lost Game 7, veteran Toronto writer Al Strachan, a pal of Pronger’s agent, Pat Morris, broke the story. Pronger wanted out.

Lowe ended up trading Pronger to the Anaheim Ducks for Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid and two first-round draft picks – one the Oilers traded to Phoenix, the other they used to select Jordan Eberle, and a second-rounder they traded to the New York Islanders that was used on Travis Hamonic. Fans, still outraged at Pronger demanding out, didn’t much care for the return, either. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more stressful time in trying to piece all this together on the heels of an incredible playoff run,” Lowe said. “It was the last thing we wanted to do.”

Without Pronger, the Oilers wouldn’t have got within a $5 cab ride of that Game 7 loss to Carolina in 2006. Yes, many others, like Roloson, Fernando Pisani, Shawn Horcoff, Ryan Smyth and Ales Hemsky, played significant parts in that playoff run, but Pronger was the horse that team rode in on. Despite off-ice issues and trouble percolating on the home front for months, Pronger put on his gear, went out the gate and delivered everything, and then some, anybody could reasonably expect during his time as an Oiler.

This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.

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