They changed the rules
http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/hocke ... bout-time/

Good for pronger and hhof members

I hope he is mostly remembered as a Blue, rather than as a Duck or Flyer.

Robb_K wrote:I hope he is mostly remembered as a Blue, rather than as a Duck or Flyer.

Or an Oiler. Although he played a big part on that team the last time they were respectable

Blues14 wrote:

Robb_K wrote:I hope he is mostly remembered as a Blue, rather than as a Duck or Flyer.

Or an Oiler. Although he played a big part on that team the last time they were respectable

lauren wouldn't allow it.

Robb_K wrote:I hope he is mostly remembered as a Blue, rather than as a Duck or Flyer.

I would guess that he'll be remembered as a journeyman who had success wherever he went.

Robb_K wrote:I hope he is mostly remembered as a Blue, rather than as a Duck or Flyer.

+1 Robbk.I hated it when Bill Laurie basically order that trade.I hated that trade,the Gilmore and Joey Mullen trade also.I also didn't, like letting Hull and Pavol Demitra walk to become free agents.But Pronger trade for Brewer, Wowitka(I know spell wrong) and the other Defenseman who never play for the Blues or in the NHL was a bad trade!.I remember John Davidson saying he would have Love to have Chris Pronger on the Blues when Dave Checketts group bought the Blues.

What a joy it was to watch Pronger play. Those lazer like tape to tape outlet passes were the best I've ever seen. When I saw the opposing puck carrier coming down Pronger's side, I couldn't wait to see how he was going to win this confrontation.

Can you imagine how much more formidible this team would be going into the playoffs if #44 was our #1 dman?

barnburner wrote:What a joy it was to watch Pronger play. Those lazer like tape to tape outlet passes were the best I've ever seen. When I saw the opposing puck carrier coming down Pronger's side, I couldn't wait to see how he was going to win this confrontation.

Can you imagine how much more formidible this team would be going into the playoffs if #44 was our #1 dman?

Man, that would be fun to watch.

barnburner wrote:What a joy it was to watch Pronger play. Those lazer like tape to tape outlet passes were the best I've ever seen. When I saw the opposing puck carrier coming down Pronger's side, I couldn't wait to see how he was going to win this confrontation.

Can you imagine how much more formidible this team would be going into the playoffs if #44 was our #1 dman?

+1 Barnburner.

Blues14 wrote:

Robb_K wrote:I hope he is mostly remembered as a Blue, rather than as a Duck or Flyer.

Or an Oiler. Although he played a big part on that team the last time they were respectable

I agree Blues14. Plus that was year when Oilers got in as the 8th Seed and went to the Finals and I always wonder if Dewayne Roloson the Oilers Goalie didn't get hurt in 1st game of 7 Game Stanley Cup Finals if they would won the Cup that year as the 8th seed.

Hull will probably always be the most remembered Blue and have the most impressive highlight reel/stats.

But there was at least a three or four year span where I thought Pronger was the legit best player (or top three) in the entire league. Technically (not counting gretzky), he's probably the best player to ever play for the Blues.

Too bad the Blues went the direction they did. I still think that early 00's team would have won a Cup led by Pronger and somehow upgrading the goalie.

EDIT: Who knows what this team would look like today if the Blues kept Pronger and traded everyone else.

Ladislav Bonita wrote:Hull will probably always be the most remembered Blue and have the most impressive highlight reel/stats.

But there was at least a three or four year span where I thought Pronger was the legit best player (or top three) in the entire league. Technically (not counting gretzky), he's probably the best player to ever play for the Blues.

Too bad the Blues went the direction they did. I still think that early 00's team would have won a Cup led by Pronger and somehow upgrading the goalie.

EDIT: Who knows what this team would look like today if the Blues kept Pronger and traded everyone else.

Absolutely. Pronger had injury problems from 2001 on but for my money when he was healthy he was the best defenseman of his generation. Better than Lidstrom, Niedermayer, Blake, and the rest. Lidstrom may have the Norris trophy count in his favor but he was never even in discussion for league MVP, Pronger won it. Prongs took a completely average Oilers team, strapped them all on his back and drug them to game 7 of the cup finals. If Prongs had only stayed healthy, he'd have been the second best defenseman of all time next to Orr.

I remember wondering why Pronger didn't fight that much. But, when he did actually drop the gloves, he destroyed his counterpart. Dude was nasty, skilled and could more than take care of himself and his teammates.

I remember posing the question on one of the other forums back when Pronger was in his heyday with the Blues, asking if he was HOF material at the time.

Most folks agreed at the time that he had the talent and numbers, but not necessarily the longevity or credentials. He certainly achieved those missing ingredients.

The thing I remember about Pronger, even when he was here, he had the ability to will the team to a win. It was kind of like the play Steen made the other night for the game-winning goal where he orchestrated the whole thing by himself. Pronger did that on a consistent basis. There are no metrics to substantiate it, but it was amazing as hell to watch.

As awesome as it was to have players like Hull, Federko, and others play for the Blues, I don't recall another play who had more of an impact on the outcome of a game like Pronger did.

barnburner wrote:What a joy it was to watch Pronger play. Those lazer like tape to tape outlet passes were the best I've ever seen. When I saw the opposing puck carrier coming down Pronger's side, I couldn't wait to see how he was going to win this confrontation.

Can you imagine how much more formidible this team would be going into the playoffs if #44 was our #1 dman?

This team automatically becomes a Cup favorite, IMO.

Slightly off-topic, but should the Blues retire #44? He's no a top-10 guy in games played for the Blues, but then again Gassoff only played four seasons.

insideout wrote:Slightly off-topic, but should the Blues retire #44? He's no a top-10 guy in games played for the Blues, but then again Gassoff only played four seasons.

If you retired #2 then you have to retire #44. The two were contemporaries for some of the best years the Blues ever had, and Pronger was arguably better. He played just 15 fewer regular season games with the Blues than MacInnis (598 and 613, respectively). He won a Hart trophy, a Norris, was an All-Star, etc. Pronger played over half of his NHL games with the Blues, and if not for an asinine owner might have finished his career here. He's just 5 games shy of being Top 10 all time for the team as it is. He deserves it.

After Pronger I think you're done retiring numbers for the foreseeable future. If Backes takes us to a Cup then we'll talk. If Tarasenko or Schwartz spend the majority of their careers here and continue to excel then they'd be next, but we're a good 15+ years from that conversation.

F$#% !!! That ain't Market Street.

bluetuned wrote:

insideout wrote:Slightly off-topic, but should the Blues retire #44? He's no a top-10 guy in games played for the Blues, but then again Gassoff only played four seasons.

If you retired #2 then you have to retire #44. The two were contemporaries for some of the best years the Blues ever had, and Pronger was arguably better. He played just 15 fewer regular season games with the Blues than MacInnis (598 and 613, respectively). He won a Hart trophy, a Norris, was an All-Star, etc. Pronger played over half of his NHL games with the Blues, and if not for an asinine owner might have finished his career here. He's just 5 games shy of being Top 10 all time for the team as it is. He deserves it.

After Pronger I think you're done retiring numbers for the foreseeable future. If Backes takes us to a Cup then we'll talk. If Tarasenko or Schwartz spend the majority of their careers here and continue to excel then they'd be next, but we're a good 15+ years from that conversation.

the guy can't be bothered to participate in tribute videos and we're going to honor him? fuck that guy and his khavanov'd arm.

insideout wrote:Slightly off-topic, but should the Blues retire #44? He's no a top-10 guy in games played for the Blues, but then again Gassoff only played four seasons.

No...and Gassoff's number should be retired either...but that horse is already out of the barn.

bluetuned wrote:

insideout wrote:Slightly off-topic, but should the Blues retire #44? He's no a top-10 guy in games played for the Blues, but then again Gassoff only played four seasons.

If you retired #2 then you have to retire #44. The two were contemporaries for some of the best years the Blues ever had, and Pronger was arguably better. He played just 15 fewer regular season games with the Blues than MacInnis (598 and 613, respectively). He won a Hart trophy, a Norris, was an All-Star, etc. Pronger played over half of his NHL games with the Blues, and if not for an asinine owner might have finished his career here. He's just 5 games shy of being Top 10 all time for the team as it is. He deserves it.

After Pronger I think you're done retiring numbers for the foreseeable future. If Backes takes us to a Cup then we'll talk. If Tarasenko or Schwartz spend the majority of their careers here and continue to excel then they'd be next, but we're a good 15+ years from that conversation.

Totally agree. Pronger is easily the best dman to ever wear the note. To me, it's a no brainer.

T.C. wrote:

bluetuned wrote:

insideout wrote:Slightly off-topic, but should the Blues retire #44? He's no a top-10 guy in games played for the Blues, but then again Gassoff only played four seasons.

If you retired #2 then you have to retire #44. The two were contemporaries for some of the best years the Blues ever had, and Pronger was arguably better. He played just 15 fewer regular season games with the Blues than MacInnis (598 and 613, respectively). He won a Hart trophy, a Norris, was an All-Star, etc. Pronger played over half of his NHL games with the Blues, and if not for an asinine owner might have finished his career here. He's just 5 games shy of being Top 10 all time for the team as it is. He deserves it.

After Pronger I think you're done retiring numbers for the foreseeable future. If Backes takes us to a Cup then we'll talk. If Tarasenko or Schwartz spend the majority of their careers here and continue to excel then they'd be next, but we're a good 15+ years from that conversation.

the guy can't be bothered to participate in tribute videos and we're going to honor him? fuck that guy and his khavanov'd arm.

He's not technically retired. There might be a reason why he doesn't do much with the Blues. He's still a paid employee of the Flyers for two more seasons.