California is Well Represented at Hockey Hall of Fame

Toronto, ON Canada is known for many things.  It is home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Blue Jays (the MLB team) and the Raptors (the NBA team, not the vicious dinosaurs from Jurassic Park) for one.  It is also a hotbed for Pro Wrestling/Sports Entertainment as the WWE and Ring of Honor constantly make 3 to 4 trips there a year as well as the UFC and other MMA events. It is where the upcoming and anticipated DC Comics extended universe film, Suicide Squad, starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto and Ben Affleck as Batman was filmed.  Even better than all of that, it is the long time home of the Hockey Hall of Fame.  A historic and prestigious shrine where the legendary elite of the sport are cherished and displayed for all of eternity (and also where Lord Stanley’s Cup calls a home).  This year’s Hall of Fame class was the largest in history as nine people (5 players, 2 builders and 2 for journalism/broadcasting) were rewarded with the highest honor of being inducted. Four of these inductees well represent California in fact, in some strong form to another.

For Nick Nickson, Angela Ruggiero, Chris Pronger , Sergei Fedorov,  Nicklas Lidstrom, Phil Housley, Bill Hay, Peter Karmanos jr and Bob McKenzie, their life time dedication and hard work in their respected fields for the sport of hockey has helped blaze a path that can inspire a whole new generation of inspiring players, builders and journalists around the world.  But four of these paths had to make their way in and through California first before these new Hall of Famers could finally reach to the highest echelon.

As hard it is for me to write about this as a long time Kings fan, the Anaheim Ducks were indeed the first team from California to win the Stanley Cup.  They did so in 2007 after acquiring a disgruntled but highly talented Chris Pronger from the Edmonton Oilers.  Ducks general manager at the time, Brian Burke (and the man who drafted Pronger into the NHL in Hartford) recently had this to say about the new inductee into the Hall of Fame to Eric Duhatshek of the Globe and Mail,

“It’s tempting to say [that Pronger] put us over the top, but I don’t think that’s fair to Scotty Neidermayer.  Once we had them both, we were good enough to be a championship team.”

And a Championship team they were as Pronger had 15 points in 19 games to help the Ducks become the first California team to win the honor of lifting the cherished Stanley Cup (and anger/annoy LA King and Sharks fans forever).

Pronger was also a 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist with the Canadian National Team at the 2002 and 2010 Olympic games, as well was a 1993 World Junior Gold Medalist and 1997 World Champion, which puts him in the elite “Triple Gold Club,” (A Stanley Cup, An Olympic Gold Medal and a World Championship (Not WWE).  He also won both the Hart Trophy for league MVP and the Norris Trophy for Best All Round Defenseman in 2000 making him the first player to do so since Bobby Orr accomplished it in 1972.  No one has done it since.

When accepting his Hall of Fame ring at the press conference conducted in the Esso Grand Hall at the Hall of Fame,  TSN’s “That’s Hockey” host Gino Reda mentioned the rare accomplishment and comparison Pronger shares with the legendary Orr.  Not known in the mainstream for his sense of humor, Pronger cracked a smile and replied, “Annnnd that’s where it ends,” to the laughter of the crowd.  Yes you heard it here folks, Chris Pronger can be funny!

Known more for his mean streak on the ice and moody temperment off of it, Pronger was the type of player that you loved to play with and for (well except for Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, am I right Flyer fans???) but hated to play against.  Sadly his career came to an abrupt end (well physically at least as on paper he technically still is on the books as a player for the Arizona Coyotes. No seriously!) when Pronger suffered multiple concussions and post concussion syndrome which prevented him from socializing with others, including his own family. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t even play with his own kids. The final nail was an eye injury after getting high sticked in a game against ironically Toronto.  Pronger’s vision in one eye is still slightly impaired which prevented him from participating in the Legends Alumni game 2 days later at the Air Canada Centre.  He was still at the event though, with a huge smile on his face on center ice with his fellow inductees, receiving his sharp Hall of Fame jacket as well as while behind the bench as Doug Gilmour‘s Canadian alumni team Head Coach. A fun and entertaining game that they won.

His playing career is over (shhh, don’t tell Shane Doan) but his NHL career continues on as a member of the NHL department of player safety (which is ironic considering all the suspensions he had as a player, which is even more ironic considering Brian Burke was the head of the department at the time and had to be the one to suspend Pronger all those times! Oh Hockey God scriptwriters, you guys rock!), his legacy though will go on living forever within the esteemed halls of the Hockey Hall of Fame.