Chris Pronger Jersey Card

Time for the final entry in my Month Of Scary...

Once (maybe twice) every decade, a truly elite player joins the NHL with something more than the sum of just his talents; his meanness and penchant for dirty hits make him twice as dangerous, as opponents never know what to expect from him.

The 1910s brought us Sprague Cleghorn, the 1920s and 1930s are still synonymous with Eddie Shore, the 1940s and 1950s had Gordie Howe, the 1970s gave us Bobby Clarke, the 1980s brought us Mark Messier and Chris Chelios, the 1990s gave us Eric Lindros and Chris Pronger, the 2000s made way for Zdeno Chara and the 2010s, apparently, have Brad Marchand, as he's now a 30-goal scorer and World Cup champion with Team Canada.

Of note that I specified "truly elite", which is why very good players like Vincent Damphousse and Brendan Shanahan were omitted from this list.

Which brings me to Pronger who, like Shanahan before him, went from bruiser to working with the league's suspension-regulating committee, the Department of Player Safety, along with fellow former heavy hitters Rob Blake and Stéphane Quintal, the head of the department.

Yes, it's ironic that players who did get into trouble with questionable hits in their own time now get to dish out the punishment to those who do it now, but Pronger may be the weirdest of all; not only is he still being paid as an "active/concussed" player who hasn't played in a game since the 2011-12 season, but he's also a guy who was once suspended twice in the same seven-game playoff series.

The five-time All-Star and four-time Team Canada Olympian (winning gold in 2002 and 2010) is thus still feared by NHLers, it's just that he now does it in a suit and tie.

Here he is sporting the Anaheim Ducks' black uniform from the mid-00s, on card #HS-CP from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Trilogy set and Honorary Swatches sub-set:

It features a small matching game-worn jersey swatch.

Chris Pronger Jersey Card

I mentioned a trade I made recently on yesterday's Don Beaupre post, which was two cards for one, with Frank from Frank's Hockey Autograph Blog. The second player going my way in the trade was Chris Pronger:

It's card #J-CP from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Series 1 collection, featuring a black jersey swatch to match with the picture of the towering defenseman, then suiting up for the Anaheim Ducks. The design is a little simplistic, and the card's corners are a little worn out, but I don't care.

I used to really not like Pronger. He started off with the Hartford Whalers, who picked him second overall in 1993. Perhaps it had to do with the team he was on, but he looked lost on the ice back then, like a deer in the headlights. And he had a multitude of off-ice problems, including bar-room brawls and DUIs. He only played in Hartford for two seasons before getting traded to the St. Louis Blues.

It was while in St. Louis that I really started to dislike him. He was thuggish, mean, and pretty much just evil, using his 6'6'' frame and 220 pounds to attempt to injure opponents rather than just take the puck away from them and try to get it in the opposing net. He played for Team Canada at the 1998 Olympics alongside other brutes like Eric Lindros, and I was happy when they choked, though I was sad for Wayne Gretzky and Joe Sakic. He was eventually made the Blues' captain and won the Hart and Norris trophies - three titles I think should have gone to teammate Al MacInnis instead.

He was traded to the Edmonton Oilers prior to the 2005-06 season, and was selected for the Olympics for a third straight time - and second major choke job, finishing in 7th place. But something special happened in the playoffs, where Pronger actually, magically, for a two-month period, became the best player in the NHL, putting up 21 points in 24 dominant games as the Oilers came up one goal short of the Stanley Cup, losing it to the Carolina Hurricanes in 7 games.

He would win the coveted salad bowl the next season... as a member of the Ducks, after having requested a trade out of the tundra and perpetual snow. I didn't follow him as much in Anaheim, but I had stopped hating him as a player, because he seemed to concentrate on actually playing the game, rather than always going for the kill.

His trade to the Philadelphia Flyers in June 2009 made a whole lot of sense, seeing as the Broad Street Bullies had an identity he fit right into, were contenders every other year (and a playoff-bubble team the next), and loved tough-playing giants with some talent. Unfortunately for them - and him - karma happened, and not only was his vision impaired after a high-stick to the eye by Mikhail Granovski, but a career of bone-crushing hits caught up to him in a (normal, hockey-play) collision with Martin Hanzal, leaving him with post-concussion issues that all but ended his career.

In the grand scheme of things, I think he would have deserved to play out his contract for having cleaned up his game of late, but it's also hard to cry for a guy who's won a Cup, a Norris, a Hart, Olympic gold, captained two teams, and made millions of dollars while injuring dozens of his peers. The Hall Of Fame will likely come calling, possibly even as a first-ballot inductee.

Chris Pronger Jersey Card

It could end tonight. The Stanley Cup could be awarded to the Chicago Blackhawks. Or the Philadelphia Flyers could keep making this a ''homers' series'' and take it to gave 7.

For that to happen, though, you'd need a monster performance by Chris Pronger, seen here wearing the Edmonton Oilers' home jersey in their Cup run the only season he played there, when they lost it to the Carolina Hurricanes partly due to an injury to Dwayne Roloson. I'm one of those who think Pronger would have won the Conn Smythe had the Oilers won; he was just that good. I had never liked him before, but wanted him on my team ever since. On the other hand, had I been on the Oilers' coaching staff, I would have had the players wear the alternate jersey at least once in the finals, to change the mood.

Pronger won the Cup the next season with the Anaheim Ducks, so he got his, but I have the sneaking suspicion that if the Flyers won it this year, he'd get Conn Smythe consideration again, as he and Claude Giroux are probably the main reasons why they have made it so far.

This card (#FF-CP) is from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Ice set, the Frozen Fabrics insert sub-set. As always, the Ice set delivers beautiful cards, and this one has a game-worn piece of jersey on its front to boot; it retails between $35-50. Great stuff!