Pronger...

[David]

It was pretty evident at Salt Lake City that Chris Pronger's talent is not in the same league as the other world class talents that were on the ice, including other Dmen like Blake and Niedermeyer on Canada's team.

He was obvioously a step behind there as well...but the thing that saves him and makes him excell in NHL is his physical play....take away that physical aspect of his game and his short comings were and are obvious...as is being exposed again on the big ice at this Olympics....sigghhhh....

 

[Metallian*]

The problem is Pronger's value here on HF is not indicative of how he plays in the present, it is rather indicative of how he played in the past. Pronger is not the player he once was, he is however a very good defencemen. I don't think Pronger is close to the perennial Norris contender he once was. The new NHL has also hurt his game, he hasn't looked great for the Canadians.

THANK YOU

finally someone agrees with me

i got blasted in the HF Chat for saying Pronger wasnt any good anymore weeks ago, now the Olympics have made my point

 

[gr8haluschak]

It was pretty evident at Salt Lake City that Chris Pronger's talent is not in the same league as the other world class talents that were on the ice, including other Dmen like Blake and Niedermeyer on Canada's team.

He was obvioously a step behind there as well...but the thing that saves him and makes him excell in NHL is his physical play....take away that physical aspect of his game and his short comings were and are obvious...as is being exposed again on the big ice at this Olympics....sigghhhh....

Umm I don't know what you were watching in 2002 but Pronger and Macinnis were the d pair that shut down the top US line, but yeah that must have been ALL Al right, as well you obviously have not watched ANY Oilers game this year because if you even watched 10 minutes you would realize how good he is and why he should be up for the Hart Trophy yet again, especially without this physical presence that he is supose to have and his only good trait.

 

[Metallian*]

Canada would probably be fine since they have 3 teams that would win gold.

3 teams that would win gold? they dont have ONE team that can score a goal at the moment..

 

[Dogbert*]

Oh ok the worst d man is pretty good, that is actually very funny, Tell me what has Regher done as well as McCabe and Foote and quite honestly did Bouwmester make one pass prior to the midway point in the third. Redden has been no existant out there as well and Blake at times has shown his age

Do you have a sign that says "I AM AN OILERS HOMER" stapled to your forehead? If so, it's redundant, so rip it off.

Each one has shown to me, at least once, that they can make a defensive play without taking a stupid penalty.

If you take into consideration the ice time these players get in proportion to their actual play, Pronger has been the worst.

 

[Towmater14]

Do you have a sign that says "I AM AN OILERS HOMER" stapled to your forehead? If so, it's redundant, so rip it off.

Each one has shown to me, at least once, that they can make a defensive play without taking a stupid penalty.

If you take into consideration the ice time these players get in proportion to their actual play, Pronger has been the worst.

HMM HMMM...speaking of homers. You of anyone spending as much time as you do on the Oilers site should know how good of a player the Pronger is. I think that it is ridiculous to even argue this. Am I an Oiler homer? ask me if I think that Ryan Smyth should be on this team?

 

[gr8haluschak]

I actually would love to know what some of you fools are honestly watching, tell me what d men have been better than Pronger, really better
Foote - has he even been out there ? oh yeah he was there for the nice two hander on Selenne
Blake - yeah he is probably been our best d man
Rehger - what has he done besides nothing at all, oh yeah and getting beat constantly out of the corners
McCabe - next
Redden - once again one good rush and be thankful he scored that because he has been slow all prelim round and would not have got back to help Foote in that Italy game
Bouwmester - as I said before has the guy even made a pass prior to this game ?

You sit there and talk all you want about Pronger but tell me really who's fault was that first goal - what is Pronger supose to split into two and take Selenne as well ? or split into three to intercept that pass, and take both Selenne and Koivu. As well tell me what did he do wrong up until the "penalty" he took - which was garbage with all the holding that was going on prior to that and I love how Selenne went down like he was shot.

 

[David]

Umm I don't know what you were watching in 2002 but Pronger and Macinnis were the d pair that shut down the top US line, but yeah that must have been ALL Al right, as well you obviously have not watched ANY Oilers game this year because if you even watched 10 minutes you would realize how good he is and why he should be up for the Hart Trophy yet again, especially without this physical presence that he is supose to have and his only good trait.

Umm, I don't know what you were watching in 2002 but Macinnis was a heart attack waiting to happen in Salt Lake City every time he touched the puck...Big Al MacInnis was a shell of his former self in Calgary by the time 2002 rolled around.

And what I said about Pronger stands...and it's being proven again at this Olympics.

 

[Dogbert*]

HMM HMMM...speaking of homers. You of anyone spending as much time as you do on the Oilers site should know how good of a player the Pronger is. I think that it is ridiculous to even argue this. Am I an Oiler homer? ask me if I think that Ryan Smyth should be on this team?

Of COURSE he's a good player. I didn't say "Pronger is the worst d-man on the team," I said "Pronger has been the worst d-man on the team."

The argument I'm hearing is that Pronger has not been the worst d-man on Team Canada so far because he's played a Norris-calibre season with the Oilers this year. Guess what? It doesn't translate. No matter how good he's been in the NHL, he's been God-awful in these Olympics.

And yes, Ryan Smyth should be on the team.

 

[gr8haluschak]

Do you have a sign that says "I AM AN OILERS HOMER" stapled to your forehead? If so, it's redundant, so rip it off.

Each one has shown to me, at least once, that they can make a defensive play without taking a stupid penalty.

If you take into consideration the ice time these players get in proportion to their actual play, Pronger has been the worst.

You might as well take off your anti Oilers glasses off as well since you have CLEARLY not watched much of the games, and if you did then you are clearly watching with bias, tell me what has Robyn done - Oh i know he has been the best d man out there right, and Dion would be second best if he was there. Tell me what has Pronger done wrong - was it his man who scored - nope tell me what other terrible things has he done lets hear it.

 

[gr8haluschak]

Umm, I don't know what you were watching in 2002 but Macinnis was a heart attack waiting to happen in Salt Lake City every time he touched the puck...Big Al MacInnis was a shell of his former self in Calgary by the time 2002 rolled around.

And what I said about Pronger stands...and it's being proven again at this Olympics.

Ok you have honestly no clue to sit there and say that about Macinnis, he was still up for Norris consideration, but that is a shell of his former self, good one, and tell me after the top line who was the best player out there against the States - Pronger

 

[Dogbert*]

Tell me what has Pronger done wrong - was it his man who scored - nope tell me what other terrible things has he done lets hear it.

Boneheaded penalties at the worst possible times, no hustle whatsoever, no physical play, utterly useless on the powerplay, can't catch easy passes to save his life...

Has Regehr been an all-star? Of course not! There's a ****in' thread dedicated to that. He's been very disappointing, and you'll see in that thread that I said that they picked the wrong guy for the big ice. You know what, though? He's been better than Pronger, by a country ****in' mile. Hell, McCabe's been better in his limited ice time, and you know what? I hate the Leafs more than the Oilers, so I have more reason to be biased against him than I do in Pronger's case. There goes your argument... although you're welcome to continue shoving your foot into your mouth.

One of us has a bias here, and here's a hint: it isn't me. You can't admit that your superstar defenseman has been no better than a pylon in these Olympics. I am going to end this argument now, because I'm feeling like I'm talking to the wall here.

 

[Lowetide]

Boneheaded penalties at the worst possible times, no hustle whatsoever, no physical play, utterly useless on the powerplay, can't catch easy passes to save his life...

Yeah sure, but that was a pretty cool cross check, eh?

 

[David]

Ok you have honestly no clue to sit there and say that about Macinnis, he was still up for Norris consideration, but that is a shell of his former self, good one, and tell me after the top line who was the best player out there against the States - Pronger

BEEEEP!!!! Wrong again. The winner of Norris in 2002 was Nick Lidstrom and the runners up were Rob Blake and Chris Chelios.

http://proicehockey.about.com/library/bltrophywin2002.htm

Al MacInnis was arguably, no, THE worst defender Canada had at Salt Lake City...and my statement about Pronger still stands...one thing that Pronger is very good at still is his first pass out.

 

[Phanuthier*]

I actually would love to know what some of you fools are honestly watching, tell me what d men have been better than Pronger, really better
Foote - has he even been out there ? oh yeah he was there for the nice two hander on Selenne
Blake - yeah he is probably been our best d man
Rehger - what has he done besides nothing at all, oh yeah and getting beat constantly out of the corners
McCabe - next
Redden - once again one good rush and be thankful he scored that because he has been slow all prelim round and would not have got back to help Foote in that Italy game
Bouwmester - as I said before has the guy even made a pass prior to this game ?

When your the best defenseman on the team, there's more expected of you.

 

[Narnia]

When your the best defenseman on the team, there's more expected of you.

Being the best defenseman on the team doesn't mean that Fat Quinn has to play Pronger 30 minutes a night when Team Canada plays 4 games in 5 nights. Pronger looked tired in the game and who can blame him. Fat Quinn is playing him 30 minutes a night and anyone is bound to get tired. Fat Quinn has 2 more defense pairings at his disposal and he shouldn't be playing any player 30 minutes a night with the schedule Team Canada has.

 

[NJ_Devil_Boy]

I would be surprised if after the Olympics, Pronger comes out and tells the world of his injury. He just doesn't look 100% out there.

 

[millions]

Yeah sure, but that was a pretty cool cross check, eh?

Yup. if your going to take a penalty, might as well make it worth it (considering some of the crap calls Pronger got nailed with).

BTW Lowetide, love the Seals photo...total style!

As for the Pronger slams, yes his season in Edmonchuck has been great, and yes, that mean nothing in translation to the Olympic games. But, by the same token, has Canada been giving up goals by the bucketload...no.

Canada didn't come to the Olympics to win 2-1 games. I think they had 6-3 games more in mind. I think focus on the defense for blame is somewhat misplaced. Where is the offence???

 

[BlueAndWhite]

I would be surprised if after the Olympics, Pronger comes out and tells the world of his injury. He just doesn't look 100% out there.

If not - he can always blame Quinn, McCabe, Gretzky or Bertuzzi.

 

[Rival39]

Do you have a sign that says "I AM AN OILERS HOMER" stapled to your forehead? If so, it's redundant, so rip it off.

Each one has shown to me, at least once, that they can make a defensive play without taking a stupid penalty.

If you take into consideration the ice time these players get in proportion to their actual play, Pronger has been the worst.

So why don't you tell me what the so called "Best player in the World (Iginla) " has done in the past two games? Or why Regher looks like a pylon out there. Don't give me this homer crap.

Pronger has struggled but so has the whole team. When you can't put the puck in the ocean its more than a D man problem.

 

[Narnia]

I would be surprised if after the Olympics, Pronger comes out and tells the world of his injury. He just doesn't look 100% out there.

IMO, Pronger should have done the same thing Niedermeyer did and withdrawn from the Olympics. He was injured vs Anaheim on February 6 blocking a shot. If Canada has so much depth, somebody could have taken over. The problem Quinn is doing is he's overplaying Pronger and he knows Pronger is injured. Canada played 4 games in 5 nights and Quinn plays him 30 minutes a night kniowing he's injured. Does Fat Quinn even have a brain?

 

[Narnia]

If not - he can always blame Quinn, McCabe, Gretzky or Bertuzzi.

It's not McCabe, Gretzky or Betuzzi's fault that Quinn plays him 30 minutes a night. That is Quinn's fault. Fat Quinn has 2 more defense pairings so there's really no need to be playing Pronger 30 minutes per game.

 

[Parch]

Giving up 2 goals and scoring none. That's not a defensive problem. I would hardly consider Pronger the reason Canada has lost the last 2 games. Since when is it his responsibility to be premiere superstar and carry this team?

There are many player worthy of criticism. Considering the complete lack of offense, I'd be more critical of the key forwards than a defenseman.

 

[Ironchef Chris Wok*]

Chris Pronger is losing battles to SAKU KOIVU

That broken bone is REALLY bothering him.

 

[Gord]

Giving up 2 goals and scoring none. That's not a defensive problem. I would hardly consider Pronger the reason Canada has lost the last 2 games. Since when is it his responsibility to be premiere superstar and carry this team?

There are many player worthy of criticism. Considering the complete lack of offense, I'd be more critical of the key forwards than a defenseman.

is what I was thinking, but this is giving everyone who ever thought Pronger is overrated a chance to say I told you so.
Regardless of the quality of Prongers play, Canada is losing as a team. There is a bigger list of poor Canadian players than good.
I wish Pronger would get benched. make you guys all happy and give him a chance to rest.