Interesting article here....I loved Pronger in Edmonton. Such a shame it had to end like this. Hope Robbie Schremp does justice to #44
'Now they'll be hating me'Former Oilers defenceman Chris Pronger knows he's Public Enemy No. 1 in EdmontonJim Matheson, The Edmonton JournalPublished: Tuesday, September 19, 2006
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Chris Pronger knew he would be portrayed as a villain after he asked the Edmonton Oilers to trade him just days after the team lost the Stanley Cup final to the Carolina Hurricanes in June.
But the 31-year-old all-star defenceman wasn't prepared for some of the vitriol that was dumped on him by slighted fans.
"I knew I'd be Public Enemy No. 1 ... but I'm pissed off by all the rumours and innuendo surrounding my leaving," Pronger, now a member of the Anaheim Ducks, said Monday.
"I've heard all the nasty stuff, about all my girlfriends ... that I've got more kids than I started with. I must have six kids out there.
"It started off with I slept with so-and-so, and I'm having kids, then it moved to my wife sleeping with some of my teammates. I was supposed to be having a kid with a reporter, then she said, 'I don't know what they're talking about.' Then it went from story to story.
"Some people even took my rental furniture from my house and burned it."
Pronger, the best player to wear an Oilers uniform since the team's glory days in the 1980s, categorically denied all the stories, saying once again it was a mutually agreed-upon family decision to pull the plug on the Oilers after just one season. He said he liked the city and loved the competitive fire of his old team. He just wanted to live elsewhere.
The six-foot-six native of Dryden, Ont., wouldn't say why, exactly, but it may be because his wife, Lauren, never really warmed up to Edmonton.
The family bought a house in Irvine, and plan to live in California year-round. Oilers forward Marty Reasoner bought Pronger's old home.
"The fans have every right to feel how they feel," admitted Pronger.
"Some understand, some don't care. Others, I'm sure, want to tell me to screw off.
"I know now Edmonton is another city where I'm going to get booed. Part of the trade, I think, was getting 20,000 people in Edmonton to boo me. I'm sure Mike Comrie was tickled pink in Phoenix when I left.
"Now, he'll be the second-most hated man coming back to play there. I'm sure I'll get booed every time I touch the puck, every time my face is on camera. I'm sure there'll be some great signs when I come back (his first visit is Nov. 28), too.
"Fans are fickle ... it's the nature of the beast. You're an idol when you're on their team. They love to hate you, hate to love you. Now, they'll be back hating me. They always did when I was on other teams," said Pronger.
But Pronger was a little surprised his request to be traded upset so many fans in Edmonton.
"Players ask to be traded every day. Teams trade players all the time, but when a player asks to be traded, he's a jerk.
"I just wanted to make a decision on my own. In the city where it happens, fans don't like it, of course. They call you a traitor, a quitter. He's this, he's that. I'm sure if you looked in the dictionary, you could find 15 different adjectives people want to use for what I did.
"But they don't live in that guy's shoes. They don't live his life," said the father of two young children.
"It's easy to be an armchair quarterback," said Pronger, whose Ducks lost to the Los Angeles Kings 7-1 in pre-season action on Monday night.
"I'm not the first player who wanted a trade out of Edmonton. (Mark) Messier, gone. (Paul) Coffey, gone. Others (stars) have been traded over the years. Jari Kurri. Glenn Anderson. Grant Fuhr. Kevin Lowe got traded," said Pronger.
Pronger agreed to a five-year contract for $31.25 million US with the Oilers in August 2005.
He came here in a blockbuster trade for three defencemen: Eric Brewer, Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch. He seemed happy then, but cracks apparently began showing during the season.
Oiler general manager Kevin Lowe was told there were concerns, long before the playoff run began.
"We met (Pronger and his agent Pat Morris) a couple of times. I didn't say I wanted to be traded, but we talked.
I talked to MacT (head coach Craig MacTavish), too. We didn't have anything to hide. We wanted to be upfront.
"It wasn't like it affected my play," said Pronger, who had an outstanding season and would likely have won the playoff MVP award if the Oilers had beaten the Hurricanes in the final. He routinely played more than 30 minutes a night through four playoff rounds over two months. And he never got tired.
Lowe could have played hardball and told Pronger he wouldn't trade him because he had four years left on his contract, or waited months into the season to see if more teams got involved in the bidding. But he felt that would have been counterproductive.
"I did think about it, at first," said Lowe, "but I knew there was no way he was coming back to play with us. We couldn't force him. He doesn't need the money. He had taken his stance and couldn't go back on it. How could he?
"If I let him sit, and we got well into the season, I also felt the pressure might be on us to trade him and we get less of a deal. We'd get replacement players for the season, but not young ones for down the road. And I wanted that," said Lowe, who secured winger Joffrey Lupul, a
28-goal man last season, and Czech defenceman Ladislav Smid. He also got a first-round 2007 draft pick and another if the Ducks go to the Stanley Cup final in any of the next three seasons.
"We never had to go down that road (being forced to sit for a trade), thankfully. The Oilers handled it in a very professional manner," said Pronger.
"I think, normally, teams that hold on to a player devalue the asset," said Pronger, who knew Ducks GM Brian Burke once wheeled and dealed to draft him in 1993 when he was Hartford's general manager and that Burke was likely trying hard to get Pronger back.
The trade was made in three weeks, pretty quick for a guy who's one of the three best blue-liners in all of hockey.
"Quick? Depends where you're sitting, when you say it happened fast," said Pronger. "You sit there and listen to rumours for three weeks and you tell me if that's short or long, hearing rumours that are baseless and not factual. Stories made up. And your wife has to listen to the crap."
Back to last summer, Pronger was glad to get out of St. Louis, where the team was struggling and money was tight. Edmonton seemed like a panacea, but nothing is forever, obviously.
"I think teams know it might be hit-or-miss when a player signs on for a long time," said Pronger. "Getting traded to Edmonton was fine with me at the time. "At the end of the day, though, you just try to do what's best for you and your family," he said.
"I have nothing bad to say against the city of Edmonton. I liked it there. I had a fun year playing. It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life."
jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.comhttp://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/sports/story.html?id=9c01901c-6c39-42f7-922b-34ac94a6a993&k=8910&p=1
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