Chris Pronger elected to Hockey HOF; Pat Quinn falls short

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What a bizarre course of events for Chris Pronger from this past weekend to Monday afternoon.

He went from being a Flyer with dead cap space who works for the NHL Department of Player Safety to being traded to Arizona in a salary-cap-circumvention deal to being elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“Nothing I've done has been the easy way, so I guess this would follow suit,” was Pronger’s typical snark response during a conference call.

The former Flyers defenseman was a certainty to get a call from the Hall, but Pat Quinn, who took the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final in 1980 and coached them to the longest unbeaten streak in NHL history (35 games) was snubbed in the Builders category.

Pronger's career ended tragically during the 2011-12 season because of post-concussion syndrome.

A former Hart and Norris Trophy winner, Pronger was among seven named to the 2015 class, including five players.

Nick Lidstrom, the most dominant offensive defenseman of that era, who won seven Norris Award trophies, was also elected to the Hall of Fame.

“It's very humbling to be included alongside the esteemed group of players and builders in the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2015,” Pronger said. “It's very exciting to think about becoming an honored member. It's certainly something I didn't expect while playing.”

Ironically, Pronger, who works in the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, had his Flyers contract traded to Arizona over the weekend so the club could get some salary cap relief for the coming season.

Pronger, who established himself as one of the most feared defenseman patrolling the blue line during an era that also included Scott Stevens, played 18 seasons and 1,167 games with 698 points and, of course, 1,590 penalty minutes.

Stevens intimated people with his ruthless shoulder checks to head -- legal at the time -- which would be deemed illegal in today’s NHL.

Pronger? He used his stick like Russell Crowe used a sword in Gladiator.

“I have a very short temper,” Pronger said.

He last appeared for the Flyers on Nov. 19, 2011 in Winnipeg, felled by an ocular concussion that left him with disabling post-concussion syndrome to this day.

That injury initially occurred Oct. 8 in Philadelphia when he was struck by a stick to the eye from Toronto’s Michael Grabovski.

Pronger played less than three seasons as a Flyer (145 games), serving as a captain for part of that time, while compiling 92 points and 133 penalty minutes.

After taking a season off to heal unsuccessfully, he then began doing work for the Flyers' scouting department, analyzing video on future prospects before joining the league office last October. The NHL mandated that his player contract remained valid on long-term injury with the Flyers as dead cap money.

The 6-foot-6 Pronger, who turns 41 this fall, began his NHL career with the Hartford Whalers, but firmly established himself as a nasty, punishing defenseman after being traded to St. Louis in 1995. He spent nine seasons with the Blues.

Pronger won his only Cup with Anaheim in 2007. He also took the Oilers (2006) and the Flyers (2010) to the Cup Final after being traded to those clubs.

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