Chris Pronger Keeps It Bleeping Real

I was all set to tackle the issue of the Flyers on Day Three of my return to Cyber Space. In fact, I had my target set on the hot button issue of the day. Should John Stevens stay or go? But the more I thought about it, I realized the topic is as vanilla as Stevens himself. So, I decided to go in another direction with the Orange & Black.

This evening, I had the distinct pleasure of reading Tim Panaccio's article about Chris Pronger and his unwillingness to step on Captain Mike Richards' toes as a team leader. While what you could infer from what Pronger did not explicitly say was pretty interesting (it sure seems to me that there is a divide in the locker room between the young party boys - Carter, Richards, Hartnell and the veteran warriors - Pronger, Timonen, Lapierre, and Asham), I got the distinct feeling that Pronger is the kind of guy that I would love to hang out and have a beer with based on the following quotes:

“I’ve been in his shoes. It’s not [bleeping] easy. The expectations are high on him and on the team. We’re not playing to the best of our abilities, and a lot of that gets shouldered by the captain.

“He’s been here four years and sees how things have progressed from being a s----y team to a pretty good team, to having even higher expectations. I would think he has a better read on some of these guys than I do.

“It’s not like we’re not working hard or just out there bleeping around,” Pronger added. “We’re not putting the puck in the net. Little things like that, sometimes, you over-evaluate and over-analyze things. The simplest thing is to take a step back and look at it from a simple perspective.”

“How could we have won that game in Atlanta?” Pronger asked. “Could it have been that [3-minute] power play? Absolutely! Could it have been not to take that bleeping penalty-and go down 5-on-3? Absolutely! How about scoring some mutha effing goals 5-on-5?

“We need to make it [bleeping] happen on Thursday,” Pronger said. “It needs to [bleeping] happen now, so we can get over that hump and get this ship headed into the right direction.”

****Ok, I added the "mutha effing goals" to see if anyone was still paying attention.

Anyhow, kudos to Panotch for how he relayed Pronger's comments. I absolutely love how he found a way to include the "bleeped out" portions of his interview. It helps me as the reader get a better flavor about Pronger's state of mind. Plus, I now know that Pronger is a real guy and curses as much as I do, which makes me like him more by the day.

[Not to get off on a tangent here, but the way Panotch relayed Pronger's quotes is exactly what is needed in newspapers. Do you think there is any chance Panotch gets these quotes through his editor if he was still with the Inquirer? Not a chance in hell and this is why newspapers are dying. They are stuck on their high horse instead of delivering unfiltered news. Ok, I'm off my soap box. Let's get back to the post.]

All in all, I love the emotion relayed by Pronger. I just hope Party Boy Captain Richards takes note. This is the kind of leadership this team needs. Richards, it is time to take a damn stand and show that you care more about the team than where you and your boy Cartsy are heading out in Olde City after the game or on your day off. Which leads me back to my original column idea...

It's time for Stevens to go. Pronger's comments show that this team needs an attitude adjustment. It's not coming from the "Captain", so let's bring in a coach that can work with Pronger to overhaul the attitude of this team.

Good Night, Good Hockey.