EDMONTON -- If Chris Pronger looks omnipotent during the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, it's because he pretty much is.
Pronger is averaging 31.11 minutes per game, by far the most of any player in the Stanley Cup Final besides the goaltenders. He also is leading the Oilers in scoring with five goals and 16 assists in 22 postseason games headed into the pivotal sixth game of the 2006 Final tonight at Rexall Place.
It has been quite the debut season in Edmonton for Pronger, who was acquired from the St. Louis Blues last summer. In many respects, Pronger has turned the clock back to the 1999-2000 season, when he won both the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player and the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman. In 82 regular-season games, Pronger scored 12 goals and 44 assists, both close to his career highs. But Pronger has been seemingly more valuable to the Oilers than his stats indicate.
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Schedule / Links:
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| Gm. 1: CAR 5, EDM 4 | Photos |
| Gm. 2: CAR 5, EDM 0 | Photos |
| Gm. 3: EDM 2, CAR 1 | Photos |
| Gm. 4: CAR 2, EDM 1 | Photos |
| Gm. 5: EDM 4, CAR 3 OT | Photos |
Gm. 6: June 17, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Edmonton (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
*Gm. 7: June 19, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
| *if necessary |
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"I guess yes and no would be the answer to that question," Oiler coach Craig MacTavish said when asked if Pronger was reprising his Hart Trophy season. "We don't see him that much. The year that he won the Hart Trophy, obviously he was plus 80 or something that year or. It was ridiculous. We would see him, you know, four, five, or six times during the course of the year. I played with him a little bit when I was in St. Louis, but didn't know to the extent that he could dominate a game. I knew he was a terrific player, but, you know, this would have been at the top of my expectations to see the way that he plays the game each and every night.
"And, you know, he's just not once wavered," MacTavish said. "A lot of times guys that play that much over the course of the year and go through a grueling two months stretch of high-energy, high-pressure hockey, you can see that it starts to grate on them mentally and physically. And the last round, round and a half, I have not seen that. Just the opposite. He's brought more energy, and that's the one thing that I did not have an answer for, whether that grind of a lengthy playoff run would grate on him, and certainly it hasn't. He's been very impressive in that respect and takes care of himself. Eats right. Trains very well and very diligently. Always working out. A good lesson for everybody."
In fact, once the Oilers acquired Pronger, MacTavish looked for ways to maximize his minutes, not cut them back.
"I am so exhausted I can't even answer your question ? I am too tired," Pronger laughed. "Actually, going into the year I talked to him (MacTavish) about ice time and things like that. When I was in St. Louis, we always talked about trying to cut back ice time and when I got here he said there will be no cutting back, we're going to play you and play you a lot. So, it's something that you train all summer for it and continue to train during the season, knowing that you are going to play those minutes and knowing you got to keep your strength and stamina up.
"It's a matter of picking and choosing your spots and when to jump into the play and when to conserve energy and just by playing smart, sound positional hockey where you don't have to exert a lot of energy and waste it chasing guys out there."
Despite his personal achievements, Pronger hasn't won a Stanley Cup, and he has been one of the most vocal Oilers in terms of keeping the team's confidence high as they look to even the Stanley Cup Final in Game 6.
"Obviously as you said we're still two wins away and you know, it will be pretty disappointing if we don't win Saturday," Pronger said. "I don't think anybody in the locker room is looking passed that. We have got to win tomorrow and get to a Game 7. To even talk about what it's been like up until this point is useless because we're still fighting for our lives."
In Game 5, the Oilers overcame a hostile crowd on the road to stay alive, but he says the home game at Rexall Place won't offer the Oilers too many advantages.
"I don't think it's any difference," he said. "Obviously we got the last line change and the crowd behind you all the rest of that. We still got to go out and play the same style of game that we played in Game 5. We can't get over-hyped or overexcited because we're at home, you know, looking too far ahead. We have got to worry about that shift, that period, that game and all the rest of the cliches you can throw out. We can't get too far ahead of ourselves and get too excited because the building I am sure will be fired up and ready to roll. We have got to come out with that same desire and determination that we did in Game 5 to make sure that we're getting back to Carolina.
One win away, that's exactly the quote, one win away from being one win away. You have got to get that one win before you can get the other one."
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Chris Pronger and Raffi Torres converged on Doug Weight's body, putting the Carolina forward out for Saturday's Game 6.
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A strong, physical attack, led by Pronger, has played a role in the Final, with the Hurricanes having lost center Doug Weight to injury after a big hit by Pronger and Raffi Torres left Weight with an undisclosed upper-body injury. While Pronger figures the relentless physical pounding can't hurt, the Oilers' comeback hopes won't be realized by just a physical game alone.
"Well, they are still up 3-2, and we are one loss away from being done," he said. "We have got to continue to have that mindset of playing physical and try to stay out of the box as much as we can, but continue to play that physical style of hockey. Get the pucks in deep, and make sure they are paying a price every time they go back and touch the puck. Until we are able to win, it's all forethought. You have got to continue to stay the course and play the situation and stick with the game plan and make sure that, as Mac said, you continue with the body blows and try to wear them down. But we have got to go out and win Game 6 before we can start talking about the next step."
That kind of attitude also has left a lasting impression on MacTavish and he hopes the rest of the Oilers.
"Outside of his individual performance, just having him around had a pretty good residual benefit to the rest of our players, especially our young players, that see the professionalism that he brings to the game," MacTavish said. "And that's not just game night. That's off days, the way he eats, and it's been good benefit from that respect to everybody.
"I guess that's what great players do," MacTavish said. "That's what separates guys from being great players. And being part of championship teams is they make players around them better, and only the real greats have that ability. There's probably a handful of guys in the league, maybe less than that, that have that ability, and he's one of them."
