Chris Pronger hasn’t officially retired, but is now being considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame???

A month ago, it was announced that Chris Pronger was hired by the National Hockey League to work in the league’s Department of Player Safety. I wrote about his hiring and there potentially being a “conflict of interest” because Chris Pronger has not officially retired as a player, even though he played his last game as a player three years ago. (Pronger is still currently under contract with the Flyers, but they have him on long-term injured reserve to avoid a cap hit). My post about this is here.

This saga now has just taken another weird turn. Chris Pronger is eligible to be considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Say what?  This former (dirty) player has NOT officially retired, yet he can be considered for the hall of fame? How is that even possible for someone who hasn’t even retired? I know it’s been three years since Pronger has been able to play, but seriously? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Chris Pronger

NHL Hall of Fame President and CEO Jack Denomme stated in Pierre LeBrun’s article on ESPN:

“The new by-law imposes a more objective test for the three-year eligibility rule applicable to player candidates, in particular, resolving possible ambiguity as to the nomination of a player who has not played for more than three years due to injury, but who is still under contract and continues to receive compensation that counts for salary cap purposes or otherwise…”

Denomme went on to state that this isn’t just about Pronger. He (Denomme) included “here could be other players moving forward who are in a similar circumstance and the HHOF board doesn’t feel it should be concerned with medical or contractual issues when it comes to determining induction eligibility…”

Currently, the by-law regarding consideration to the hall of fame is stated as "a candidate for election in the player category must have concluded his or her career as an active player for a minimum of three playing seasons before his or her election." As of right now, a player would have had to announce they’re done playing before this consideration. The new by-law would state "a candidate is not eligible for election in the player category if he or she has played in a professional or international hockey game (which terms shall not be considered to include games played only or primarily for charitable or recreational purposes) during any of the three playing seasons immediately prior to his or her election." (The new by-law is subject to ratification, which is expected in March)."

So, what this means is that even though Pronger hasn’t announced his retirement (and hasn’t played a game since November 2011), he’s going to be eligible for consideration under the new by-law, even though he is still under contract with the Flyers (and is until 2017). 

Whatever happened to a player retiring before being considered for any Hall of Fame ballot or being hired by the league office? I guess that according to the league and the Hall of Fame, that isn't going to have any effect--which is unfair to those who are retired and should be considered for voting into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Personally, I don't think he warrants consideration. Yes, he did win the Hart Trophy back in 2000. However, he has a history of dirty play (such as stomping on Ryan Kesler's leg with his skate, in which he received an eight game suspension) and I don't think he should received first ballot consideration.

Link to Pierre LeBrun's article is here.

Is there a conflict of interest with Chris Pronger working for the NHL’s Department of Player Safety while still under contract with the Philadelphia Flyers?

On October 10, 2014, it was announced that the Flyers’ Chris Pronger was hired by the NHL to work in its Player Safety Department. However, Chris Pronger hasn’t officially retired as an NHL player and he is still under contract with the Flyers until June 30, 2017.

Seriously, how can that be possible? Doesn’t that put Chris Pronger in a situation to where he could possibly consult on possible punishment against one of his Flyers’ teammates? Last, why isn’t he playing?

Chris Pronger during his playing days with the Flyers.

I’ll answer the last question first. Chris Pronger (who has also played for the Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, and St. Louis Blues) hasn’t played an NHL game since November of 2011. On October 24, 2011, Pronger was hit in his right eye in a game against Toronto and has had problems ever since and was diagnosed with an ocular concussion. Last year, it was acknowledged by Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren that Pronger will never play hockey again.

Pronger said this about the injury and the lingering problems in an article on USAToday.com

"My brains were pounding out of my head," (Dave Isaac, USAToday Sports, October 15, 2014)

The Flyers have Chris Pronger on their long-term injury reserve list, which means that the Flyers won’t take a salary cap hit on Pronger’s contract AND Pronger is still being paid. Like I stated earlier, he has not officially retired as an NHL player, even though it has been acknowledged that that he will never play in another NHL game again. 

  

Chris Pronger shortly after his "career-ending" eye injury

According to Helene Elliott stated this in an article recently for the Los Angeles Times:

“Pronger won't judge cases involving the Flyers, but he's likely to weigh in on incidents involving their opponents, so he can influence whether a player is suspended before facing Philadelphia. Ron Hextall, the Flyers general manager, told reporters last weekend that he tried to clear the muddied waters and get Pronger off the team's cap but was told by NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly the collective bargaining agreement prohibited such a move.” (LA Times, 10/14/2014).

There was a statement in Elliott’s article from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stating that he “foresaw no problem” and that “He's done playing, and he gets paid no matter what, from the Flyers…He doesn't owe them anything."

The NHL seems to be making up the rules as they go. In my opinion, Chris Pronger should officially retire as a player before taking the job with the Department of Player Safety. He shouldn’t be getting paid by both the Flyers (being on long-term injured reserve) and the league. It is a conflict of interest and the only person who seems to be benefiting from it is Chris Pronger himself. It looks bad for the league. There have been statements stating that Pronger will be recused from any incidents involving the Flyers (Brian Leetch recused himself from any incidents involving the New York Rangers because that is where he spent most of his career).

Pronger, himself, stated in the USAToday.com article that he sees himself as an “advisor” and goes on to state:

"If you think I can persuade (Quintal, who dolls out the discipline) that much, then you're a better man than me," Pronger said. "And by the way, for the record, Shanny had a conflict with each and every team he played on. Any person who is in the player safety department on the former-player side is going to have a conflict somewhere. I understand there's money involved, but you're gonna have a conflict somewhere, somehow, a relationship with a player, GM, guys they've played with, teams, owners. There's gonna be conflicts all up and down the line."

I don’t agree with that statement because when Brendan Shanahan (who is now working for the Toronto Maple Leafs as president) was working for the league, Shanahan had already retired as a player, where Pronger still officially hasn’t. Stephane Quintal has also retired as a player before he started working for the league.

I do not think it's fair to the players who are currently playing in the NHL to have someone like Chris Pronger, who is considered to be an "active" player, in a significant role with the league. 

This statement in Elliott’s article best sums it up:

“It looks bad that Pronger is being paid by a team while working for the NHL (and apparently contradicts Article 26 of its collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Assn.). It's also shaky for the Flyers to be allowed to skirt the cap with a wink-wink, nudge-nudge agreement that Pronger won't retire. What could redeem this is Pronger's intelligence and resume, assets that merit allowing time to see if he can avoid favoring the hand that's feeding him.”

This is proving that Chris Pronger was allowed to “play dirty” on the ice (he was suspended eight times during his playing days), and he’s being allowed to “play dirty” with this new position he now has. It also shows that the league (Gary Bettman, Stephane Quintal, etc.) thinks they don’t have to abide by certain sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement if it works in THEIR favor.

The best thing for this situation is for Chris Pronger to announce his official retirement as a player. I also believe that it would be best if players were retired for a certain period of time before being approached about/hired for positions by the league office.  

Here are the links to the articles I used to read more into this:

Chris Pronger wouldn't have taken job with NHL if it hurt Flyers

Chris Pronger's new job with NHL has appearance of conflict

Chris Pronger injury: Flyers star 'is never going to play again,' team confirms