The headline says it all. Chris Pronger, former Oiler who demanded to be traded from the team and won the Cup the next year, has been suspended for eight games for an incident involving Ryan Kesler of Vancouver.
Read the story from NHL (first link) or watch the video on YouTube (second link)
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=357028
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt5rBWarx6A
Fortunately, Kesler wasn’t hurt, but it was pretty obvious that Pronger was deliberate and even missed the first time, and stopped skating so he could connect to Kesler. Cheap shot by Pronger, but that’s expected. He’ll lose $609,756.08 in salary and will return for the final regular game of the Ducks. I don’t find fault with that penalty. If Kelser was hurt, I’d think it would have been more games.
Oiler fans loved him (myself included) when he was on our team, but once he shunned the team (for rumored reasons I won’t repeat here), he’s enemy number one. It’s common, and I’m guilty of it, but once in a while when I stop looking at it from a fan point-of-view but just as an observer, it’s pretty funny.
