End of an era in Toronto

September 16, 2002
- The Toronto Maple Leafs trade Patrik Elias (F) and Adam Deadmarsh (F) to the New York Rangers for Chris Pronger (D) and Petr Sykora (F). 

Pronger missed all but five games in his first year as a Maple Leaf, but the organization knew that what they were acquiring was worth almost a full season of waiting.

Over the next seven and a half years, Chris Pronger delivered.

449 games played (898points)
71 goals (497 points) 41 were powerplay goals (82 points), 15 were game winners (30 points)
240 assists (1,680 points)
524 pim (524 points)
+49 (49 points)
Without record of game-tying or overtime goals, that is 3,760 UFHL points over 7 full seasons.  That is an average of 537 points a year.

Two regular season championships.
Two Stanley Cup championships.
He was a member of the record-setting 11,000+ point season.
He gift-wrapped Johnson's GM of the year award in 2006/2007 when he contributed 661 points to a blueline that also boasted Lidstrom, Niedermayer, Gonchar, McCabe, and a kid named Weber.
He played in three Olympics and came home with gold twice.


He also endured a lock-out which all but certainly denied the Leafs a regular season championship. They cruised to 11,121 points the season after the lockout.

This season Pronger has 558 UFHL points this year bettering his lifetime Leaf average - baffling the critics who point at his age and wonder when the bottom will fall out.


March 8, 2010
- The Toronto Maple Leafs trade Chris Pronger (D) to the New York Rangers for Evgeny Grachev (F) and Luca Sbisa (D).

Pronger, with years left to play, was willing to stay with the rebuilding Leafs, but was moved due to the great respect GM Johnson has for his desire to be the best.  Said Johnson, "He is a thoroughbred racehorse.  He'd have been a great mentor for Schenn, but he is a champion, not a babysitter. I didn't want to have to look him in the eye in the event we don't make the playoffs or get knocked out in the first round. He isn't wired to handle losing."


Asked whether he felt that Grachev and Sbisa were fair return for Pronger Johnson quipped "Maybe, but if not, we still got our money's worth from Chris. Anything these two kids might do is a total bonus."

2/28 - 3/6 Players of the Week

This Week's top players:

3. Sergei Gonchar - Tampa Bay Lightning - 44

2. Chris Stewart - Chicago Black Hawks - 67

1. Bryan McCabe - New York Islanders - 67


Team of the week

New York Rangers - 419 pts


Trade Deadline is this week... Finalize deal ASAP. Read the board for more details....