Philadelphia Flyers name veteran Chris Pronger new team captain –NHL News Update
Chris Pronger might not have realised it, but he has always been in a leadership role for the younger players on the roster. Philadelphia Flyers just made that fact a little bit more known to the world by announcing the 36-year-old veteran as their new team
captain for the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
Last season was his second with Philadelphia following a transition from a number of teams, including, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks.
He managed to play only 50 games last time around due to a number of injuries sustained and as many surgeries underwent. Pronger literally termed last season as, “The Season from h**l”, as he faced a knee surgery last August, foot surgery in December, broken
right hand and most recently, a discectomy due to a herniated disc in his back.
Seeing his vast experience in playing through injuries and having spent nearly 18 seasons in the major league, Philadelphia Flyers general manager, Paul Holmgren, sees a perfect candidate in Pronger.
"Whether he plays a training camp game or not is not an issue for me", Holmgren told NHL.com. "He's certainly played enough of those in his 18-year career. He knows how to play the game. He also knows how to prepare and play for a regular 82-game season
and playoffs. The aberration of last year, broken bones and stuff like that, how do you get away from that? It's not like he had hamstring or groin issues that kept him out of the lineup. He's the ultimate pro".
The former second overall draft pick, during round-one of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, is certainly not new to the captaincy of a club.
It was during his time with St. Louis that Pronger, at 23, was given the responsibility and held charge for six seasons. He was also given captaincy of Anaheim Ducks, only a season after they won the Stanley Cup and is expected to lead Philadelphia Flyers
back to where they were in 2010, but this time by winning the championship.
Philadelphia might have made a few surprising decisions over the season, but having Chris Pronger in the leading role, they can hope to keep expectations high as always.
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