Chris Pronger Christopher Robert Pronger ( or ; born October 10 , 1974 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and captain for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Originally selected 2nd overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft , Pronger has played for Hartford , the St . Louis Blues , Edmonton Oilers , and Anaheim Ducks before being traded to the Flyers before the 2009 – 10 season , having also captained the Blues and Ducks during that time . He has appeared in the Stanley Cup finals with three different teams ( Edmonton , Anaheim , and Philadelphia ) , winning the Cup with the Ducks in 2007 . Pronger won the Hart Trophy as the league ' s most valuable player ( for the 1999 – 2000 season ) and was the first defenceman to win the award since Bobby Orr in 1972 . A mainstay on Team Canada , Pronger won Olympic gold medals at Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010 and is a member of the Triple Gold Club . Pronger is also one of only two former Whalers still active in the NHL ( the other is goaltender Jean - Sébastien Giguère of the Colorado Avalanche ) . Playing career . Early years . Pronger was born in Dryden to Jim and Eila Pronger , an immigrant from Finland . Before entering the Junior ranks in Ontario he grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown . As a 15 - year old , he was identified through the Ontario U - 17 program and signed with the Stratford Cullitons Jr . B ( OHA ) club for the 1990 – 91 season . One of his defence partners in Stratford was future NHLer Greg DeVries . In May 1991 , Pronger indicated he was going to join his older brother Sean at Bowling Green State University ( NCAA ) instead of opting for the OHL . Regardless of his pre - draft indications , Pronger was selected in the 6th round by the Peterborough Petes in the OHL Priority Selection . He subsequently reported to the Petes and played two years in the OHL before being selected in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft . After two outstanding seasons with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League ( OHL ) , and because of being highly regarded for his rare combination of imposing size , speed , offensive skill ( particularly on the power play ) and physicality as a defenceman , Pronger was selected second overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft , behind Alexandre Daigle , who made the infamous statement , " I ' m glad I got drafted first , because no one remembers number two . " Hartford Whalers and St . Louis Blues . He made his debut in the 1993 – 94 NHL season , playing 81 games for the Whalers and earning a spot on the NHL All - Rookie Team . However , Pronger was arrested for drunk driving , involved in a barroom brawl , and was considered by some to be impatient and immature . After a second season in Hartford , he was traded to the St . Louis Blues for star forward Brendan Shanahan on July 27 , 1995 . In the early years of his St . Louis career , Pronger played under coach and general manager Mike Keenan . He would eventually become the team ' s captain , from 1997 – 2003 . In his third season with St . Louis , at age 23 , Pronger was again named to the All - Star team . That year Pronger also had a brief cardiac arrest during the 1998 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he was hit in the chest with a puck in a game against the Detroit Red Wings . Prior to this he played for the Canadian Olympic team in Nagano . In 1999 – 2000 , Pronger recorded a career - high 62 points and a + 52 rating . His efforts culminated in a Norris and Hart Trophy at the end of the season . Pronger beat Art Ross winner Jaromír Jágr by just one point in Hart Trophy voting , which was , at the time , the smallest margin of victory in the history of the award . ( Two years later , Jarome Iginla and José Théodore tied in overall voting ; Théodore won with more first - place votes . ) Pronger was also named to the First All - Star Team . Pronger notched 47 points the next season , but appeared in only 51 games due to injury problems . In February 2002 , he won a gold medal with the Canadian Olympic Team in the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City . That same year in the NHL , he had another fine season and played in the All - Star Game once again . But injuries became a problem again in 2002 – 03 , limiting him to just five games played . Pronger bounced back with another quality season in 2003 – 04 . Following the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout and imposition of the NHL salary cap , the Blues traded Pronger to the Edmonton Oilers for defencemen Eric Brewer , Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch . While the Blues needed to reduce team salaries to make it easier to sell the team , the Oilers were able to sign Pronger to a five - year , $ 31 . 25 million contract . Edmonton Oilers . Pronger was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics , marking his third consecutive Olympic Games . The Oilers went to the Stanley Cup Final that same year . On June 5 , 2006 , in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes , Pronger became the first player in NHL history to score a penalty shot goal in a Stanley Cup Final game . The Oilers lost in game seven , with Pronger scoring a team - leading 21 points ( 5 goals , 16 assists ) in 24 games , as well as a team leading plus / minus rating of + 10 during the playoffs . On June 23 , 2006 , Pronger requested a trade through his agent , Pat Morris , from the Edmonton Oilers . Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe said that the request was due to personal reasons , while media outlets reported that Pronger ' s wife , Lauren , was not happy in Edmonton . The controversy surrounding Pronger ' s trade request has led many to describe him as " Public Enemy No . 1 " in Edmonton . On July 3 , Pronger was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Joffrey Lupul , defensive prospect Ladislav Šmíd , Anaheim ' s 2007 first - round draft pick ( traded to the Phoenix Coyotes , picked Nick Ross ) , a conditional first - round draft pick ( dependent on the Ducks reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in the next 3 years , which they did , becoming forward Jordan Eberle ) , and Anaheim ' s 2008 second - round draft pick ( later traded to the New York Islanders ) . Anaheim Ducks . In 2007 , Pronger played an important role for the Ducks run as they reached the Stanley Cup Finals and later won the championship . It was also Pronger ' s second straight finals appearance . During the Conference Finals , Pronger was suspended for one game for a check on Detroit Red Wings winger Tomas Holmström . He later criticized the Canadian media ' s coverage of the incident . In the final round , Pronger was suspended for one game for elbowing Ottawa Senators winger Dean McAmmond in the head during game 3 . With the Stanley Cup victory he became a member of the Triple Gold Club . On September 28 , 2007 , Pronger was named the captain of the Ducks , replacing Scott Niedermayer . Although Niedermayer returned to the lineup later in the season , Pronger remained captain until the start of next season when Niedermayer was re - named captain . Pronger retained a role as alternate captain . On March 12 , 2008 , Pronger was involved in an incident with Vancouver ' s Ryan Kesler . Pronger , after being tangled up with Kesler behind the Anaheim blue line , stomped unnecessarily on Kesler ' s leg . Kesler was not injured , and upon initial review the NHL did not suspend Pronger . However , upon new video evidence , which provided a better angle , the league once again reviewed the incident and gave Pronger an 8 game suspension . He returned to the ice April 6 against the Phoenix Coyotes in Anaheim ' s last regular season game of the year . The 2008 – 09 season was quite successful for Pronger who played his 1000th career game on February 20 , 2009 . The Ducks would rally late in the season to jump into 8th place of the Western conference . They dispatched the President ' s Trophy winner San Jose Sharks in six games before falling to the Detroit Red Wings in seven games . Pronger had 2 goals and 8 assists in 13 playoff games . Philadelphia Flyers . On June 27 , 2009 , Pronger , along with forward Ryan Dingle , was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Lupul ( earlier traded to Edmonton for Pronger in 2006 ) , the rights to defenceman Luca Sbisa , two first round draft picks and a conditional third round draft pick . Ten days later , Pronger signed a seven - year contract extension that will most likely see him finish his career in Philadelphia . Nearly a month after signing , the NHL announced they had launched an investigation on Pronger ' s deal to determine whether it was a circumvention of the salary cap under the collective bargaining agreement . Because the contract is front - loaded , with annual salaries of just $ 525 , 000 in the final two years , and expires by the time Pronger is 42 , the investigation was launched with the focus on the potential of negotiations between Pronger and the Flyers to retire before contract expiration . However , as Pronger ' s contract took effect after his 35th birthday , under the terms of the current collective bargaining agreement , his over - 35 contract cannot be deleted from the Flyers ' cap space unless he is placed on long - term injured reserve , and even then it would come back on the team ' s cap space during the offseason . On December 30 , 2009 , Pronger was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver . He served as one of the team ' s alternate captains , along with Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla . The team won the gold - medal that year . Pronger became the leader for most Olympic games played for Canada after playing his 25th Olympic Game on February 28 , 2010 . In the NHL regular season , the Flyers qualified for the playoffs on the last day of the season with a shootout win against the New York Rangers . However , a playoff run marked by an upset of the New Jersey Devils , an astounding comeback against the Boston Bruins from down 0 - 3 in the series and a thumping of the Montreal Canadiens would culminate in the Flyers playing the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals . Though the Flyers lost 4 - 2 , it was another achievement for Pronger who had a strong playoff performance and lead a team that traded for him to the Finals for the third time in a row . Conversely , his former team continued another bizarre streak , as the Anaheim Ducks missed the playoffs . No team that traded Pronger away qualified for the playoffs the following year . Pronger has made the playoffs with every team that he has played for , except for the Whalers , and in every season , again except for the Whalers . Following the playoffs , Pronger underwent arthroscopic knee surgery . Pronger missed the first two games of the season . Various other injuries would limit Pronger to just 50 games , marking the first time that Pronger missed significant time since the season , where Pronger missed 77 games . On September 16 , 2011 , Pronger was named the 18th captain in Philadelphia Flyers history , replacing Mike Richards . Personal life . He and his wife Lauren have two sons , Jack Hunter ( b . 2001 ) and George William ( b . 2004 ) , and one daughter , Lilah Marie , who was born on July 23 , 2008 . He lived in Irvine , California , while playing for the Anaheim Ducks . Pronger now resides in Haddonfield , New Jersey , while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers . He appears on the cover of NHL Hitz 20 - 03 .