By HOWARD BERGER
CALGARY (Aug. 26) – Chris Pronger has lots of incentive to follow the goings-on with the Toronto Maple Leafs these days. The mammoth defenseman is back in the Eastern Conference – where he began his career with the Hartford Whalers in 1993 – having been traded by Anaheim to Philadelphia this summer. The Flyers and Leafs will meet on four occasions in the up-coming season. Pronger also has an eternal bond with Maple Leafs’ general manager Brian Burke after winning the 2007 Stanley Cup in Orange County. Burke was manager of the Ducks, and Pronger was his leading hit-man on the blue-line; together, they reached the National Hockey League summit by rag-dolling the Ottawa Senators in a five-game championship.
After waxing poetically about Team Canada’s Olympic orientation camp here in Calgary, Pronger spent a few moments with yours truly discussing Burke’s off-season makeover of the Blue & White. “Nothing Brian has done this summer surprises me,” Pronger chuckled. “I think he laid it right out there [in his introductory press conference] when he had ten adjectives about how his team was going to play – vintage Burkie stuff like pugnacious, truculent, belligerent, with testosterone.” [A passer-by in the Saddledome, over-hearing Pronger, aroused laughter when he blurted, “You forgot Viagra.”]
Big Chris feels that Burke has attained his primary goal by signing and trading for players that match the GM’s glossy descriptive, and is particularly impressed with the free agent acquisition of former Anaheim defense-mate Francois Beauchemin. “I think the fans and the Leaf players will be pretty receptive to his style of play,” Pronger said. “It’s certainly a concept that Burkie is trying to get the whole team to buy into – with the recent additions of Beauchemin, [Mike] Komisarek and [Garnet] Exelby; obviously building from the blue-line out; getting guys that can play physically, and punish the opposition. I think the people in Toronto will enjoy watching them.”
Pronger, of course, could have been talking about his teammates on the Maple Leafs had former GM John Ferguson not scuttled a trade with Edmonton three summers ago by refusing to relinquish Tomas Kaberle and Alex Steen to the Oilers. Instead, Pronger went to Anaheim – joining another future hall-of-fame defenseman, Scott Niedermayer – and the Ducks became instant champions.
Speaking of Kaberle, there is blatant evidence at this camp of the Czech-born defenseman having done his own damage to the Blue & White. Leaf supporters – with Burke’s frequent prompting – often allude to the benefits of Kaberle’s “phenomenal” contract, the one that pays him just $4.25 million per season against the salary cap. Conveniently forgotten, naturally, is the no-movement clause in that wonderful pact that enabled Kaberle to keep the NHL’s second-leading goal-scorer last season away from Toronto.
Jeff Carter prances about the Saddledome as a virtual lock to make the Canadian Olympic squad after an eye-popping 46 goals with the Flyers in 2008-09 [only Alexander Ovechkin scored more]. In its season preview magazine – currently on sale – The Hockey News anointed Carter the 14th-best player in the NHL, ahead of such luminaries as Martin Brodeur, Ilya Kovalchuk, Joe Thornton, the Sedin twins, and Pronger. Not a single Toronto player made the magazine’s Top 50 list.
While exercising his contract privilege, you may recall that Kaberle nixed a trade to Philadelphia a year ago February that would have landed the Leafs Carter and a first-round draft choice. Perhaps that should be included in the next discussion about the wonders of his stupendous deal.
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Howard,
I think every GM in the league would agree that if the Kaberle for Carter and a first trade had happened, it would have gone down as one of the most one-sided trades in memory. It would have been great, it didn’t happen, give it a rest.
Mr. Burke has done a good job of resetting the Leaf’s mindset in the off season. Now the real work begins.
- DavidHoward, one of these days you’re going to announce that Brian Burke has found a way to add Scott Hartnell to the Leafs’ roster, and then I’ll be really excited about the coming season. Hartnell would be the ideal player to ride shotgun on the top line with Mikhail Grabovski and Niklas Hagman - such as we (older hockey fans) saw with Vic Hadfield on the GAG line with Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle.
If Burke cannot get his hands on Hartnell, I hope Ron Wilson will place someone similar in style to Hartnell on the line with Grabovski and Hagman. Perhaps, Nazem Kadri could add the physical dimension needed.
Howard, may I ask a favour? Whenever you’re close enough to Burke to whisper in his ear, how about whispering Hartnell’s name. Perhaps, you could note that the Philadelphia Flyers’ cap problems will - probably - make Scott Hartnell available.
- Joseph DurocherIt’s easy enough to dump on Kaberle coming off his worst season but hockey is a marathon. This whole scenario alters dramatically if Kaberle makes a meaningful contribution to the Leafs before his run here wraps up. Let’s see what he brings to the mix with a retooled defence before we throw him under the bus for refusing to be traded.
- CarmSooooo tired of hearing the carter and first trade
- Kurthe was a question mark then and who says he would have put up those number in toronto