The St. Louis Blues retired the number 44 of Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger on Monday prior to the Blues’s 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Pronger spent nine seasons with the Blues from 1995 to 2004.
In 598 regular season games, Pronger had 84 goals and 272 assists for 356 points. He was a +140 with 931 penalty minutes, 172 power play points, 13 shorthanded points, 12 game-winning goals, and 1333 shots on goal. Of Pronger’s 13 shorthanded points, two were shorthanded goals. They came in a 3-1 Blues win over the Dallas Stars on October 12, 1995, and in a 5-1 Blues win over the Predators on March 19, 2002.
In 85 playoff games with the Blues, Pronger had 10 goals and 41 assists for 51 points. He was a +15 with 210 penalty minutes, three power play goals, two game-winning goals, and 202 shots on goal.
Also in Pronger’s career with the Blues, he was on the NHL’s first all-star team in 1999-2000. That year he led the NHL with a +52 and won the Hart and Norris Trophies. He also led the NHL with a +47 while with the Blues in 1997-98. Pronger also represented the Blues at the 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004 NHL All-Star Games.
Pronger, who won a gold medal for Canada at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, is one of seven Canadians in Blues history to have their number retired. The other six are defenseman Al MacInnis of Inverness, Nova Scotia (number two), defenseman Bob Gassoff of Quesnel, British Columbia (number three), defenseman Bob Plager of Kirkland Lake, Ontario (number five), defenseman Barclay Plager of Kirkland Lake, Ontario (number eight), left winger Brian Sutter of Viking, Alberta (number 11) and center Bernie Federko of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan (number 24).
On the ice on Monday, the Blues beat the Predators 5-3. Two Canadians had a multi-point game for the Blues. Brayden Schenn of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan had two goals and two assists for four points, while current Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly of Clinton, Ontario had one goal and two assists for three points.
With the win, the Blues are in second place in the Central Division with 51 points. They have a record of 23 wins, 11 regulation losses and five losses in extra time.
