Apparently, Evander Kane is not happy with being on the Winnipeg Jets. This prompted an article about the 10 worst break-ups in NHL history. Normally I could care less about what's going on with the Winnipeg Jets in February but the story has been making the rounds and Kane appears to be on the trading block. What caught my eye was the 9th worst break-up on the list, Brendan Shanahan and the Hartford Whalers. I read the article and it got me thinking, it was a bad break-up and it sealed the fate of the Whalers being in Hartford.
What the piece fails to mention was what the Whalers gave up to get Shanahan. The Whalers traded a young defenseman (just 20 years old) by the name of Chris Pronger. Pronger was the 2nd player taken in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft and in a long standing franchise tradition of giving up on young players (it's a long list) the Whalers mortgaged their future and it backfired. Badly. Shanahan played 1 full season in Hartford and was traded 2 games into the 1996-97 season (I booed him at the home opener). At the end of the 1996-97 season, Shanahan would be sipping champagne from the Stanley Cup as a member of the Detroit Red Wings (the 1st of three Stanley Cup Championships during his time in Detroit) and the Whalers would be leaving Hartford.
Jerk!
What would become of Pronger you ask? Pronger would play 9 seasons in St. Louis as the defensive anchor. Under Coach Joel Quenneville (former Whaler!), Pronger would be named to 7 All-Star teams, win both the Norris Trophy (league' s best defenseman) and the Hart Trophy (league MVP) for a Blues team that won the President's Trophy in 1999-2000 season. Pronger would also lead a down trodden Oilers franchise to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006 (the Oilers have terrible since then) and eventually win his own Stanley Cup in 2007 when the Ducks defeated the Senators.
See how well that worked out for everyone?
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