Pronger brings Cup home to Dryden

The City of Dryden honoured hometown hero Chris Pronger yesterday by declaring “Chris Pronger Day.”
Pronger—one of the NHL’s star defencemen who helped the Anaheim Ducks capture the Stanley Cup earlier this month—had promised to bring the Cup to town for the big day.
Hordes of bystanders gathered outside the hospital in Dryden hoping to catch their first glimpse of the hockey’s holy grail before proceeding to the arena for a brief ceremony and then picture-taking.
Fashionably late, Pronger and his special guest rolled into the front parking lot at the hospital to cheers of joy and relief.
“We were all getting a little worried that the Cup may not actually be coming,” said Tracey Shaw. “There was a big sigh of relief when Pronger came around the corner.”
As promised, Pronger made the wishes of many people from across Northwestern Ontario come true yesterday afternoon.
He made a brief stop to visit patients in the Oncology unit before parading through town with “Lord Stanley.”
More than 2,000 onlookers packed the arena for the ceremony, which saw Pronger’s former Dryden Eagles jersey retired, the arena re-named after him, and the “Hoc-Key” to the city handed to him.
“This is a very special day for the City of Dryden. We should be very proud of what Chris has accomplished in his career as well as for our city,” Mayor Anne Krassilowsky said.
“We hope that you will use this [the key] often,” she added.
Emcee Jack McMaster, director of education with the Rainy River District School Board, reminisced about his coaching experiences with Pronger in Dryden and their longtime friendship.
From his minor hockey days in Dryden to his NHL teams, all of Pronger’s jerseys were lined across the top of the stage.
After all was said and done, even Pronger was left musing about his lengthy hockey résumé.
“It was probably 20 years ago. I guess I’m getting old,” said Pronger, now 32 and a winner of almost every trophy, except perhaps the Lady Byng.
“[Renaming the rink] is a great honour,” he added. “I didn’t realize that would be going on today.”
Organizers of the events made quick work of the four-hour timeframe they had to work with the Cup by making sure everyone could see it and touch it.
“I know who everyone really came to see, so let’s go admire it,” said Pronger.
By that night, Pronger was on a flight back to Anaheim while the Stanley Cup was en route to its next destination in Bemidji, Mn. today.