Chris Pronger can relate to the pressure Juraj Slafkovsky has faced since the Canadiens made him the No. 1 overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft.
Pronger was the No. 2 overall pick at the 1993 NHL Draft by the Hartford Whalers after the Ottawa Senators took Alexandre Daigle with the No. 1 pick.
“I’m glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers No. 2,” Daigle infamously said after that draft.
Canadiens wingers Juraj Slafkovsky, left, and Cole Caufield celebrate Slafkovsky’s Game 1 overtime goal on Sunday in Tampa, Fla. Chris O’meara / AP
Daigle, a forward, ended up having a very mediocre 10-year NHL career while playing for six teams. Pronger, a defenceman, ended up playing 18 years in the NHL, won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player and the Norris Trophy as the top blue-liner in 1999-2000 with the St. Louis Blues, and won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Pronger also won two gold medals with Canada at the Olympics, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 and in 2018 was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players.
But things didn’t start well for Pronger in Hartford, and two years after getting drafted, the Whalers traded him to the Blues in exchange for Brendan Shanahan. Pronger wrote a memoir that came out last week titled Earned: The True Cost of Greatness from One of Hockey’s Fiercest Competitors. It looks back on his career, overcoming the adversity of being booed by fans in Hartford and taking personal accountability while also learning about leadership.
“Just the noise,” Pronger said in a phone interview before the playoffs started about the pressure he faced after getting drafted and going directly to the NHL. “And the constant questioning of: ‘Oh, my God! Did they pick the right guy? Oh, my God! Is this guy ever going to get it?’
“Especially in the midst of a rebuild (for Slafkovsky) and when is it going to end, and when are we going to get over the hump, and when are we going to get back in the playoffs?”
Pronger is impressed with how the Canadiens have handled Slafkovsky, who scored three power-play goals — including the winner in overtime — in a 4-3 victory over the Lightning Sunday in Tampa in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series.
“I think that’s something Montreal has learned from the past is that you have to be patient in a development process,” Pronger said. “I think if there’s one thing they’ve done really well throughout the course of this rebuild is they’ve been incredibly patient in not trying to force the issue with their young guys and putting them in positions where they’re going to regress … putting them in positions where their confidence is going to take a huge whack.”
In November 2023, after Slafkovsky scored his first goal in 32 games, head coach Martin St. Louis compared his progress with the Waze app used for directions while driving.
“It tells you how much time it will take, how many miles,” St. Louis said at the time. “And then you get into traffic. … Do you turn around or do you continue? … If you miss an exit, do you get frustrated and return home or do you get rerouted to still arrive at your destination?
“I live my life like that, and that’s what we’re doing with Slaf,” St. Louis added. “Slaf is going to reach a nice destination. … We don’t know exactly how much time it’s going to take, and sometimes there’s traffic, and you can’t get angry about it and can’t get discouraged about it. Sometimes you miss an exit, but you find your way back. … It’s not easy for a 19-year-old, but we’re trying to help him with that.”
Slafkovsky has now reached that “nice destination” — something Pronger can relate to.
“I always say if I look back on the first three years of my career, there were moments where I was really, really good, and there were also moments where I was really, really bad,” he said. “And that’s what you get with young players is that inconsistency.”
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes said one of the big reasons he took Slafkovsky with the No. 1 pick was the belief he could handle the pressure in Montreal.
There was a scattering of boos at the Bell Centre after the Canadiens drafted Slafkovsky. His response at the time: “Maybe certain people do not like me, but I will do everything I can to play good for this team. Maybe one day, they will learn to like me.”
Canadiens fans now love Slafkovsky.
Hartford Whalers defenceman Chris Pronger and Canadiens forward Kirk Muller during game in Montreal on Oct. 6, 1993. Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press
Pronger said he used the negative comments early in his career to help motivate him, including that infamous quote from Daigle.
“Every single comment motivated me,” he said. “Every single one, including that one. Whether it was: ‘Oh, he’s not a good leader. Oh, he’s not what people think, or he’s not as good as this player or that player.’ All of that. …
“Nobody remembers No. 2, and every time I played (Daigle) I made sure he remembered who No. 2 was,” Pronger added. “He was putting ice bags on himself somewhere. I made sure he remembered No. 2 every single time he played against me.”
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