As you've progress further in the Playoffs, the ice usually gets a little softer. It's tough to keep it that cold. We could make it hard, but it would be about 4 degrees in the building. I'm sure the fans wouldn't appreciate that very much, wearing parkas in June.

Chris Pronger

Categorized in : June Ice Appreciate

I don't want to get into a 'he said, she said' with the refs...I'm the he.

Chris Pronger

nhl hockey want

Whether the guys are nervous or just had mental breakdowns, it happens. The game is a game of mistakes. And how you deal with them and correct them and all the things like that is what makes this game great and makes hockey the sport it is.

Chris Pronger

hockey mistake sports

I don't like having noise swirling around me. Loud noises bother me, so I try to stick to the outside of a room.

Chris Pronger

noise trying rooms

It's not like you can start pounding drinks when you're wheeling your kids all over. They gave me something to shoot for, a goal to get back to.

Chris Pronger

like-you goal kids

I was still very invested in the team, very invested in how we were doing. I realized I needed to take a step back and start focusing on myself, my head and my eye, try to get my health back.

Chris Pronger

team eye trying

You get a pretty good read by watching the play, and knowing what you would have done - having done most of the things that these guys are accused of doing. I put myself in their shoes: Would I have been wanting to send a message? Is it a hockey play that went a little sideways?

Chris Pronger

hockey shoes play

In the '90s, when I started, it was still a rough-and-tumble, physical league. You take the hook and holding and a little bit of the physicality out of the game, and the speed ratcheted up two-fold. Now you have a split second to make a hit, or decide to pull up. When there's indecision, you're going to make a mistake.

Chris Pronger

games mistake two

I've got to live my life. Bad things happen. I can't be sitting here worrying about it.

Chris Pronger

living-my-life sitting worry

My doctors say the more I continue to push, the more I can continue to raise that bar, the better I can get.

Chris Pronger

raises doctors bars

I used to have very good sixth sense - knowing exactly where someone was without seeing them.

Chris Pronger

very-good used knowing

I have played in the West for 14 years. I played against Dustin Byfuglien a lot. So it's not like I've been out East for my whole career and never played against the guy. That may have been blown out of proportion, I think.

Chris Pronger

careers years thinking

I was sitting at a friend's place in Michigan on vacation, having a beer on the patio. I was a little hefty. I said to myself: "Okay, I'm going to finish this weekend off strong, then after that I'm going to shut her down. I'm going to start taking better care of myself."

Chris Pronger

weekend strong beer

I just didn't feel very good. One day I woke up and I was like: "All right. I'm going to start eating right. I'm going to start working out." I figured it might help me feel a little bit better - even if I was still sick, it might help me move forward with my struggles. I just kind of turned a corner.

Chris Pronger

work-out struggle moving

You do what you can to help your team win, whether it's playing that many minutes or 24 or whatever is asked of you, you do. You prepare yourself to play as much as you're asked to play.

Chris Pronger

team winning play

You have to close quickly, you have to eliminate time and space and you have to try to deny them the puck. When you're playing with it, it forces them out of their rhythm and forces them to play defense, which they obviously don't want to do.

Chris Pronger

space play trying

When I got hit I went from having 37-year-old eyes to having 65-year-old eyes. That's why I've got the glasses on - so my eye isn't constantly trying to focus and giving me headaches. But they also help me see better: my right eye is blurry.

Chris Pronger

glasses eye years

Every day, I'll get sent clips via email. I watch them and see if there's something of substance or significance.Some nights are super busy; some nights are quiet.

Chris Pronger

email night watches

I wanted to stay in the game. I wanted to learn more about the league, what goes on behind the scenes. As a player, you don't really think about that, nor do you really care: you're worried about your job.

Chris Pronger

player jobs thinking

I wouldn't change anything that happened.That's the way the game was played when I was coming up. The game is different now. It's just a by-product of the era.

Chris Pronger

different games way

I'm not involved in any Philadelphia-related game or situation. When people claim I'm going to have a "vendetta" against every other Eastern Conference team I don't understand the logic: I'm not the one doling out the punishment.

Chris Pronger

punishment team games