Public Enemy #1: Chris Pronger

Chris Pronger is back in the playoffs, ready to take on the Sharks and Fans.

It's not easy if you get on the wrong side of Sharks fans.  They won't like you.  At all.  In fact, they will boo you mercilessly every time you touch the puck when you are on the ice at the Shark Tank. 

No one knows that more than Anaheim Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger.  That's fine.  He relishes the role, and is ready to face the wrath of the team and fans.  In fact, you get the feeling he has already started stirring the pot.  The following quote from him is proof. 

“Momentum is a funny thing.  I’ve won the Presidents’ Trophy and been on the so-called favorite team [with St. Louis in 2000, which lost to the Sharks in seven in the first round]. There is a lot of pressure on them, being the Presidents’ Trophy winner and having all these grand expectations, and on and on. It’s not an easy position to be in, and very few teams excel in that situation.  It’s up to us to instill that doubt in them.” 

Pronger is familiar with instilling doubt in the Sharks.  He was the one that went on the attack (on the ice and in the media) the last time he faced San Jose in the playoffs.  While with the Oilers in 2006, his team lost the first two games of the Western Conference Semifinals.  After game two, he said we are going home, now the series begins.  Four games later the Oilers were moving on, thanks in big part to Pronger's play and confidence.

Will this year's series be different?  Pronger hopes not.  Sharks fans and players surely will do everything in their power to show him differently.

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