Gene Principe

CHICAGO -- If this were Broadway it would be a one-man show that was the biggest hit and at the Stanley Cup Final the show to watch has been Chris Pronger. The defenceman was at it again today when he was accused of stealing pucks at the end of games.

"Stealing the puck? I don't think that's the case," Pronger said. "Do you see anything in the rulebook that says it's stealing? That's not what it is. I went to go pick it up. It's what he did after Games 1 and 2.

I'm sure Chicago wishes it was as easy to get him off the ice as it was to get him off the podium after addressing the media on an off-day between Games 3 and 4. At 30-plus minutes of ice time per game, the blueliner's No. 1 task has been to stop the Hawks top line. Patrick Kane did score last night and the line had it's best game of the series but considering it's three against one, Pronger is holding up fine.

"I don't think he's in our head" explained Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews. "He doesn't do much talking out there. He's a good player who is doing his job very well but that's what he's supposed to do."

The player who he has done the best work on is Dustin Byfuglien. It was expected to be a big battle between the Hawks behemoth forward and the giant Flyers defenceman. That hasn't materialized and that might be partly because there are NHL rules and then Chris Pronger rules.

"I think that's the case," Byfuglien said when asked if Pronger gets away with things other players don't. "I don't think you can get too caught up in it because that's the way it is."

Nobody might know that better than his former coach in St. Louis, Joel Quenneville, who now mans the bench in Chicago.

"There are certain avenues that you have to go through if you have a complaint," Quenneville said of Pronger's tactics. "There were a few plays late in the game, one in particular, that we'll have to watch out for and keep our eye on."

While Byfuglien is his biggest target, Pronger's smallest one is Patrick Kane. He had his best game of the series with a goal and an assist in Game 3 but he also received more than his fair share of attention from the Flyers No. 25.

"You definitely know he's on the ice. But you can't be too worried about it. You do have to play hockey. It's not like we're oh there's Pronger and we can't do this or that," Kane said.

Yet it seems like that is the case. Chris Pronger may not be stealing pucks but he's definitely stealing the show.