BY MIKE BROPHY
sportsnet.ca
What was that all about?
That was the question being asked by many on Thursday the day after the Philadelphia Flyers traded their captain Mike Richards, along with Jeff Carter and signed veteran goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to a multi-year contract.
In return the Flyers acquired forwards Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek as well as draft picks.
Many also wondered what Chris Pronger thought about the changes. Pronger was unavailable for comment Thursday, but reached out to the media via a conference call Friday morning.
"I think when you make a move like that to get a goalie, you got to pay him and you have to find the money somewhere," Pronger said. "We’ve seen it time and again in the salary cap era; you’ve got to give to get. Unfortunately for us, those two guys were traded. It sucks. As a teammate you hate to see those two guys go.
"They were, for all intents and purposes, the face of the franchise for four of the six years, if not the whole six years they were here. I’m sure it’s tough for them. This is the Philadelphia Flyers; all they really know. I’ve gone through it a few times and sometimes a move is healthy for you."
These moves were certainly not all about opening cap space, even if that was one of the end results. This is more about the Flyers not reaching expectations. It is no secret that the Flyers dressing room has not exactly been harmonious the past few years, but Pronger downplayed that and he said it’s all about what happens on the ice.
"If you’re playing well on the ice there’s never any questions as to who is doing what (off the ice)," Pronger said, "Or about if there a rift in the room…does this guy like that guy? If you are playing well on the ice nobody wants to write about it because everything is going good."
Pronger was brought to Philadelphia to help teach the likes of Richards and Carter, who were handed a lot of responsibility at a very young age, how to be leaders.
When it comes to being a champion, Pronger – who has won Olympic gold medals as well as the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2006-07 – knows what it takes to win. It is his work ethic, as much as anything else, which has made him such a valuable leader on the teams he has played with.
When it comes to being prepared to play, Pronger has a simple philosophy:
"You can have fun in the summer and still work very hard to prepare for the season," Pronger said. "You can have fun during the season, too, but you have to know when to shut it down. During the season you need to show commitment and work ethic. It’s all about skating and hard work during the year."
In fact, Pronger said he worked out hard for the first time this summer. He normally takes a week off following the season and then hits the gym hard, but he had back surgery in May and has been unable to train since.
"I’ve been going out of my mind," he said. "Today was my first real hard workout where I worked up a sweat and I feel great. I was not meant to lead a sedentary life style."
Pronger, 37, has been a team captain in St. Louis and Anaheim and would be the logical choice to replace Richards as captain of the Flyers. That isn’t on his mind at this stage of the game.
"I haven’t put much thought into it," Pronger said. "I think this is all very, very fresh for all of us. Obviously I’d have to talk to (GM Paul) Holmgren and (coach Peter) Laviolette and see what their thoughts are and kind of go from there.
"I don’t think you nominate yourself. I’ve never been a part of a team where some guy nominates himself. I think that it might be a little premature to start talking about stuff like that. It is one day after two very huge trades on our team and in the history of the Flyers so I don’t think it’s on anybody’s mind right now."
