Pronger Injury Devastates Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks suffered a big blow to their Stanley Cup playoff hopes when they learned that Chris Pronger re-broke his left foot Saturday night against the St. Louis Blues. The injury wasn’t discovered right away, but is believed to have happened midway through the third period. Pronger played the rest of the game in pain.
“It was a dull pain, similar to any other blocked shot or hard hit,” said Pronger. “I just shrugged it off and continued skating. Adrenaline will do that for you. Unfortunately, once the skate came off, I knew something wasn’t right.”
The injury, which is to the same foot Pronger broke earlier in the season, isn’t considered serious enough to take the Norris-winning defenseman out of the playoffs. However, he will definitely miss the first round, and should Anaheim advance, he will most likely miss most of the second round, only to return late in that series or in the Conference Finals.
“I’m not a doctor so I don’t know if the previous break didn’t heal right or what. All I can tell you is that it’s the same foot, it hurts like hell now, and I can’t skate on it,” Pronger said, shaking his head in frustration. “After last year’s playoff run, the last thing I want is to be sidelined with a team of this caliber. The second the doctors let me play, I’ll be on the ice.”
Coach Randy Carlisle was unavailable for comment, but no one needs to remind the Anaheim organization that the team’s record without Pronger or captain Scott Niedermayer is much worse than when both of them are in the lineup.
“Look, we all know that we’re not as good of a team without Chris. The record shows it, and common sense shows it,” Niedermayer said. “We’ll all just have to step up and deal with it.”
