Former Stanley Cup champion and Hall of Famer Chris Pronger defends Jacob Trouba's latest hit

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Hunter Bowman
October 26, 2024 (12:12)

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Former NHL legend and Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger has released an unexpected statement regarding the controversial surrounding Jacob Trouba.

Earlier this week New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba was at the centre of controversy again after he laid a massive hit on Montreal Canadiens defenseman Justin Barron:

However, the referees and the NHL Department of Player Safety has deemed the hit to be clean. In result of this hit, Barron left the game and was out day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Despite Trouba having a long list of questionable hits and incidents, many have came to his defense, along with Chris Pronger who claimed that the play was clean, and that the problem is the lack of awareness from players in todays game of hockey.

"From minor hockey all the way up, that's just how they're taught to play the game," Pronger told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "The mindset, the mentality, the lack of awareness that these kids have nowadays, is mind-boggling. They have no sense that they're going to get hit. They have no sense that, 'Oh boy, I've had my head down for a while. I should probably pick it up.'

Pronger then continued:

"They have no awareness of who's around (them). They don't even know who's on the ice. They don't know what hand players shoot. They can skate 100 miles an hour, and they can stickhandle, and they can do all this stuff ... but the hockey sense and the awareness has really gotten lost in the equation."

Pronger also addressed the fact that Trouba had to fight Habs defenseman Mike Matheson after a clean hit.

"Now you see, any time there's a hit, and guys got to fight," Pronger said. "It makes no sense. Is body-checking not in the rulebook?"

Pronger was the second overall pick in 1993 and played until 2012, as he won the Stanley Cup back in the 2006-07 season with the Anaheim Ducks. Along with that, he won the Norris Trophy and is the most recent defenseman to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP.