The fascination with Chris Pronger and his ice time just seems to build and build and build. Now it's coming with punchlines.
Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish was asked Thursday if he monitored Pronger's ice time.
"I monitor it and I reprimand Charlie if it's anything under 30 minutes,'' he joked about assistant coach Charlie Huddy.
Yesterday Pronger was in the interview room and asked about the one-liner from his coach and what it is like to play 30 minutes a game?
"I'm exhausted,'' he said. "I can't even answer the question, I'm so tired.''
AVERAGING 31:11 PER PLAYOFF GAME
Despite his 31:11 average ice time in the playoffs, Pronger said he's fine.
"When I was in St. Louis we always talked about trying to cut back ice time.
"When I got here he (MacTavish) said, 'There will be no cutting back. We're going to play you a lot.' ''
Pronger, should the Oilers win Game 6 tonight, would most certainly join Cam Ward and Rod Brind'Amour as Conn Smythe Trophy candidates along with Fernando Pisani with his dozen goals and four game winners, including Game 5 in overtime, and Dwayne Roloson even though he's out for the duration.
Pronger, who leads the Oilers in playoff points with 21, has never won a Stanley Cup.
But he has won the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP and the Norris Trophy as the top defenceman.
MacTavish was asked if Pronger's play during the playoffs reminded him of the year he won both the Hart and the Norris.
"The year he won the Hart he was plus 80 or something. That was ridiculous,'' he said.
MacTavish, who briefly was a teammate of Pronger's in St. Louis, said his 6-foot-6 defenceman was good, but ...
"I didn't know the extent that he could dominate a game,'' he said. "I knew he was a terrific player. But this would have been at the top of my expectations to see the way he plays the game each and every night.
"And you know, he's not once wavered. A lot of times guys that play that much and go through a gruelling two months of high energy, high pressure hockey, well, you can see that it starts to grate on them mentally and physically. With Chris it certainly hasn't.
"He's been impressive in that respect.
SETTING AN EXAMPLE
"Outside of having him around, he's had a pretty good residual benefit to the rest of our players, especially our young players," MacTavish continued.
"They see the professionalism he brings to the game. And it's not just on game nights. It's on days off. It's the way he takes care of himself. He eats right. He trains very well and very diligently. He's always working out. It's a good lesson for everybody.
"I guess that's what great players do. That's what separates guys. They make players around them better. There's probably a handful of guys in the league, maybe less than that, who have that ability. And he's one of them.''
