Chris Pronger addresses new job with NHL

Chris Pronger was hired by the NHL's Department of Player Safety last week to serve as an advisor to vice president Stephane Quintal.

Pronger, who turned 40 last week, is still on the Flyers' payroll through June 30, 2017 because of a career-ending injury suffered in 2011. His awkward hiring, which comes with an inherent conflict of interest, has mostly gone unaddressed by the NHL.

In a conference call with Philadelphia-area reporters on Wednesday, Pronger was able to respond to those claims and tell his side for the first time.

Presented without comment, here is a full transcript of his interview:

QUESTION: When did this process start and how did it come about with the league?

PRONGER:  "There was an exploratory call. (NHL deputy commissioner) Bill Daly called me right after the draft and just talked with me and asked if there was an interest, if I thought about it or anything of that nature. It was just more a courtesy call to say that I'm being considered. They wanted to know if I had any will to work for the league and the Player Safety department in that capacity.

"At the time, they still hadn't filled (Brendan Shanahan's) role, which obviously went to Stephane Quintal. So they were looking for a full-time replacement and then they'd get back to me. Ultimately, I got a call about a month ago from Bill, saying Stephane was going to give me a call. We talked, saw where things were at, gauged my interest again.

"After the call, I phoned (Paul Holmgren) and (Ron Hextall) to get them up to speed as it related to informal calls and gauging my interest.

"Once I received the second phone call and had given it some thought, I did some research with Rob Blake to find out what they were looking for from me and the department and where they were heading with the department. I heard a lot of good things. From there, I did some research, talking to Rob Blake and getting his feedback - what he liked about it and what he didn't like about it.

"Ultimately, I called Stephane back and told him I wanted to come into the office for a meeting and talk to him face-to-face. I needed to talk to the commissioner and Bill Daly face-to-face so we could hash through any issues if there were any and kind of get a read as to where things go from here, if it was an option and it would work. Then things kind of transpired from there."

Q: Have you started the job yet? And if you have, is your job sort of being an advisor on disciplinary matters or advising on safety or is it a combination of both?

PRONGER: "Well, the Player Safety Department is supplementary discipline, it's teaching, whether a player is close to the line, getting warned, the teaching videos, maybe calling a player and saying 'Hey, I'm noticing this a lot with you. You're going to need to back down a little bit.'

"You know, kind of a similar relationship that I had with the referees towards the end. They'd talk to me and say 'Hey, you're getting out of hand, you need to back off.'

"A lot of that side of things now is teaching the players the new rules that have been put into effect: the hits to the head and all of the things that have been in the media the last few years.

"I think the players have done a pretty good job of really starting to understand the rules.  I think the Player Safety department has really served to try and isolate the rules and key in on how to make them work better, to be honest with you, and make sure the language is right so that if an incident happens, it has been spelled out for what the Player Safety department follows.

"To answer your quesiton, I look at myself as an advisor. I'm on all the emails, I see all of the clips and the videos. There hasn't been anything of real substance for me to look at all. I try to understand what they're clipping (in video) and why they're clipping them. Some are for different reasons - some are for teaching. There's all sorts of different things going on at one time, it's not necessarily all for supplemental discipline.

"He might just want my take on what I think happened on one play."

Q: Ron Hextall said that when you do discipline people, if it does involve the Flyers, you'll have to excuse yourself on that. But almost every team is going to have an effect … 

PRONGER: "Can I stop you right there? Number one, I am not disciplining anyone. That's not my job. That's Stephane's job. He's the one doling out discipline. I'm merely a sounding board for him to have another set of eyes that has recently played under the new rules and new system. I've obviously had enough run-ins with the law to understand the system and where things can go haywire. I'm a sounding board to support him and everything he needs.

"From there, he makes up his own mind. As it relates to the Flyers, I am excused from any and all Flyer related issues - much like (fellow Dept. of Player Safety director) Patrick Burke excuses himself from any Calgary Flames related issues with his dad (Flames president Brian Burke)."

Q: Right, but you're still a sounding board. You're not making decisions, but you're a sounding board for their decisions, correct? You're not making decisions, but you'll have an input in that you're a sounding board. I think we're splitting hairs. Let's just say there's someone that has to be disciplined. Let's say it's Sidney Crosby. You'll still be a sounding board, correct?

PRONGER: "Yep."

Q: Do you think that has a conflict of interest - because it could still have an impact on the Flyers?

PRONGER: "No I do not."

Q: I'm not trying to give you a hard time. I'm just trying to get your side of it - why do you think it's not a conflict of interest?

PRONGER: "Because I'm not being paid by the Pittsburgh Penguins. I don't work for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Right now, I work for the National Hockey League's Player Safety Department.

"I'm still being paid by the Flyers and that's why I'm recused from any and all Flyers related issues. But I'm not doing anything for the Flyers.

"So, basically what you're asking me is, you're questioning my integrity and whether I can do the job while being paid by somebody else - when I've already just told you I'm not the guy making the calls. If you think I can persuade (Stephane Quintal) that much, then you're a better man than me.

"And by the way, just for the record, (Brendan Shanahan) had a conflict with each and every team he played on. Any person who is in the Player Safety Department on the former player side is going to have a conflict somewhere. I understand there's money involved, but they're going to have a conflict somewhere along the line, a relationship with a player or GM, guys they've played with, team owners, there's going to be conflicts all the way up and down the line. You're trying to beat a dead horse here."

Q: Is there any awkwardness at all, aside from the job details themselves, that you're still being paid by the Flyers? It's an unfortunate situation that you'll never get to play again, but you'll have to go through these motions until 2017?

PRONGER: "Awkward in what sense?"

Q: Just in that you can't play, you're still on the club's payroll, last year you did what you could with scouting. Is there any awkwardness in that sense?

PRONGER: "That's one of the reasons why, when this job was presented, I didn't have to do a ton of traveling. It's all through technology, all by email, phone calls and things of that nature. That's why it was attractive to me, for those reasons. I wasn't going to be doing anything from a scouting perspective this year with the Flyers.

"(Ron Hextall) wanted to go with a smaller staff. He told me they didn't need me around. So, this came forward, and I took it. In talking with (Hextall), Holmgren, Mr. Snider, it wasn't like I said 'Hey, I'm doing this.' I made sure they were OK with me doing this. Then I went through the proper channels with the league."

Q: Before they announced that (the Flyers') cap situation is going to stay the same (even with your new role), would you have taken this job if it would have hurt the Flyers' cap?

PRONGER: "I've asked a number of times about the cap situation and my predicament as it relates to that. And, as it was told to me, is another reason why I took the job, is I was told it wasn't going to hurt the Flyers' cap situation. To answer your question, no I would not have taken it if it would've hurt the Flyers."

Q: How do you want to be remembered in your tenure with the Flyers?

PRONGER: "Well, I would say from a player's perspective that I gave it my all and did everything possible to help the club win hockey games. I guess from a fan's perspective, as a guy that went out and did the best he could every night and played with his heart on his sleeve and did everything he could to help his team win.

"In the long-term, suffered 7 injuries in a span of not that long a time that ultimately was his demise."

Q: When did you give up on coming back? Was there a time that you knew you weren't coming back, or did you hold out hope for a while?

PRONGER: "You're always holding out hope. I think it gets to a point where, we're going on three years now, I've still got symptoms. My eye still isn't back to where it was. There was a few instances where - for instance - where I was in a golf tournament. I had tried to start ramping up my rehab and my training to see where I was at and see if there was a chance where I could push myself enough to get back into shape. I was at a golf tournament (in St. Louis), started getting unbelievable headaches, and my brain was pounding out of my head.

"That was pretty eye opening right there and telling."

Q: How are you feeling now?

PRONGER: "I feel OK. The headaches are gone because I've stopped working out as hard. So, I mean, it's all correlated with what you're doing. I'm to the point now where I can manage the symptoms to a certain degree. But as I ramp up and try and push myself harder and harder, then I get more symptoms because I'm moving my eye and my hand more and more with what you've got to try to do to get back into hockey shape."

-END OF INTERVIEW-

(Editor's note: Due to a prior engagement, the Daily News was unable to participate in the spur-of-the-moment conference call. As such, they did not pose any of the questions posted here. However, the interview was transcribed and posted on Philly.com in an effort for full disclosure, following Monday's column which disagreed with the NHL's handling of Pronger's hiring.)