June 11, 2024 • 20 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Sean Pronger always dreamed of being and playing with Wayne Gretzky. Find out what happens when his dream meets his hangover.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is our American stories, and we tell all kinds
of stories here on the show. This next story is
the story of Sean Pronger, and he was a journeyman
NHL player who got his start on the hockey beat
at a very young age. Close to home. Here's Sean
(00:30):
with his story.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
To talk about the Gretzky chapter, we're gonna have to
go back to where it all began, Dryden, Ontario, Canada.
I grew up in Dryden, a great town. Love living there.
But if you don't like hockey and you don't like
ice fishing, you probably aren't going to enjoy your time
in Dryden because it is remote. It's four hours from
(00:58):
the nearest city, four hours from the peg from Hunter Bay. Uh.
And it's winter there for about eight to nine months,
and we're talking real winter when it's thirty to forty
below is the norm, And so there's not a lot
to do if you don't enjoy those two activities. And
fortunately for me, my brother loved playing and all of
(01:18):
our buddies love playing, so we would play on our driveway.
We would play on the street in front of our house,
and we had an outdoor rink a block away and
so we played hockey NonStop. So I think the real
games were down in our basement at one sixty one
Saint Charles Street. Like every town in Canada or every city,
(01:38):
hockey Night in Canada was a big deal, and everything
kind of just stopped, you know. All plans were made
before or after hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights,
and our house, the Pronger House, was no different. We
would my mum and dad would come down there, my
brother and I would settle in and watch the game,
and every intermission or commercial break was time to play
(01:58):
one on one right in front of my parents with
our floor hockey sticks. And I was always a forward.
Chris was always a defenceman. And I look back down
and just laugh because my parents just watched. Basically, their
two sons just beat the out of each other while
her and my dad would just kind of sit back
and relax and enjoy the entertainment. And so we would,
(02:20):
Like I said, I was always forward. So then I
would dump it into the fake, you know, into the
living room corner, and he would go back to get it,
and I would ram his head into the dry wall,
and then we'd brawl, and you know, just repeat that
over and over for I don't know, eight or nine years,
and so every game, every hockey and Acada, we would
do that. And I was always gret Sky and he
(02:42):
was always Bossy, even though Bossy wasn't a defenceman. Christ's
favorite player was Mike Bossy growing up and mine was
Wayne Gretzky. And with Dryden being where it is, we
were four hours from Winnipeg. A couple times a year
the Pronger family would load up the family truckster and
head up to Winnipeg to watch the Jets play the
Oilers in the the old, good old Smite Division, which
(03:05):
obviously loved watching ninety nine play and uh and how
he could see everything and see the game was just
a real thrill. But one time we went up there
and we the hotel. I'm not sure if my dad
knew this or we just got lucky, but the hotel
that he booked us in was the same hotel the
Oilers were staying in. And I'll never forget. We're in
the lobby and we're we're just kind of hanging out
(03:25):
down there, and we kind of look up and there's
Kevin Lowe and Wayne Gretzky and my brother, just like
like their old buddies. As we're walking past, He's like, hey,
keV to Kevin Low. I find that hilarious now that
you know. Kevin Low would then go on to uh
sign my brother to a massive contract, and then he
would ask to be traded a year later. Their history
(03:46):
started early. So then then, so we're in the hotel
and we're kind of just like trying to figure out
a way to go see more players, and I'm trying
to figure out how to wait to see Gretzki. They're
in the Gretzky's in the dining room or the restaurant,
and my brother and I were kind of peering around
the corner like checking him out. He was I think
he's having breakfast with Glennzei there. So I'm watching him, thinking, well,
(04:07):
I don't want to bother him when he's eating. I
just seems weird. And about that time, a guy came
up behind me and he had a jersey. He said, hey, kid,
can you go get this autograph for my son? And
I said, well, this is kind of weird, but you know,
I'm kind of taught, like you know, if you don't
say no to adults, So I walk over interrupt his
breakfast and said, mister Gretzky, would you mind signing this?
(04:31):
I could tell he was reluctant just because he's in
a restaurant, and you know, years later I'd figure out
why he didn't want everybody else to think they need
to come to get an autograph. But anyway, he signed it.
He was a gentleman, he was great. I gave it
to the guy, and it dawned on me years later
that that guy probably wasn't getting it signed for his son.
He was probably hawking it at a memorobi in the shop.
(04:52):
But Lesson learned. So anyway, I you know, passion for
oiler hockey and my the fact that Waying Gris is
my idol sort of at a very young age. And
then if you fast forward years later, I'm now, you know,
in my own career in the NHL. Actually you were
ware your started. I was playing for the Penguins at
(05:14):
the end. I got traded at the end of ninety eight.
But the player is set up with this slide where
Promer gets himself in a great position from the Anheim
Ducks or Mighty Ducks. Back then, Sean Promer is a
good kid and I finished the season with the Pittsburgh
Penguins rather unceremoniously, and then before a game against the
Washington Capitals, the Kevin constant Te calls me in and
(05:36):
so I get there. He's like, Sean, we're trading you
to New York. And for some reason, I thought it
was the Islanders. He's like, I'm like okay, and he's like, yeah,
so you're going to the Rangers. And I'm like the Rangers.
And he I remember looking at me, like why you
look so happy, and I just thought, like, the Rangers.
This is like Gretzky's on this team. Adam Graves, Kevin Stevens,
(05:57):
Brian Leech, John McClain, Mike Richter, Jeff Buka, boom Oh, Samuelson,
all these guys I grew up watching, right, I mean
obviously my idol and then all these other guys that
I grew up watching. I'm like, this is gonna be awesome.
This is a rebirth for me. So I get traded,
you know, get traded. It was a block It was
actually a blockbuster trade. It was Alexei Kovalev, Harry York
(06:22):
and fifteen million dollars. So the way I kind of
matched up. The trade was Alexi Kovalev for Peter Needved,
Harry York for Chris Tamer and fifteen million for Sean Pronger.
Is just the way I kind of broke the trade
down internally, and so it was, yeah, it was a
big trade. So we meet the team in Buffalo and
(06:46):
I don't know what I was expecting, but I get
to the rink and Craig mctalvis iss assistant coach, and
he's like, hey, prongs welcome to New York. You're not
playing tonight, and I'm like, here we go again. So anyway,
I'm gratch my first game for the Rangers, which was
a sign of things to come. But what was really
I was thrilled to go to New York. My childhood
(07:08):
best friend from Dryden, Ontario, Chris Hancock, had been living
there for a few years and so it was like,
all right, well, we gotta keep make sure you get
two small town boys from Canada in the big city.
Things can get out of hand. So we had to
draw some boundaries and make sure, Okay, you got a job,
you got a career, you gotta worry about. I gotta
createt to worry about. Let's you know, make sure we
pick our spots. So we tried to keep our distance
(07:31):
and I wasn't playing, So maybe get in a lineup
for you know, a couple of shifts here and there,
and then I'd be a healthy scratch for three games.
Get back in for a couple of shifts, healthy scratch
for a few games. And so I talked to the
our strengthening conditioning coach. I said, I want you to
drop a program that's going to keep me ready to
play as soon as I get my opportunity, I want
(07:51):
to be ready to go and I'm gonna take it.
And then it never came, and so it was just
getting to the point where something's gotta give, and I
was just kind of getting so frustrated. I think it
was a game in Washington actually where I finally think
I got my opportunity to do something. It was I
think we're in the second period, I'm in the lineup,
(08:13):
which is great, and we're killing a five on three
and he let and Muckler, who's a coach, left me
out there, and I'm like, Okay, this is my chance.
And I don't know why I thought that was my
chance to go show them what I can do offensively
because we're killing a penalty five on three. I don't
know what I thought, but whatever, I was gonna make
my mark. And anyway, so I got the puck and
(08:35):
I'm ready. They kind of done the fan on the
pucket and they gave it to me, and I'm kind
of going at full speed and there's two guys that
to beat and the right place is dumping in and
then you know, change and hey, doing your job. But
I think, you know what I can beat. I can
beat these guys. So what I was gonna do is
like split the d go in and score and then
you know, right off in the sunset, not the case.
(08:56):
So I go to split the d poke check, I
keep going. They pass it up ding ding ding, three
on two, actually four on two pucks in the back
of our net. I'm on the bench, never to come
off the bench stolen and now I'm sitting out. I
must for probably the next three or four or five games.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
And when we come back more with this journeyman hockey
player's story here on our American story. And we're back
(09:40):
with our American stories and the story of Sean Pronger
in his own words, Let's return to the rest of
this great sports story.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So now I'm skating in practice, getting crushed, and I
go in and talk to Muckler. Actually, first of all,
I asked Craig mctabash. I'm like, Matie, what should I do?
You know, like, I want to play. I want to
know what I need to do to stay in the
line to get a lineup and stay in the lineup.
It's like, products will talk to him. So I'm like,
all right, all right, we'll talk to him. So I
go in there and John Muckler. I grew up watching
(10:11):
this guy as part of the Oiler dynasty. Pretty intimidating dudes.
At that's massive head of silvery white hair. He's got
his feed up on the thing. I mean, if he
had a scotch, it wouldn't be at a place to
get a scotch and a cigar. The way he was
sitting there. I'm like, hey, coach MUCKs you had a second.
He's like, yeah, come on it. Like, hey, coach, I
just want to let you know what. Love love New York,
(10:32):
love playing for the Rangers. I want to play more.
What do I need to do to stay in the
lineup or get in the lineup and stay in the lineup,
and he goes off on a rant for about fifteen
minutes about how good the Edmonton Oilers were in the
eighties at playing a give and go game and how
players today in the you know, mid to late nineties
(10:55):
could not play that style of game and it was
very frustrating to him. So he went off for about
fifteen minutes on that, and I remember walking out and Max,
he was walking by. I was just coming out. He's like,
so how to go. I'm like, honestly, I have no
idea how it went. But he's a big family. You
guys played in the eighties, and so I kind of
went back to my locker and I'm just like, something's
got to give. So I called my buddy, Herbie Hancock
(11:17):
Herby tonight. Tonight we're going out. And so all right,
we're going out and we just so we go to
whatever local pub, which there is more, you know, seven
on every block, and so we picked one go there,
and you know, we're having a great time. In New
York's awesome, having a great time. Were a couple of
different spots we hit, and I remember walking into a
(11:41):
bar it was I think one thirty, and I was
very concerned when when the after hours bars were, what
time they opened, or what time when's that going to
go down? So I wasn't ready to call it a night.
There's one thirty, which is you know, obviously the last
call is getting close, or so I thought. And I
remember walking over to the bartender and I'm like, excuse me, ma'am,
what times what's end of the after hours bars open
(12:01):
around here? And she goes, you mean after we close
at four thirty? And I'm like, no, no, this would
be good. So of course we stayed there at four
thirty shut that bar down. Luckily it was only about
a twenty minute walk back to my place. And then
you know, I got there at like five and heading
up at seven to drive to practice, and which is
not a big deal because that particular the day before
(12:23):
I was actually practicing as the eighth defenceman, and so
I wasn't too worried about how I felt when I
got to practice. So I get up, obviously not feeling
the best, but I'm like, all right, just deal with it,
and so we get the practice, get grab my usual
breakfast of Champions coffee with a double chocolate chip muffin,
and I'm sitting there with the kind of chocolate smeared
(12:45):
all over my face, just taking it all in in
the locker room, and I'm like looking around, and something's
kind of something a little off. I'm like, it's kind
of like when your your wife girlfriend mother would rearrange
the furniture. And I'm looking around, I'm like, have we
got a new player? Is what is going on here?
And so it was just the color schemes out of whack,
and so I'm looking. I'm like, you know, and all
the name the bars are the same name tags. And
(13:07):
I look over and I'm like, in my stall, which
is normally the yellow jersey because I'm either on the
fifth line or I'm on the fourth set of defensemen,
it was a red jersey. They're like, that doesn't make
sense because the red jersey is Gretzky's lines jersey. And
I'm like, well, obviously this is a mistake. So I
grabbed the jersey and I go to uh. I go
to Mike Foglan, who's the equipment guy, and be like, folks,
(13:31):
gave me around color jersey. And I kind of throw
the jersey at him and he's and he grabs it
and he throws it back. He goes, no, I didn't,
and I'm like, what, Oh, yeah you did, dude. I'm yellow.
I mean we all know that. I think all the
fans know that. And he's like, yeah, not today, Bud
Kevin Stevens has the flute. So you're practicing with Gravy
and Gretzky and I'm just like, are you kidding me?
(13:53):
And he's laughing at me because he could see you
it glazed overlooking my eyes. So now my part is
in my throat and I'm like, this is not good.
This is like I grew up idolizing Wayne Gretzky and
now I have the opportunity to practice with him, and
I'm it couldn't be more hungover. I'm probably still drunk,
and now I'm thinking what have I done to my
Like this is like a career defining moment, right right
(14:14):
when you're about to break through. Maybe you do something stupid,
go get drunk with your buddy, and now you're playing.
Now you're practicing with the greatest well with the greatest
player that's ever played. So this is all going through
my head as I'm trying to figure out how do
I manage this whole situation as far as like, okay,
I need to get your head wrapped around this, get
your body ready. You just got to get through this
one practice. So I go into the shower, crank it on,
(14:35):
freezing cold, sitting there for like ten minutes, and figure
out like, should I tell I got to get hungover?
First of all, does even know who I am? Second
of all? Do I tell him hungover? Or do I
just play it off like okay, I'm just that's how
I always am. So I'm thinking, you know what, he's
a dude. He's then understand, just man up, just tell
him what's going on. So I walk over. I'm like, hey, Wayne,
i'm practicing with you today. He's like, yeah, I saw that.
(14:57):
I'm like, yeah, I just want to let you know,
at a buddy in town, things may have gone on
a little bit later than I would have liked, and
you know, just a slightly hungover. So if you don't mind,
could you just keep the puck away from me and maybe,
you know, just throw it over to Graves and I'll
just kind of bang in rebounds and I'll do all
the gruntwork and you know, we'll, you know, I'll survive
(15:18):
this practice and hopefully not get cut, and he's like, Prongs,
don't worry about it. I've been there myself, and I'm like, yes,
you knows my name. All right, he's on board. The
greatest player in the game's on board. And all of
a sudden things started to lighten up for me. I
just felt like, Okay, we're gonna get through this. Screts
(15:38):
is on board, I'm gonna get out there, We're gonna
he's gonna stop the puck around. I'll probably bang in
a couple of rebounds, maybe leave a good taste in
the coach's mouth and be like, you know what, a
Pronger kid look pretty good today. And so now I'm
thinking this is gonna be my chance. So we get
out for practice and I'm I'm skipping around the warm
up like I'm a fifteen year All star. I'm like,
(16:01):
just like the arrogance that I had as a fifth
liner practicing with Gretzky was not just embarrassing, but I'm
just going with it. And so I'm just enjoying every moment,
and I'm just like thinking what if, Like what if
there's that small chance? You know. I remember reading an
article that Gretzky once said that you've put If you
put a bunch of hockey players out on a pond,
(16:23):
they're eventually gonna find the players that they pair up
with naturally, just the way they see, the way they pass,
the way they see each other's blades, and they'll just
find each other like him, and he already creedon. And
I kept thinking about that article, and I was like,
what if. I mean, I gave it about a one
percent chance that that could happen, But I'm like, what if?
What if we're out here? Because the Rangers at that time,
we were kind of struggling, and so it wouldn't be
(16:46):
able to like, it would be completely plausible that if
there was an ounce of chemistry, that they might give
us at least a game. And so I thought, Okay,
what if what if Gretzky and I had this natural,
undeniable chemistry and we get to play the next game,
and let's say we win, maybe do something good. We
get the next game and the next game, and so
this is all my head. It warm up a fucking practice,
(17:10):
and so I'm like, all right, here we go. And
so first we finally Muckler blows whistle. All right, we're
gonna warm up. We're doing a three on twos, like
straight down like kind of three three quarter rights three
on twos. I kept forgetting like I'm the first line,
so I alreay get my together and get be ready
to go. So I'm like, all right, let's do this.
And so I'm expecting Gretzky. Hey, we had a deal.
He's gonna backhand this saucer pass over to Gravy. He'll
(17:33):
either shoot it or shoot it, probably as Adam Graves can.
And so I'm not really even looking anyway the corner
of my eye to see this like fluttering puck come
flying over to me, like, oh, you should be passing
it to me already, and you know it. It was
like a wounded duck and it hits the back. I'm
playing on my off wing because I'm left handed shot
(17:54):
playing the right side. He goes off my backhand and
literally over the glass and then whistle goes. He's like,
all right, go again, So we do it again. He
does the same thing. I don't think this one did
not go over out of play, but whatever, I fumbled
it around anyway. That was just the sign of things
to come. And every single past Gretzky made was to me,
(18:15):
every one of them, and I barely survived that practice.
And I skated over to him after. I'm like, Krat's,
I'm so sorry I didn't. Yeah, I don't know to
tell you. He's like, Pronks, don't worry about it. I've
been there myself, and he gave me a wink, and
I'm like that he was playing me the whole time,
(18:36):
and I think that was actually better than if he wasn't,
because it made me feel like I was part of
the team. He like I was close enough in the
group that he could kill me like that, or he
just didn't give it about me and did it anyway.
But it was, uh, yeah, that's the Gretzky story. And
I still I still think we would have had some
great chemistry, but I guess the world will never know.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
And some great storytelling by Sean Pronger. And thanks as
always to Greg Hangler for getting us this great story.
And sometimes big stories in life, well they're just brushes
with greatness and how greatness handles things. I mean that
Gretzky handled Pronger this way, teased him, meant, hey, you're
one of the guys. It happens. Come on, let's get
(19:18):
through this great storytelling. And Sean Pronger's stories are chronicled
in his memoir Journeyman. The many triumphs and even more
numerous defeats of a guy who's seen just about everything
in the game of hockey. By the way, Pronger now
lives with his wife and two children in Orange County, California.
(19:39):
By the way, send your stories in like this. We've all,
at some time or another maybe came up or brushed
up against some people like this in our lives. And
very counterintuitive to hear a star treat somebody who comes
in drunk to practice like this in a gentle way,
in a fun way. So send your stories, as always
(20:00):
to our American Stories dot com. Sean Pronger's story I
was Gretzky's hungover line me here on our American Stories
This is our American stories, and we tell all kinds
of stories here on the show. This next story is
the story of Sean Pronger, and he was a journeyman
NHL player who got his start on the hockey beat
at a very young age. Close to home. Here's Sean
(00:30):
with his story.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
To talk about the Gretzky chapter, we're gonna have to
go back to where it all began, Dryden, Ontario, Canada.
I grew up in Dryden, a great town. Love living there.
But if you don't like hockey and you don't like
ice fishing, you probably aren't going to enjoy your time
in Dryden because it is remote. It's four hours from
(00:58):
the nearest city, four hours from the peg from Hunter Bay. Uh.
And it's winter there for about eight to nine months,
and we're talking real winter when it's thirty to forty
below is the norm, And so there's not a lot
to do if you don't enjoy those two activities. And
fortunately for me, my brother loved playing and all of
(01:18):
our buddies love playing, so we would play on our driveway.
We would play on the street in front of our house,
and we had an outdoor rink a block away and
so we played hockey NonStop. So I think the real
games were down in our basement at one sixty one
Saint Charles Street. Like every town in Canada or every city,
(01:38):
hockey Night in Canada was a big deal, and everything
kind of just stopped, you know. All plans were made
before or after hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights,
and our house, the Pronger House, was no different. We
would my mum and dad would come down there, my
brother and I would settle in and watch the game,
and every intermission or commercial break was time to play
(01:58):
one on one right in front of my parents with
our floor hockey sticks. And I was always a forward.
Chris was always a defenceman. And I look back down
and just laugh because my parents just watched. Basically, their
two sons just beat the out of each other while
her and my dad would just kind of sit back
and relax and enjoy the entertainment. And so we would,
(02:20):
Like I said, I was always forward. So then I
would dump it into the fake, you know, into the
living room corner, and he would go back to get it,
and I would ram his head into the dry wall,
and then we'd brawl, and you know, just repeat that
over and over for I don't know, eight or nine years,
and so every game, every hockey and Acada, we would
do that. And I was always gret Sky and he
(02:42):
was always Bossy, even though Bossy wasn't a defenceman. Christ's
favorite player was Mike Bossy growing up and mine was
Wayne Gretzky. And with Dryden being where it is, we
were four hours from Winnipeg. A couple times a year
the Pronger family would load up the family truckster and
head up to Winnipeg to watch the Jets play the
Oilers in the the old, good old Smite Division, which
(03:05):
obviously loved watching ninety nine play and uh and how
he could see everything and see the game was just
a real thrill. But one time we went up there
and we the hotel. I'm not sure if my dad
knew this or we just got lucky, but the hotel
that he booked us in was the same hotel the
Oilers were staying in. And I'll never forget. We're in
the lobby and we're we're just kind of hanging out
(03:25):
down there, and we kind of look up and there's
Kevin Lowe and Wayne Gretzky and my brother, just like
like their old buddies. As we're walking past, He's like, hey,
keV to Kevin Low. I find that hilarious now that
you know. Kevin Low would then go on to uh
sign my brother to a massive contract, and then he
would ask to be traded a year later. Their history
(03:46):
started early. So then then, so we're in the hotel
and we're kind of just like trying to figure out
a way to go see more players, and I'm trying
to figure out how to wait to see Gretzki. They're
in the Gretzky's in the dining room or the restaurant,
and my brother and I were kind of peering around
the corner like checking him out. He was I think
he's having breakfast with Glennzei there. So I'm watching him, thinking, well,
(04:07):
I don't want to bother him when he's eating. I
just seems weird. And about that time, a guy came
up behind me and he had a jersey. He said, hey, kid,
can you go get this autograph for my son? And
I said, well, this is kind of weird, but you know,
I'm kind of taught, like you know, if you don't
say no to adults, So I walk over interrupt his
breakfast and said, mister Gretzky, would you mind signing this?
(04:31):
I could tell he was reluctant just because he's in
a restaurant, and you know, years later I'd figure out
why he didn't want everybody else to think they need
to come to get an autograph. But anyway, he signed it.
He was a gentleman, he was great. I gave it
to the guy, and it dawned on me years later
that that guy probably wasn't getting it signed for his son.
He was probably hawking it at a memorobi in the shop.
(04:52):
But Lesson learned. So anyway, I you know, passion for
oiler hockey and my the fact that Waying Gris is
my idol sort of at a very young age. And
then if you fast forward years later, I'm now, you know,
in my own career in the NHL. Actually you were
ware your started. I was playing for the Penguins at
(05:14):
the end. I got traded at the end of ninety eight.
But the player is set up with this slide where
Promer gets himself in a great position from the Anheim
Ducks or Mighty Ducks. Back then, Sean Promer is a
good kid and I finished the season with the Pittsburgh
Penguins rather unceremoniously, and then before a game against the
Washington Capitals, the Kevin constant Te calls me in and
(05:36):
so I get there. He's like, Sean, we're trading you
to New York. And for some reason, I thought it
was the Islanders. He's like, I'm like okay, and he's like, yeah,
so you're going to the Rangers. And I'm like the Rangers.
And he I remember looking at me, like why you
look so happy, and I just thought, like, the Rangers.
This is like Gretzky's on this team. Adam Graves, Kevin Stevens,
(05:57):
Brian Leech, John McClain, Mike Richter, Jeff Buka, boom Oh, Samuelson,
all these guys I grew up watching, right, I mean
obviously my idol and then all these other guys that
I grew up watching. I'm like, this is gonna be awesome.
This is a rebirth for me. So I get traded,
you know, get traded. It was a block It was
actually a blockbuster trade. It was Alexei Kovalev, Harry York
(06:22):
and fifteen million dollars. So the way I kind of
matched up. The trade was Alexi Kovalev for Peter Needved,
Harry York for Chris Tamer and fifteen million for Sean Pronger.
Is just the way I kind of broke the trade
down internally, and so it was, yeah, it was a
big trade. So we meet the team in Buffalo and
(06:46):
I don't know what I was expecting, but I get
to the rink and Craig mctalvis iss assistant coach, and
he's like, hey, prongs welcome to New York. You're not
playing tonight, and I'm like, here we go again. So anyway,
I'm gratch my first game for the Rangers, which was
a sign of things to come. But what was really
I was thrilled to go to New York. My childhood
(07:08):
best friend from Dryden, Ontario, Chris Hancock, had been living
there for a few years and so it was like,
all right, well, we gotta keep make sure you get
two small town boys from Canada in the big city.
Things can get out of hand. So we had to
draw some boundaries and make sure, Okay, you got a job,
you got a career, you gotta worry about. I gotta
createt to worry about. Let's you know, make sure we
pick our spots. So we tried to keep our distance
(07:31):
and I wasn't playing, So maybe get in a lineup
for you know, a couple of shifts here and there,
and then I'd be a healthy scratch for three games.
Get back in for a couple of shifts, healthy scratch
for a few games. And so I talked to the
our strengthening conditioning coach. I said, I want you to
drop a program that's going to keep me ready to
play as soon as I get my opportunity, I want
(07:51):
to be ready to go and I'm gonna take it.
And then it never came, and so it was just
getting to the point where something's gotta give, and I
was just kind of getting so frustrated. I think it
was a game in Washington actually where I finally think
I got my opportunity to do something. It was I
think we're in the second period, I'm in the lineup,
(08:13):
which is great, and we're killing a five on three
and he let and Muckler, who's a coach, left me
out there, and I'm like, Okay, this is my chance.
And I don't know why I thought that was my
chance to go show them what I can do offensively
because we're killing a penalty five on three. I don't
know what I thought, but whatever, I was gonna make
my mark. And anyway, so I got the puck and
(08:35):
I'm ready. They kind of done the fan on the
pucket and they gave it to me, and I'm kind
of going at full speed and there's two guys that
to beat and the right place is dumping in and
then you know, change and hey, doing your job. But
I think, you know what I can beat. I can
beat these guys. So what I was gonna do is
like split the d go in and score and then
you know, right off in the sunset, not the case.
(08:56):
So I go to split the d poke check, I
keep going. They pass it up ding ding ding, three
on two, actually four on two pucks in the back
of our net. I'm on the bench, never to come
off the bench stolen and now I'm sitting out. I
must for probably the next three or four or five games.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
And when we come back more with this journeyman hockey
player's story here on our American story. And we're back
(09:40):
with our American stories and the story of Sean Pronger
in his own words, Let's return to the rest of
this great sports story.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So now I'm skating in practice, getting crushed, and I
go in and talk to Muckler. Actually, first of all,
I asked Craig mctabash. I'm like, Matie, what should I do?
You know, like, I want to play. I want to
know what I need to do to stay in the
line to get a lineup and stay in the lineup.
It's like, products will talk to him. So I'm like,
all right, all right, we'll talk to him. So I
go in there and John Muckler. I grew up watching
(10:11):
this guy as part of the Oiler dynasty. Pretty intimidating dudes.
At that's massive head of silvery white hair. He's got
his feed up on the thing. I mean, if he
had a scotch, it wouldn't be at a place to
get a scotch and a cigar. The way he was
sitting there. I'm like, hey, coach MUCKs you had a second.
He's like, yeah, come on it. Like, hey, coach, I
just want to let you know what. Love love New York,
(10:32):
love playing for the Rangers. I want to play more.
What do I need to do to stay in the
lineup or get in the lineup and stay in the lineup,
and he goes off on a rant for about fifteen
minutes about how good the Edmonton Oilers were in the
eighties at playing a give and go game and how
players today in the you know, mid to late nineties
(10:55):
could not play that style of game and it was
very frustrating to him. So he went off for about
fifteen minutes on that, and I remember walking out and Max,
he was walking by. I was just coming out. He's like,
so how to go. I'm like, honestly, I have no
idea how it went. But he's a big family. You
guys played in the eighties, and so I kind of
went back to my locker and I'm just like, something's
got to give. So I called my buddy, Herbie Hancock
(11:17):
Herby tonight. Tonight we're going out. And so all right,
we're going out and we just so we go to
whatever local pub, which there is more, you know, seven
on every block, and so we picked one go there,
and you know, we're having a great time. In New
York's awesome, having a great time. Were a couple of
different spots we hit, and I remember walking into a
(11:41):
bar it was I think one thirty, and I was
very concerned when when the after hours bars were, what
time they opened, or what time when's that going to
go down? So I wasn't ready to call it a night.
There's one thirty, which is you know, obviously the last
call is getting close, or so I thought. And I
remember walking over to the bartender and I'm like, excuse me, ma'am,
what times what's end of the after hours bars open
(12:01):
around here? And she goes, you mean after we close
at four thirty? And I'm like, no, no, this would
be good. So of course we stayed there at four
thirty shut that bar down. Luckily it was only about
a twenty minute walk back to my place. And then
you know, I got there at like five and heading
up at seven to drive to practice, and which is
not a big deal because that particular the day before
(12:23):
I was actually practicing as the eighth defenceman, and so
I wasn't too worried about how I felt when I
got to practice. So I get up, obviously not feeling
the best, but I'm like, all right, just deal with it,
and so we get the practice, get grab my usual
breakfast of Champions coffee with a double chocolate chip muffin,
and I'm sitting there with the kind of chocolate smeared
(12:45):
all over my face, just taking it all in in
the locker room, and I'm like looking around, and something's
kind of something a little off. I'm like, it's kind
of like when your your wife girlfriend mother would rearrange
the furniture. And I'm looking around, I'm like, have we
got a new player? Is what is going on here?
And so it was just the color schemes out of whack,
and so I'm looking. I'm like, you know, and all
the name the bars are the same name tags. And
(13:07):
I look over and I'm like, in my stall, which
is normally the yellow jersey because I'm either on the
fifth line or I'm on the fourth set of defensemen,
it was a red jersey. They're like, that doesn't make
sense because the red jersey is Gretzky's lines jersey. And
I'm like, well, obviously this is a mistake. So I
grabbed the jersey and I go to uh. I go
to Mike Foglan, who's the equipment guy, and be like, folks,
(13:31):
gave me around color jersey. And I kind of throw
the jersey at him and he's and he grabs it
and he throws it back. He goes, no, I didn't,
and I'm like, what, Oh, yeah you did, dude. I'm yellow.
I mean we all know that. I think all the
fans know that. And he's like, yeah, not today, Bud
Kevin Stevens has the flute. So you're practicing with Gravy
and Gretzky and I'm just like, are you kidding me?
(13:53):
And he's laughing at me because he could see you
it glazed overlooking my eyes. So now my part is
in my throat and I'm like, this is not good.
This is like I grew up idolizing Wayne Gretzky and
now I have the opportunity to practice with him, and
I'm it couldn't be more hungover. I'm probably still drunk,
and now I'm thinking what have I done to my
Like this is like a career defining moment, right right
(14:14):
when you're about to break through. Maybe you do something stupid,
go get drunk with your buddy, and now you're playing.
Now you're practicing with the greatest well with the greatest
player that's ever played. So this is all going through
my head as I'm trying to figure out how do
I manage this whole situation as far as like, okay,
I need to get your head wrapped around this, get
your body ready. You just got to get through this
one practice. So I go into the shower, crank it on,
(14:35):
freezing cold, sitting there for like ten minutes, and figure
out like, should I tell I got to get hungover?
First of all, does even know who I am? Second
of all? Do I tell him hungover? Or do I
just play it off like okay, I'm just that's how
I always am. So I'm thinking, you know what, he's
a dude. He's then understand, just man up, just tell
him what's going on. So I walk over. I'm like, hey, Wayne,
i'm practicing with you today. He's like, yeah, I saw that.
(14:57):
I'm like, yeah, I just want to let you know,
at a buddy in town, things may have gone on
a little bit later than I would have liked, and
you know, just a slightly hungover. So if you don't mind,
could you just keep the puck away from me and maybe,
you know, just throw it over to Graves and I'll
just kind of bang in rebounds and I'll do all
the gruntwork and you know, we'll, you know, I'll survive
(15:18):
this practice and hopefully not get cut, and he's like, Prongs,
don't worry about it. I've been there myself, and I'm like, yes,
you knows my name. All right, he's on board. The
greatest player in the game's on board. And all of
a sudden things started to lighten up for me. I
just felt like, Okay, we're gonna get through this. Screts
(15:38):
is on board, I'm gonna get out there, We're gonna
he's gonna stop the puck around. I'll probably bang in
a couple of rebounds, maybe leave a good taste in
the coach's mouth and be like, you know what, a
Pronger kid look pretty good today. And so now I'm
thinking this is gonna be my chance. So we get
out for practice and I'm I'm skipping around the warm
up like I'm a fifteen year All star. I'm like,
(16:01):
just like the arrogance that I had as a fifth
liner practicing with Gretzky was not just embarrassing, but I'm
just going with it. And so I'm just enjoying every moment,
and I'm just like thinking what if, Like what if
there's that small chance? You know. I remember reading an
article that Gretzky once said that you've put If you
put a bunch of hockey players out on a pond,
(16:23):
they're eventually gonna find the players that they pair up
with naturally, just the way they see, the way they pass,
the way they see each other's blades, and they'll just
find each other like him, and he already creedon. And
I kept thinking about that article, and I was like,
what if. I mean, I gave it about a one
percent chance that that could happen, But I'm like, what if?
What if we're out here? Because the Rangers at that time,
we were kind of struggling, and so it wouldn't be
(16:46):
able to like, it would be completely plausible that if
there was an ounce of chemistry, that they might give
us at least a game. And so I thought, Okay,
what if what if Gretzky and I had this natural,
undeniable chemistry and we get to play the next game,
and let's say we win, maybe do something good. We
get the next game and the next game, and so
this is all my head. It warm up a fucking practice,
(17:10):
and so I'm like, all right, here we go. And
so first we finally Muckler blows whistle. All right, we're
gonna warm up. We're doing a three on twos, like
straight down like kind of three three quarter rights three
on twos. I kept forgetting like I'm the first line,
so I alreay get my together and get be ready
to go. So I'm like, all right, let's do this.
And so I'm expecting Gretzky. Hey, we had a deal.
He's gonna backhand this saucer pass over to Gravy. He'll
(17:33):
either shoot it or shoot it, probably as Adam Graves can.
And so I'm not really even looking anyway the corner
of my eye to see this like fluttering puck come
flying over to me, like, oh, you should be passing
it to me already, and you know it. It was
like a wounded duck and it hits the back. I'm
playing on my off wing because I'm left handed shot
(17:54):
playing the right side. He goes off my backhand and
literally over the glass and then whistle goes. He's like,
all right, go again, So we do it again. He
does the same thing. I don't think this one did
not go over out of play, but whatever, I fumbled
it around anyway. That was just the sign of things
to come. And every single past Gretzky made was to me,
(18:15):
every one of them, and I barely survived that practice.
And I skated over to him after. I'm like, Krat's,
I'm so sorry I didn't. Yeah, I don't know to
tell you. He's like, Pronks, don't worry about it. I've
been there myself, and he gave me a wink, and
I'm like that he was playing me the whole time,
(18:36):
and I think that was actually better than if he wasn't,
because it made me feel like I was part of
the team. He like I was close enough in the
group that he could kill me like that, or he
just didn't give it about me and did it anyway.
But it was, uh, yeah, that's the Gretzky story. And
I still I still think we would have had some
great chemistry, but I guess the world will never know.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
And some great storytelling by Sean Pronger. And thanks as
always to Greg Hangler for getting us this great story.
And sometimes big stories in life, well they're just brushes
with greatness and how greatness handles things. I mean that
Gretzky handled Pronger this way, teased him, meant, hey, you're
one of the guys. It happens. Come on, let's get
(19:18):
through this great storytelling. And Sean Pronger's stories are chronicled
in his memoir Journeyman. The many triumphs and even more
numerous defeats of a guy who's seen just about everything
in the game of hockey. By the way, Pronger now
lives with his wife and two children in Orange County, California.
(19:39):
By the way, send your stories in like this. We've all,
at some time or another maybe came up or brushed
up against some people like this in our lives. And
very counterintuitive to hear a star treat somebody who comes
in drunk to practice like this in a gentle way,
in a fun way. So send your stories, as always
(20:00):
to our American Stories dot com. Sean Pronger's story I
was Gretzky's hungover line me here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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