Blues announce they will retire Chris Pronger's number.

A huge honor for Chris Pronger.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Blues announce they will retire Chris Pronger's number.
Jamie Squire/Getty

The St. Louis Blues have just made a major announcement. 

According to a report from the St. Louis Blues official website, the Blues have made the decision to retire jersey number 44, the number that was worn for many years by legendary National Hockey League defenseman Chris Pronger. There had been rumblings for some time that suggested the Blues were looking for the right moment to make the announcement and it appears that the time is now. It is of course a huge honor for Pronger himself but based on the reactions to today's announcement it sounds like the fans in St. Louis may be even more excited about the news than Pronger himself. 

It sounds like the Blues did a terrific job of unveiling the news to Pronger himself as well. According to the statement released by the Blues on Saturday it was NHL legend Al MacInnis that surprised Pronger with the news on Saturday when the Blues were holding an event for their season ticket holders. We have not been able to get our hands on any video of MacInnis breaking the news to Pronger but we are holding out hope that the Blues will release some footage of what sounds like an amazing moment between two truly great players. 

When Pronger does finally have his jersey raised to the rafters he will become only the 8th player in St. Louis Blues history to have his jersey retired, joining legends like the aforementioned Al MacInnis, Bob Gassoff, Bob Plager, Barclay Plager, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko and of course Brett Hull. That is some truly elite company for Pronger to be joining and there is little question that the man very much deserves the honor. 

It would not be a stretch to suggest that Pronger is among the greatest defensemen to have ever played the game and his dominant physical style will be remembered for years to come. Pronger brought physicality to the game that few others before him or since have brought to the game and he did so while consuming an absolutely absurd number of minutes on a night by night basis regardless of which organization he was playing for. 

The Blues have not officially announced a date yet, but it will take place at some point during the 2020 - 2021 NHL regular season.

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