{"id":554079,"date":"2026-04-16T21:12:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554079\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:12:37","slug":"pronger-embarrassing-himself-with-recent-edmonton-oilers-comments-the-hockey-writers-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554079\/","title":{"rendered":"Pronger Embarrassing Himself with Recent Edmonton Oilers Comments – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been paying any attention to the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> lately, you\u2019ve probably been informed of some pretty crazy drama going on<\/a> behind the scenes. And, no, it has nothing whatsoever to do with this current roster, coaching staff, or management regime.<\/p>\n

Related: Josh Samanski Could Play a Crucial Role for the Oilers in the Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n

The saga is instead between two Hall of Fame defencemen in Kevin Lowe<\/a> and Chris Pronger. If you remember, Lowe was serving as the general manager (GM) of the Oilers when he traded for Pronger. He was also the GM that sent Pronger packing<\/a> just one year later after the superstar defenceman requested a trade. Despite that trade taking place 20 years ago, it happens to be exactly what the two are fighting about.<\/p>\n

It all stemmed from Pronger choosing to write a book<\/a>, in which he details what led to his trade request from the Oilers. The now 51-year-old claims that he had meant to sign a one-year qualifying offer with Edmonton so that he and his wife could see whether or not they liked the city. Instead, Pronger, after a night of drinking, chose to agree to a five-year extension without even letting his wife know. Or at least, that\u2019s what he claims.<\/p>\n

Lowe has since fired back<\/a> at those comments, suggesting that the day after the contract was signed, Pronger\u2019s wife sent him a thank-you note and expressed the couple\u2019s gratitude to be heading to Edmonton. Suddenly, Lowe\u2019s pushback has caused Pronger to walk back some of his comments, and it\u2019s not making him look good.<\/p>\n

Pronger\u2019s Story Not Lining Up<\/p>\n

With his book, Earned: The True Cost of Greatness from One of Hockey\u2019s Fiercest Competitors, having just been released, Pronger has been doing all sorts of interviews across several platforms in recent days. To no surprise, many have asked him about this strange Edmonton situation, including Jason Gregor of Sports 1440<\/a>. What was interesting was how Pronger changed his story up slightly when asked about allegedly signing a deal with the Oilers while under the influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s get something straight: I didn\u2019t sign a contract that night, I agreed to terms,\u201d Pronger said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t faxing things and doing all that. I agreed to terms and they announced it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChrisJan 28, 2006; Glendale, AZ, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman (44) Chris Pronger carries the puck during the third period against the Phoenix Coyotes at Glendale Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports Copyright Rick Scuteri<\/p>\n

That in itself sparked a bit of confusion to many listening. Gregor then asked the former Hart Trophy winner if he could\u2019ve simply just backed out of the deal, which resulted in another rather confusing response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, maybe, but they\u2019ve already announced it. I don\u2019t know. How do you walk that back? \u2018I was going to sign my qualifying offer instead I sign a five-year deal.\u2019 Well, why? \u2018Oh, I was drunk.\u2019\u201d Gregor also asked Pronger about Lowe\u2019s comment that his wife had sent him a note expressing their gratitude to be heading to Edmonton. Pronger twice denied it, but followed both denials up with, \u201cnot to my knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pronger Should Let Bygones be Bygones<\/p>\n

The interesting thing about this entire situation is that for the most part, fans in Edmonton no longer held any sort of major resentment towards Pronger. After all, it\u2019s been nearly two decades since he requested a trade, and though the first decade without him proved to be extremely rough, the Oilers have since turned things around to the point that they are a perennial Stanley Cup contender<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related: Former Oilers GM Kevin Lowe Blasts Chris Pronger Following Recent Comments<\/a><\/p>\n

From Pronger\u2019s perspective, you can understand why he would want to discuss the Edmonton situation publicly in his book, given that he\u2019s rarely spoken publicly about what unfolded. It is something that many wondered about for several years, after all. That said, given how much negativity and backlash has been caused by this particular portion of the book in recent days, you can\u2019t help but wonder if Pronger simply wished he\u2019d stayed silent on it altogether, because it seems that each time he\u2019s tried to clarify himself since he\u2019s only come off worse.<\/p>\n

\"SUBSCRIBE<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve been paying any attention to the Edmonton Oilers lately, you\u2019ve probably been informed of some pretty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[1794,198,146,5300,5,9907,4,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-554079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-chris-pronger","9":"tag-edmonton","10":"tag-edmonton-oilers","11":"tag-edmontonoilers","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-kevin-lowe","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-oilers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116416452347219513","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}