Polly Pocket

Philadelphia Flyers veteran defenseman Chris Pronger has created quite the controversy despite the 0-2 deficit his team has fallen in to start the Stanley Cup Finals. After losing both games on the road in Chicago to the Blackhawks, Pronger was seen pocketing the puck as the final seconds of the clock ran out and the opposing team hit the ice to begin celebrating. While hoping to tick off the opposing Blackhawks personnel and prevent the organization from enshrining the pucks as souvenirs, many followers of hockey think Pronger is overreacting. Granted it's usually common courtesy to let the winning team keep the puck after a big games such as those played in the Stanley Cup Finals, similar to baseball's cardinal rule when giving the ball back to a player after their first big league hit or milestone, what Pronger did was Bush League.

Personally, I think Pronger is acting a bit childish, especially after speaking out to the media. Then again he could just be living up to the Flyers moniker 'The Broad Street Bullies'. When being asked in a post-game interview what he did with the pucks Pronger answered, "I threw them in the trash where they belong." Definitely something no one expected from one of the game's better known veterans. But unlike the first two games, there was no need to steal the puck in games 3 and 4 as Pronger's Flyers went on to tie up the series at 2-games a piece. Although his actions are definitely something I don't condone in, it would've been hilarious if someone from the Blackhawks stole a page out of Pronger's book and keistered the puck at the end of games 3 and 4 just to keep the drama going.

If you haven't been following the series already, I suggest you watch game 5 along with the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals as both teams hope to bring home the Stanley Cup for the first time in decades. While the Flyers have been Cup-less for 35 years now, the Blackhawks own the longest cup drought in the NHL at 49 years and the second longest drought in NHL history only behind the New York Rangers (54 years). With both teams hungry for another championship, I say the series goes 7 games.