Welcome to our new website!
May 19, 2023

Chris Pronger: NHL Hall of Famer Unpacks His Career Journey on and Off the Ice

Chris Pronger: NHL Hall of Famer Unpacks His Career Journey on and Off the Ice

Chris Pronger is a former NHL Hall of Fame defenseman. Chris was drafted second overall by the Hartford Whalers in 1993 and has also played for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, and Philadelphia Flyers. He’s appeared in the Stanley Cup finals with three different teams and won the Cup with the Ducks in 2007. He also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player for the 1999–2000 season.

A mainstay on Team Canada, Chris won Olympic gold medals at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics and is a member of the Triple Gold Club. Today, Chris runs Well Inspired Travels alongside his wife.

This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s:

Chris actually didn’t grow up watching hockey other than on Saturday nights, which was the one night a week it came on TV in his area. But he definitely played every day with his older brothers and friends!

Chris says he had one of the top 5 Stanley Cup parties of all time, where he invited the Sugar Ray band to come to play.

One of the biggest challenges retired athletes face is figuring out a new way to spend their time that fulfills them. When you’re a professional athlete, most of your schedule is determined for you, so it’s a new type of pressure once you leave.

When he worked with the Florida Panthers as Vice President of Operations, Chris had to remove himself from the everyday wins and losses of the team in order to be an effective leader. Coming in as a former player, it was hard to delineate himself from what was happening on the ice.

Chris works on Well Inspired Travels with his wife, and his secret to being business partners with your spouse is to make sure you make time aside from work with the family.

For more on Chris, please visit: https://www.wellinspiredtravels.com/  and follow him on Instagram @thechrispronger 
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review:   https://ratethispodcast.com/thepozcast
This episode is brought to you by Metaview. Metaview uses AI to automatically write your interview notes for you. Recruiters and hiring managers at companies like Robinhood, Brex, and Genentech describe Metaview as a game-changer for their efficiency and ability to have high-quality conversations with candidates. They can focus on the conversation rather than on taking notes.

Metaview’s interview summaries are purpose-built for recruiting, so they’re 10x more accurate and relevant than generic transcription tools. And, they work seamlessly with your recruiting stack, video conferencing tools, and mobile calls, so there’s no need to change your existing workflows. You can now even ask the AI your own questions about an interview—to recall specific details or to get more information on a topic—and it will instantly provide answers based on what was discussed. It’s like ChatGPT for your interviews.

You can see the magic for yourself for free on your first 5 interviews. Head over to metaview.ai/pozcast to get started.

#thePOZcast is brought to you by our friends at Interseller – the prospecting + outreach platform of recruiters and sellers. 

Check out a free demo today! https://bit.ly/2Fbm/BZ

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and Twitter @AdamJPosner.eth  

For more, please visit www.thePOZcast.com Thanks!

2:34 - Upbringing in North West

3:44 - Hockey was a part of growing up

4:42 - Getting into NHL

6:05 - Chris' First Game

7:44 - First goal memory

9:33 - Business side of Hockey

10:57 - Chris's Coach 

12:13 - Lesson from leadership perspective

13:09 - Inspiration from team mates

15:02 - How to manage relations / focus on the game

16:34 - What's it like being traded

18:00 - Winning Accomplishments

19:35 - Feeling of 'Winning the Cup'

20:39 - First night with the 'Cup'

23:25 - Toughest opponent on ice

24:00 - Getting hit in the chest 

27:16 - How the Leagues have changed

28:26 - Self-regulation

29:31 - Conversations in Hockey

30:16 - Career End story

31:05 - Days after retirement

34:04 - How to stay in the right mental frame

35:48 - Press Box Experience

37:17 - Learning from Management 

38:57 - Post Career traveling

42:09 - Favorite place to travel

42:44 - Working with wife

43:52 - Value proposition

44:48 - Advice to work with spouse

46:13 - New things in work

47:07 - Single greatest piece of advice

52:03 - Chris's North Star