How Rock Bottom Turned Chris Pronger Into an NHL Legend

Chris Pronger (0:01)

It's not always which one you're the best at, it's what you love the most, what you're passionate about, because that's what's going to drive you in those dog days and those moments of adversity or strife or difficulty. It's the ability to want to push through that because you love playing the game.

Matt Cohen (0:18)

Welcome back to Tank Talks. I'm your host, Matt Cohen, founder and managing partner of Ripple Ventures. And this episode is a heavyweight. Today, we're sitting down with one of the most dominant, intimidating and decorated defensemen in the NHL has ever seen. A first-ballot Hall of Famer, a Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy winner, a Stanley Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and a member of the Triple Gold Club. On this week's episode, we are pumped to welcome Chris Pronger to the Tank.

Chris didn't just play the game of hockey. He imposed his will and physical dominance on it for nearly two decades. And anyone who had the pleasure of watching him play the game knows he was a force everywhere he went on the ice.

In this conversation, we dig into grit, leadership under extreme pressure, the real cost of competing at the highest level, identity after the peak, and the hard lessons of figuring out who he was when it was all suddenly taking away from him. If you're a former athlete, a founder, an operator, or investor building something that lasts and not sure how to bet on yourself, then this one's for you.

Now let's jump into the Tank for this week's episode with the one and only Chris Pronger.

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Chris Pronger (2:26)

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Matt Cohen (2:28)

Chris Frickin Pronger, Hockey Hall of Famer, one of NHL's greatest 100 players, Norris Trophy winner, last defenseman to win the heart as an MVP, a Stanley Cup champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a player for almost 20 years. You played with so much intensity and level that most people will never match. I got to ask you though, looking back, are there any one or two moments in your early life before sports that clearly forged a specific kind of competitor and leader in you that you can remember?

Chris Pronger (2:59)

Yeah, I think a couple and I actually talk about it in this book right here.

The first I think is you got to bet on yourself. You're the only person that can, that has the reins so to speak of of your life, of your career, of your will and desire to do whatever it takes to be successful. And every opportunity I got to challenge myself, to bet on myself, I took that opportunity.

And I think that really over the course of those early years and then on into my career, I think was I was a huge benefactor of those early days. And then from that spurned the drive and determination that it was going to take to overcome the adversity I faced early in my career and the struggles I had. And really the hard moments of looking yourself in the mirror and say, how good do you want to be? You have talent. You have the ability. How good or great do you want to be? And now, okay, once you decide, I want to be the best player in the world or try to be the best player in the world, reverse engineer that and put the time and effort and the work in to become that player.