What Is Past Is Prologue to Playoffs

It’s not quite three years since the St. Louis Blues traded left wing Brendan Shanahan to Hartford for defenseman Chris Pronger, but it might as well be a lifetime ago for both players.

Since then, Shanahan has been traded again, to Detroit, where he helped the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup last season. Pronger, who was involved in two alcohol-related incidents while playing for the Whalers, has straightened himself out personally and professionally. If his name isn’t among the Norris Trophy finalists Monday when the NHL announces the top three candidates for its major awards, a recount would be required.

Their paths have crossed again this spring in the Western Conference semifinals, which the Blues lead, 1-0, largely because of Pronger’s poised, commanding performance in their 4-2 victory Friday. Shanahan didn’t figure in the scoring, and that was one of the Red Wings’ problems.

Unlike Pronger, who led the NHL with a plus-47 plus/minus rating, Shanahan had a sub-par season. His production fell from 47 goals to 28, respectable in a season of reduced scoring but short of his standard.

A prototypical power forward, Shanahan is most effective around the net, using his size to outmuscle opponents and his skills to demoralize them. For the Red Wings to succeed today in Game 2 at Joe Louis Arena, they need Shanahan to create traffic around St. Louis goaltender Grant Fuhr and ignite some offensive sparks.

“You say to yourself you’re not a 28-goal scorer, and you hope it’s just one of those strange years,” said Shanahan, who scored 51 goals for the Blues in 1992-93 and a career-high 52 in 1993-94. “Goal-scoring is down and our team plays a team defensive game. You have to have a mind-set that you could always do better. The year before, when I scored 47, I thought I could do better. . . .

“We have to make a lot of improvements. We were unhappy with a lot of mistakes we made. You need emotion and you need intensity, but you also need to have some composure.”

Pronger’s composure was exemplary. He resisted the Red Wings’ attempts to bait him into taking bad penalties, displaying maturity and intelligence he lacked in Hartford and in his first season in St. Louis. At 23, he has grown comfortable with his 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame and has become a favorite of fans who used to jeer him because he wasn’t as outgoing or dynamic as Shanahan.

“The ultimate test for a defenseman is consistency, and he has that,” Blues Coach Joel Quenneville said Saturday after his team practiced. “He has a bright future, and he’s got a great head for the game. For a young guy, he’s got an amazing thought process. He’s got a great reach, and for a big guy he’s got some quickness. Sure, he’d get my [Norris Trophy] vote.”

Winning the Norris would be satisfying, “but I don’t think I’m going to worry too much,” Pronger said. “You just go out and play and hope people notice and respect you. It’s not going to be the end-all and be-all of my season. There’s a lot more at stake than the Norris Trophy.”

Specifically, the Stanley Cup, and the Blues are striding ever closer to it. Pronger, however, remains cautious. “We kind of have the home-ice advantage back, and we can’t let it slip away and can’t lose our composure,” he said. “As long as we play our system, it’s just a matter of guys giving effort the way they did [Friday].”

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Blues defenseman Al MacInnis, who sat out Friday’s game because of a pulled groin muscle, is doubtful for today’s game. The nature of his injury was questioned by reporters who suspected worse, but he said it was a pull he sustained last Wednesday in practice. “I can tell you 100% it’s not my shoulder,” said MacInnis, who has chronic shoulder problems.