Pronger isn’t a fan of games in Europe

Ducks captain Chris Pronger was dubious about the wisdom of the NHL’s decision to open its regular season in Europe.

He wasn’t any more convinced of that wisdom Sunday after the Ducks and Kings had split their two-game series at London’s O2 Arena. The prospect of NHL teams playing more than a game or two in Europe was one he didn’t want to contemplate.

“It was a good experience, but I think the sentiment I had a couple of days ago is probably the same. It’s a long way to go for regular-season games and even playoffs,” he said.

“Figuring out how it would work logistically is above and beyond my pay grade and my brain power. Leave it to the smarter guys to figure that out, if that is, indeed, what they want to do.”

Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf looked at the experience more from a hockey perspective than a tourist’s perspective.

“We had fun. Once we got over here it was OK,” Getzlaf said.

“I think everyone was dreading it a little bit at the start when we heard about it, but as time progressed, we enjoyed ourselves and we came out with a split.”

Ducks center Samuel Pahlsson, still recovering from hernia surgery, said he doesn’t expect to play for another week.

“It’s still there and I don’t want to risk anything right now,” he said.

“I want to make sure it’s good before I start playing so I don’t hurt it again and then have to pay for it all season.”

With such a fragmented crowd, the loudest cheer of both nights of London hockey came courtesy of the Kings’ Scott Thornton and the Ducks’ George Parros, who dropped gloves and sticks for a fight midway through the second period.

As they traded mostly futile punches, the cheer sustained itself until reaching a crescendo of appreciation when finally they tumbled to the ice and the officials began untangling them.

“I think the fans enjoyed both games from the standpoint of one thing: They didn’t really have a side to pick in this one,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “So it was an enjoyable thing. . . . It was atypical of an NHL crowd from the standpoint of people cheered when you scored. They liked the physical play.”

Carlyle and Kings Coach Marc Crawford each endorsed the London experience, as did several players, even if they didn’t tend to give specifics about memorable experiences.

“Walking through the subway,” Crawford said, “you’re hearing a lot of different languages. You’re seeing a lot of people wearing club sweaters from all over Europe. And that was unique for sure. And definitely I think everybody took notice of it at some point during the weekend.”

Said Pronger: “We’ll have to hear what the league has to say about it and what they took from the marketing.”

Jonas Hiller became the fourth Swiss goaltender to play in the NHL, and he thrived in his first game after a camp that included only one major hiccup, Carlyle said. It involved a shootout against San Jose.

“European hockey has shootouts,” Carlyle said, “but there’s different rules where you have to stay within the net. But in North America you have to come to the bench. You could see he hadn’t participated in a North America-style shootout. It’s different. All that lacked was a learning curve for him.”

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helene.elliott@latimes.com