Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger turned 39-years old on Thursday. The Flyers wished the defenseman a happy birthday on the team’s official Facebook page, and fans took it as an opportunity to air some grievances they have with the veteran.
Pronger hasn’t played an NHL game since 2011, when took a stick to the eye and started suffering from post-concussion symptoms. Some fans have a real problem with this, since Pronger is still on the team’s roster and, in their eyes, taking money away from the team without stepping on the ice.
Here are some of the nasty comments posted to the team’s Facebook status, collected by @FlyersFacebook:
Get back in the ice Lurch!
— Flyers Facebook (@FlyersFacebook) October 10, 2013
Just retire already, clown
— Flyers Facebook (@FlyersFacebook) October 10, 2013
He knows he is never coming back and getting a paycheck for nothing! He does not care about the team and it shows .
— Flyers Facebook (@FlyersFacebook) October 10, 2013
Happy birthday now stop taking money so the flyers can pick up some better players!
— Flyers Facebook (@FlyersFacebook) October 10, 2013
This guy needs to retire and get off the flyers roster. He was a huge waste of money! Slow as turtle and the brain of a goldfish.
— Flyers Facebook (@FlyersFacebook) October 10, 2013
Not only are these fans jerks, they’re also highly misguided.
Even though it’s highly unlikely that the defenseman will ever play another game in the NHL again, Pronger is actually doing the Flyers a service by not officially announcing his retirement.
If he filed the paperwork, Pronger would be sticking the Flyers with a $4.9 million cap hit each season until July 2017 thanks to the contract he signed with the team back in 2009. Instead, he’s sitting around and letting the team place him on long-term injured reserve every season, meaning his cap hit is taken away and the team has more money to work with.
So stop being insensitive morons, Flyers fans. Pronger was an elite defenseman who fell victim to an unfortunate injury and, well, I think we all know that the Flyers need all the help they can get at this point.
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