"Keep Your Head Up": Chris Pronger defends Rangers captain Jacob Trouba after scary hit on Justin Barron

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Cooper Godin
October 25, 2024 (9:06)

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Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Pronger came to the defence of Jacob Trouba this week after his hit on Montreal Canadiens blueliner Justin Barron.

A scary scene took place at the Bell Centre in Montreal earlier this week during a game between the Canadiens and New York Rangers. Just over seven minutes into the final frame, Rangers captain Jacob Trouba laid a big hit on Canadiens defenceman Justin Barron.

Barron head made contact with Trouba's shoulder, but then as he fell back onto the ice, he also hit it on the ice as his neck snapped back. Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson flew in and dropped the mitts with Jacob Trouba and was subsequently ejected after being handed 17 penalty minutes.

For his part, Trouba was only handed a five-minute major for fighting and nothing for the hit on Barron. The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety also agreed with the officials and didn't give Jacob Trouba any supplemental discipline.

Trouba's hit has been a topic of discussion around the National Hockey League all week with some fans calling it clean, other calling it a dirty play, with other asking why the Rangers captain has to drop the mitts after a 'clean hit' like that.

Long-time NHL defenceman Chris Pronger spoke about the hit recently with The Athletic and defending Jacob Trouba, saying that he doesn't understand why he needs to drop the mitts, asking, 'isn't body checking in the rule book?'.

"And it wouldn't have been a problem then, because the player being hit, their teammate would have told him, 'Hey, you need to keep your head up,'" Pronger said.

He added, "Now you see any time there's a hit, and guys got to fight. It makes no sense. Is body checking not in the rulebook?

"Body checking is allowed. Hip checking is allowed. What's not allowed is hitting from behind. What's not allowed is tripping, hooking, slashing. Body checking is a legal form of contact. Just because we don't see it much anymore doesn't mean it's not in there."

No matter where your stance is on the hit by Jacob Trouba, I think everyone can agree that we hope to see Justin Barron back in game action for the Montreal Canadiens as soon as he's able to. The last thing anyone wants to see is someone getting injured and hopefully Barron is doing alright.