The photo of Pronger’s wide smile towering over Justin Bieber’s pained look went viral immediately.
In his job as part of the NHL’s player safety department Pronger joked that he fined himself $5 for the hit.
“You don't want anybody to get hurt out there or to do anything too crazy," Pronger told NHL.com afterward.
He later told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the hit wasn’t as bad as the photo made it out to be.
“I gave him a little back massage with my stick, pinned him up against the boards, rubbed his face in the glass and just gave him a little welcome to the NHL,” Pronger said.
Yes, the tale of the tape decidedly went to Pronger.
Even at 42, Pronger rolls up at 6-6 and 220 pounds.
Approximately 5-9 and 145 pounds.
“A player of his caliber, you've got to take away his time and space,” Pronger told the Post-Dispatch.
Pronger was officially named to the Florida Panthers front office on Thursday morning and will advise general manager Dale Tallon while working with former Florida captain Bryan McCabe.
Former Florida GM Mike Keenan tried to acquire Pronger from St. Louis at the 2005 NHL Draft in Ottawa — the Sidney Crosby draft held at a Westin hotel ballroom — but the Blues sent him to Edmonton instead.
In 2007, Pronger won his only Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks where he was a teammate of retired Florida forward Shawn Thornton.