Pronger defends Trouba's latest hit: Players today have 'no awareness'

Hall of Fame blue-liner Chris Pronger came to the defense of Jacob Trouba after the New York Rangers captain's hit on Montreal Canadiens defenseman Justin Barron stirred up controversy earlier this week.

The referees didn't call a penalty for the hit in Tuesday's contest, and the Department of Player Safety described it as clean. Barron left the game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Trouba has a long list of questionable incidents, many of which the NHL has disciplined him for. Pronger, who the league suspended eight times during his career, said he thinks the problem is a lack of awareness from modern players.

"From minor hockey all the way up, that's just how they're taught to play the game," Pronger told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "The mindset, the mentality, the lack of awareness that these kids have nowadays, is mind-boggling. They have no sense that they're going to get hit. They have no sense that, 'Oh boy, I've had my head down for a while. I should probably pick it up.'

"They have no awareness of who's around (them). They don't even know who's on the ice. They don't know what hand players shoot. They can skate 100 miles an hour, and they can stickhandle, and they can do all this stuff ... but the hockey sense and the awareness has really gotten lost in the equation."

Pronger also took issue with Trouba having to fight Habs defenseman Mike Matheson after the hit.

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

Pronger was the second overall pick in 1993 and played until 2012. He won a Stanley Cup and Norris Trophy and is the most recent defenseman to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP.