Hawks stand their ground as Pronger tries to agitate

PHILADELPHIA - Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger is a hard guy to like.

For starters, he's really good, one of the best defensemen of his generation - big, mean and nasty.

Pronger plays with arrogance, and he carries that attitude with him off the ice when dealing with the media. He thinks just about every question is dumb and beneath him.

Many Hawks believe Pronger plays on the edge of the rule book and is allowed to get away with the cross checks and slashes in front of the net because of his star status.

If Pronger was trying to play mind games with the Hawks at the end of Game 2 on Monday night, it was Ben Eager who got the last laugh thanks to his game-winning goal.

As the final horn sounded, ending the Hawks' 2-1 win, Pronger skated over to the puck and picked it up.

Eager didn't like it and confronted Pronger. It was then that cameras caught Pronger shooting a towel at Eager that led to a heated verbal exchange with both players receiving 10-minute misconduct penalties.

"He's been picking up pucks after the game, and I just told him he can keep it," Eager said after the game.

Pronger was his usual pleasant self when asked about shooting the towel at Eager.

"I don't know, did I?" Pronger told reporters. "Wow. You're intuitive. Good for you. Next."

Pronger was asked about the exchange with Eager.

"I don't speak that language, whatever he was speaking," said Pronger. "I couldn't hear him.

"Apparently it got him upset, so I guess it worked, didn't it? It's too bad. I guess little things amuse little minds."

Eager didn't want to waste his time talking about Pronger on Tuesday.

"I'm not too worried what happened last night after the game," Eager said. "We're just going to leave that on the ice."

Added Patrick Sharp: "If he wants the puck he can have it. We're thinking about hockey between the whistles and during the 60 minutes."

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was asked Tuesday if Pronger's actions at the end of Game 2 would fire up the Hawks.

"What is it you're going to do? The Hawks? What added incentive do they have now?" Laviolette said. "They're mad? They're angry? It's the playoffs. We're going to show up. We're going to compete like (heck) tomorrow night, I promise you that.

"I don't know what else they're going to do, because we stole their puck. I think it's funny, just like you guys are laughing right now.

"I think it's kind of comical. Prongs wants the puck, take it."