Professor Raiha invites SMAC students and faculty to join his Sports Economics class on this day to zoom in with a former NHL star defenseman and discuss life beyond athletics.
What do athletes do once their athletic careers conclude? How do they transition to post-playing careers, and how are their post-playing careers shaped by their athletic careers? In this session we will be discussing the life cycle of athlete careers – with a focus on the transition to post-playing careers; examining various challenges and opportunities, both personal and financial.
The guest speaker, Mr. Chris Pronger, is the President and Founder of “Well Inspired Travels” – a boutique travel company. In his athletic career, Mr. Pronger was one of the greatest defensemen in National Hockey League history, from 1993-2011. Individually, he won the league MVP award in 1999-00, as well as best defenseman, and was a finalist for best defenseman in five other seasons. He won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks, and captained three different NHL teams throughout his career (St. Louis, Anaheim, Philadelphia). He also won two Olympic gold medals in men’s ice hockey competing for Canada. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015, and was honored as one of the Top-100 players in NHL history during the league’s centennial season in 2017. After being forced by injuries into retirement, Mr. Pronger worked for the NHL in the Department of Player Safety, and also in the front office of the Florida Panthers. However, since 2019 his career has been outside the sport of hockey, as an entrepreneur with his wife and family.