EUROPEAN STATISTICS

Pronger still wants contract that will keep him long-term

Chris Pronger created a bit of a buzz when he discussed his future with the Blues on a Canadian sports network in late October, but his thoughts were nothing new to St. Louis residents. For almost a year, the defenseman has sought a multi-year contract, but the Blues are willing to see how a new labor agreement shakes out before committing to their captain for the long term. For the first time in his career, Pronger met with other teams as a restricted free agent this summer before agreeing to a one-year, $10-million deal with St. Louis. In doing so, he got a taste of what’s awaiting him as an unrestricted free agent and called the courtship “firn” and a “learning experience."… Scott Mellanby, a former Blues favorite and now…

GLORY DAYS

Ray Bourque family man, company man, businessman has turned into quite a swinger in his retirement. In late October he took time off from his still-busy schedule in Beantown to head down to Jupiter, Fla., accompanied by good buddy Reggie Lemelin, their wives and another couple, for some sun and work on his ever-improving golf game. “Pretty good on the front nine, not so good on the back,” says Bourque over the long-distance line late one afternoon, summing up the day’s events. It also sums up the difference between Bourque’s years patrolling the blueline for Boston and Colorado and the three he has spent since then. In hockey, Bourque was pretty good at the front of his career, the back and everywhere in between. Not many defensemen of the past, and certainly not…

TWO MINUTES IN THE BOX

NASHVILLE PREDATORS POS. Right wing AGE 31 BIRTHPLACE Cambridge, Ont. SCOTT WALKER Start the clock… Dumbest question you’ve ever been asked? “We’ve had some good ones in Nashville, like ’How do you know when to change lines?’ “Worst travel experience? “We were supposed to stay at a new hotel in San Jose, but somehow we wound up at a shady-looking motel. We weren’t in our rooms for 10 minutes when the coaching staff came in and took us to a real hotel.” Toughest guy you’ve ever played with? “When I was in Vancouver, Esa Tikkanen was as tough as anybody. If you saw the condition of his bad knee, you’d know what I was talking about. There was basically no cartilage in it and it seemed like he was skating on one leg every night. He never complained, though.…