Chris Pronger, Professional Athlete, Co-Founder, The JRNY Whisky – Taking a Shot: Launching into a new market after a lifetime in the NHL

Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders

On Welcome to the Arena, Tom gets to talk to some of the most impressive people around, and with today's guest, that couldn't be more true. An added bonus? Their conversation combines two things Tom is a huge fan of: the NHL and Whisky, so this is an extra special episode.

Today we get to hear from Chris Pronger, not just a former professional hockey player, but a Hall of Famer who has been voted one of the NHL's hundred greatest players ever.

For 19 years, Chris was known as one of the fiercest and most dominant defensemen in the history of the league, and was a four-time All Star, a Norris Trophy winner as the league's best defenseman and a Hart Trophy winner, which is the league's most valuable player, and very rare for a defenseman.

Chris took three teams to the Stanley Cup Finals as Captain and won it all with the Anaheim Ducks. He was a two-time Olympic gold medal winner for Canada and is one of 30 players in the Triple Gold Club IIHF World Champion, Olympic Gold, and Stanley Cup.

Chris is a great family man and a hardworking entrepreneur launching among other businesses, The JRNY, a 100 percent Canadian rye whisky with his brother, Sean. And that's our focus for today's conversation...with a bit of hockey thrown in as well.

Highlights:

• Chris' tells his journey of getting drafted into the NHL (3:14)
• First impressions of the league and Chris' immersion into his first team (4:44)
• Chris describes his time on the Anaheim Ducks (6:13)
• Chris' turn to hold the Stanley Cup (8:24)
• The most skilled player Chris ever played against (9:07)
• The greatest player Chris ever played alongside (10:02)
• Inspiration for founding The JRNY Whisky (11:13)
• How Chris and his brother landed on the name 'The JRNY' (13:58)
• How The JRNY is made and what makes it a premium product (15:53)
• How Chris approached the product's marketing (16:56)
• Approaching the Whisky and Canadian-Whisky marketplace (18:38)
• Where to buy the product and business expansion (19:43)
• Chris' current favorite NHL teams (21:34)
• Chris' role as a defenseman, and how the position has changed over time (24:00)

Links:
ICR X
ICR LinkedIn
ICR Website
Chris Pronger on LinkedIn
The JRNY Whisky on LinkedIn
The JRNY Whisky Website

Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [e-mail].