Chris Pronger narrowly escaped becoming an older, more accomplished Bryan Berard. Last night in a game between the Flyers and the Maple Leafs, Mikhail Grabovski's stick hit Pronger in the eye after following through on a shot. Pronger, who is one of the toughest players in the NHL, screamed so loud his pain was audible all the way up in the press box.

People immediately worried Pronger might lose sight in his eye. Thankfully, the prognosis was much better and Pronger is expected to return between ten days and two weeks.

Unfortunately, Pronger's injury isn't an isolated incident. A number of high-profile players, such as Steve Yzerman, Dany Heatley, and Al MacInnis, received serious eye injuries during their careers, which convinced them to go with a shield. Manny Malhotra was hit with a puck in the eye late last season and had to undergo emergency surgery. Malhotra returned during the playoffs with a full face shield.

The most high-profile case was Bryan Berard, then a member of the Maple Leafs, who was hit on a Marian Hossa follow-through. Berard almost lost his eye and after seven operations his vision improved to 20/600. He eventually made his way back to the NHL after losing more than a full season, thanks in part to contacts that brought his vision to a league minimum 20/400.

Chris Pronger is one of the most accomplished defencemen in the history of the league, but his career nearly ended under the most preventable of circumstances.

Last year’s Hall of Fame inductees were all slam dunk choices. There was no way anyone could intelligently exclude Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille, and Steve Yzerman, all of whom made it into the Hall in their first year of eligibility.

The Hockey Hall of Fame will announce their 2010 class this Tuesday at 3:30pm and the choices will be much more difficult for the selection committee.

One of the more polarizing figures who is in his first year of eligibility is Eric Lindros. If Lindros is selected to the Hall of Fame there will certainly be many vocal detractors, but I’m will not be one of them. I think that Eric Lindros must be inducted into the Hall of Fame.