July 27: Shanahan traded for Pronger

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: July 27
1995:
Brendan Shanahan
is traded by the St. Louis Blues to the Hartford Whalers for defenseman
Chris Pronger
in an exchange of future Hockey Hall of Famers.

Pronger, the No. 2 pick in the 1993 NHL Draft, blossoms during his nine seasons in St. Louis. He spends 2005-06 with the Edmonton Oilers, helping them get to
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final
, then is traded to the Anaheim Ducks on July 3, 2006, and helps them win the Cup in 2007. Pronger spends three seasons with the Ducks and three more with the Philadelphia Flyers before injuries force him to end his playing career in December 2012. He is inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Shanahan, one of the NHL's all-time best power forwards, scores 44 goals for Hartford in 1995-96. He's traded to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 9, 1996, and scores 46 goals in his first season with Detroit, helping the Red Wings end a 42-year Stanley Cup drought. Shanahan also plays on Detroit's Cup-winning teams in 1998 and 2002. He finishes his career in 2008-09 by playing 34 games for the New Jersey Devils, who took him with the No. 2 pick in the 1987 NHL Draft, and ends up with 1,354 points (656 goals, 698 assists) in 1,524 NHL games. He is inducted into the Hall in 2013.

MORE MOMENTS
1949:
Andre Dupont
, a rugged defenseman who played on Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974 and 1975, is born in Trois Rivieres, Quebec. The New York Rangers select Dupont No. 8 in the 1969 NHL Draft, but he's traded to the Blues on March 15, 1971. The Blues trade him to the Flyers on Dec. 14, 1972, and he becomes a fixture on Philadelphia's blue line. Though he's known mostly for his physical play, Dupont reaches double figures in goals twice (1974-75 and 1976-77), and is plus-263 from 1973-74 through 1979-80. He plays his final three seasons with the Quebec Nordiques before retiring in 1983 with 244 points (59 goals, 185 assists) and 1,986 penalty minutes.
1988: Frank Zamboni, inventor of the ice resurfacing machine that bears his name, dies at age 87. In 1949, Zamboni invents a machine that transforms resurfacing the ice into a 15-minute, one-man task. The Boston Bruins put one to work in 1954, and the machines soon become commonplace at rinks throughout the world. In 2002, the Zamboni is named the "Official Ice Resurfacer of the NHL." He is inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.