A Tribute to Jeremy Roenick | Retirement

by JosPeterson

Sure, Roenick polarizes people in hockey circles to a degree few other NHLers have in the league's history. Even the THN offices has its share of J.R.-loathers; when we caught wind of his looming announcement last week, there weren't many tears being shed for a player whose best on-ice years ended when his stint as a Philadelphia Flyer did in 2004.

Roenick was a hothead, there's no doubt about that. But as a player and as an ambassador to the sport, Roenick was wildly successful in both regards. I believe he'll end up a Hall of Famer once eligible.

In his heyday with the Chicago Blackhawks, Roenick put up two 50-goal seasons and three 100-plus point campaigns. He played in nine all-star games, two Olympic tournaments, one Canada Cup and one World Cup. He retires as the league's third-best American-born scorer of both goals (513) and points (1,216) and is the NHL's 39th-best point-producer of all time.

While many may criticize Roenick for the fact that he never won a Stanley Cup, there are plenty of great history in the history of the sport (and other sports too) who have never gone all the way with their team. This was one of the toughest players to ever play the sport.

Think back to some of the memories that come to mind. The Game 7 against the Coyotes despite his broken jaw, or his 2004 game against Toronto, played under similar circumstances. Roenick was always willing to play hurt.

Just two seasons ago, the hockey world had written Roenick off as a washed up player who should retire. The Sharks were adventurous enough to give him a chance, and Roenick came through for his team, leading the way with 10 game-winning goals that season.

While playing through all of these injuries was very impressive in and of itself, I was always most impressed with the voice that Roenick represented in pro hockey.

His heart always was there on his sleeve for all to see - and he didn't care in the slightest if its public pumping irked those at the highest levels of the game. As long as he was speaking his mind to keep hockey in the spotlight and expand its popularity, he was as prepared to rip former NHL Players' Association czar Bob Goodenow as he was to blast commissioner Gary Bettman.

And if you're grateful to him for all the laughs, all the emotion and physical sacrifice he made as a player, you'll pause for a moment and pay your respects to a man and a mouth who scored and roared as well as anyone.

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