Roenick goes out in style
Jeremy Roenick retired Thursday the way you would have expected, in grand style with the best retirement news conference in recent memory.
Roenick told great stories, he was funny and he spoke from the heart about his love for the game, his love for former teammates and his love of the fans.
It was a terrific walk down memory lane for Hawks fans as Roenick broke down when thanking Doug Wilson, Steve Larmer, Denis Savard, Michel Goulet, Dirk Graham, Chris Chelios and Mike Keenan for helping him learn how to be a professional and for making him the player he became for 20 years.
Wilson, the Sharks’ general manager, spoke at the news conference held in San Jose. Chelios phoned in to talk about old times.
“I think you should be retiring with me,” the 40-year-old Roenick told the 47-year-old Chelios.
“I might be retired and just don’t know it yet,” joked Chelios, who remains an un-signed free agent.
Wilson put it best, however, when talking about Roenick.
“He is one of the greatest hockey players to play this game," Wilson said. "He played hard. He was fearless. He'd go through the wall. I've had guys come up to me and say he was the greatest teammate they ever had."
Roenick, who always had time for the fans, said he learned how respect and deal with the fans from Gordie Howe when Howe played for the Hartford Whalers.
“I'd lean my head over the glass and watch these guys," Roenick said. "Once, when I was seven years old, Gordie Howe got a bunch of snow on his stick, skated over and dumped it on my head. I thought that was the coolest thing and I've always carried that with me.
"He skated around a little more, then looked at me and winked. For three seconds it was just me and Gordie Howe. That small amount of gratitude resonated my whole life. It was a gift to me and when I reached the NHL, I made sure to acknowledge the fans."
Everyone knows how I feel about J.R. I loved him as a player and loved how he made my job easier as a reporter. As much as Roenick talked, he always backed it up with his incredible talent. Nobody ever played with more heart.
Funny that on the day Jeremy Roenick retired, the St. Louis Blues hired his former teammate, Ed Belfour, as their goaltending consultant. Guess the Eagle is now officially retired too.
The summer of discontent continues...
Kane is a self-centered ass, he may grow out of it but he could also get us a decent Dman
In fact, I think JR's highlight reel as a Hawk should be shown to all the young prospects coming up, and after the video is over, the team should tell the kids that if they're not willing to play this hard and tough, they can't play here.
Last season JR said he'd go to the Hall as a Shark out of gratitude to Wilson for allowing Roenick to retire on his terms, but I don't see how he could go into the Hall in anything but a Hawk sweater.
Roenick was a utility player for just two seasons in San Jose, but he spent eight of the best years of his career in Chicago, scoring 50 goals twice and breaking the century mark in points three times. More than half of his career goals and playoff points were scored as a Hawk.
JR, we know loyalty means everything to you, but right is right. Wirtz needs to work his magic so Roenick can save face with Wilson and return home to Chicago with dignity.
Thanks for the memories, JR; may the eyes you draw on your stickblade guide you to the Hall. And I hope when you get there, you'll be as I'll always remember you: with your heart on your sleeve and tomahawks on your shoulders.
We will all be able to remember JR when we watch an NHL's greatest checks video. As a testament to him, those videos always show a few good Roenick checks, but it seems he is also on the receiving end even more in those videos: a result of JR's willingness to battle and take a hit to make a play on the confined ice of the old Stadium.
i remember JR calling himself the michael jordon of the hawks and dollar bill saying good-bye to him.
God Bless JR.
It looks like we'll have some new tributes this coming year with JR, Belfour and Chelios.
One last thing....In my opinion, JR was THE model of what a Blackhawks player should aspire to be on the ice. I really believe he's an excellent candidate for his number being retired in the United Center.
Hey Cheese. I crack up every time you take a shot at the Phantom. You know I agree with you. But I also remember Keenan benching Denis Savard during the playoffs against the Gretzky Oilers for a period. I also agree with all of the positive comments about JR. I think I saw a little bit of that kind of grit in Versteeg, something we really didn't see much in Kane. Anyway I would like to ask a question to anyone who might know the real answer. In his hey day, it was written that Bobby Hull's shot was clocked at 118 mph. I know he was a strong guy, but its hard to believe when today's players are bigger, stronger, sticks are made better and supposedly the current record is about 106 mph. Will we ever know.
I was there his first game back with Phoenix, booing my lungs out. He loved it.
I'd like to see Jeremy Roenick in some coaching capacity with the Hawks.
JR #27 the best, hope he comes back home for a night....
The fact that they traded this guy shows how truly inept the organ-i-zation had become. I hope he gets his appreciation night this season. How about the home opener. It would be a great way to start the season.
Oh that guy. The guy that benched him in game 1 of the '92 finals mid-way through the game with a 4-1 lead; on the road. A game they ended up losing 5-4 and all the momentum they could have had in the world. For anyone wondering; yes I'm STILL PO'd about that arrogant coaching move!
Oh by the way, on the heels of an ELEVEN GAME PLAYOFF WINNING STREAK.
I agree with Tim's other article where the JR sendoff (8/16/96...can remember it vividly as I was at a restaurant, Jim Bob's in Joplin, MO waiting for my table. Nearly fell off the barstool when ESPN reported the deal for that lazy Russian) is the 2nd worst in all of Blackhawk history. Only it was dollar bill's old man, Arthur who sent the Golden Jet packing on 6/27/72.
hey Daddio,
I tihink you are mixed up on the benching in the '92 Cup finals.
Roenick got benched in game 2 with the Hawks down 3-1 in the 3rd period.
Remember the press conference Keenan had with Roenick after the game 2?
Roenick was in a make-shift cast to explain his absence from the ice.
It was so weird, I knew right then the Cup was not to be had that year.
Belfour played his butt off in game 3, but the Hawks lost 1-0 on a deflected goal to go down 3-0 in the Series.
Wasn't JR in the cast because Keenan was trying to make a point that JR was slashed and there was no call and to further his point that the Hawks were getting hosed by the refs?
JR..is one of my favorite Blackhawks. Can't wait for the appreciation night. The stories with this guy are many. It starts with him chasing Mike Keenan into a bathroom to convince the Hawks to draft him in the first place. Old 1st rd. screw up drafter Mike Dumas didn't want JR, Keenan put the hammer down and took him anyway. Score one for Keenan. The teeth story in St. Louis is a classic. But of all the memories and there are many, I will never forget JR as the pregame skate ended before the last regular season game in the old barn, picking up all the practice pucks and skating around tossing them into the crowd so folks could have free souviners from the last game. A class move, my group all wondered at the time if the old man was counting how many he tossed so he dock JR's pay. He signed autographs for the fans the way Hull and Mikita used to, throwing things over the glass. He was a modern day old-time hockey player.
Isn't that how hockey made so many of us lifetime fans?
The fact that the players would come up from the their dressing room at the Stadium and walk half the length to gate 3 1/2 to their cars, and THAT OWNERS LET THE FANS WAIT INSIDE so the players could talk and sign for them, that's what had us become so intimate with the game.
Bobby Hull's 1/2 hour of signing after the homes games is what connected us to the game.
For me, I went to a hardware store on Milwaukee Ave. between Ashland & Damen, where Mikita did a personal appearance for about four hours.
I just stuck around, and when there was a lull of no new fans, I would ask strategy questions and why this or that was the norm.
He patiently and respectfully answered all my questions, even the dumb ones, and that was how hockey education excelled.
All these new guys need to know that this is how you grow a league.
The one big impression the convention left me with is these young hawks seem to like each other and understand that the game is indeed a gift to us, and you cherish it by using every opportunity to connect with the others who hold it in high regard, the same way the Howes Hull's and Mikita's did before them.
Simply put, how could you not love the way Roenick played?
Tough. Fast. Hard. Intense. Every damn shift. With talent oozing from the guy.
If a certain defensemen on the current Hawk roster would play like Roenick played, not one person would be lamenting his ridiculous salary and soft defensive play.
(That last part is an oxymoron as soft defensive play was not part of Roenick's game.)
The previous Hawks leadership blew it big time by trading Roenick in 1996.
Who could foget miserable Old Man Wirtz telling Roenick after the final playoff game in the Old Barn that he would be a Hawk for life on the post game radio show?
2 years later he was traded.
Like the others posters have mentioned, Roenick appreciation night at the UC cannot come soon enough.
My favorite JR moment was against St. Louis when they knocked out his front teeth and probably suffered his first concussion and he came back and we won that playoff series...
As I mentioned in a different post a couple of days ago, next to Chelios and Belfour (hopefully he won't be as great of a goaltending instructor as he was a goaltender) good old number 27 was my favorite Hawk from the last glory period. I hope he goes into the HOF wearing a Hawk sweater as to me those were his best years.
I thought it was interesting that JR mentioned Keenan in his speech. Keenan obviously rubbed some players the wrong way, including at least two of the other guys that Roenick mentioned, but obviously the two of them had at least a mutual respect for what the other was trying to do. It was a crime the way 7, 27 and 30 were run off by the clowns in charge after Keenan was shown the door but it was fantastic that Chelios and Belfour got to win Cups during their career as that was always their mission while with the Hawks. JR wasn't as fortunate but it certainly wasn't due to lack of effort. Roenick provided plenty of offensive thrills during his time with the Hawks but I also remember many a crushing hit. Opposing defensemen always had to keep their head on swivel when playing the Hawks as many of JR's body splatters were on D-men behind the net went they went to chase the puck.
Anyway, his Tribute Night can't come quick enough and I for one will definitely be there.
Hearing JR speak of all the great guys he played with in Chicago definitely stirred up memories for me too. I loved to watch JR play and he definitely played it right. Hard, fast, and with a lot of skill and an infinite amount of heart.
I thought it was ironic when he said that Chicago lost their minds and traded me. You could tell it still hurt him. Back when he left he said a lot of mean things about Chicago but it was because he was hurt. I'm sure he didnt want to be traded. JR will always be a Hawk.
All that's left is when do the Hawks have JR night. I'll be there...