This is the first of a two part series in which I shall be presenting a historical time line of the career Jeremy Roenick. The thing that many newer fans to the game (myself included) may not realize, is that at one point, at one point, Roenick was not all that bad. In fact, he was pretty fucking good; however, once Jeremy left the city of Chicago, something changed, namely the skills of Roenick. While he was still "good" by many peoples standards, he was not even close to the player who wore number 27 for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Let's jump into the Pensieve and take a trip back in time shall we?
The year is 1988. Jeremy Roenick is about to start his professional career in the NHL. Below are the meaningful statistics taken from Roenick's first eight years in the league, while playing for the Chicago Blackhawks.
| SEASON | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PP | SH | GW | GT | ||
| 1988-89 | Chicago | 20 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1989-90 | Chicago | 78 | 26 | 40 | 66 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1990-91 | Chicago | 79 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 38 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 1 | ||
| 1991-92 | Chicago | 80 | 53 | 50 | 103 | 23 | 22 | 3 | 13 | 0 | ||
| 1992-93 | Chicago | 84 | 50 | 57 | 107 | 15 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 1993-94 | Chicago | 84 | 46 | 61 | 107 | 21 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 1 | ||
| 1994-95 | Chicago | 33 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1995-96 | Chicago | 66 | 32 | 35 | 67 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
If I am not objective in my hatred for Roenick, than I am nothing. Hence, I give credit where credit is due. Look at those numbers. Particularly the '92-'94 seasons, Roenick was not just good, he was fucking dynamic. In '92, not only was he a plus player (if you score 100 points and are not a plus player then you must be Marc Savard), of his 53 goals, nearly 1/4 of them were goals that put his team up once and for all. That is clutch people. Now don't get me wrong, Roenick was still sucking cock off the ice, but on the ice, the dude was dominating. He averaged over a point a game for six years in a row. It's more than just the stats, which were impressive in and of themselves, it's the way he carried himself. Roenick's passion and dedication to his craft were admirable. He worked hard, stuck up for himself, defended teammates, agitated the opponent, while posting such spectacular numbers. Essentially, he did it all. If Captain Unibrow, no, Captain Dickless, I mean Captain Marleau played with the passion and aggression that good 'ol JR did, perhaps our Sharks would have made it past the second round in the last two seasons, eh?
Oh, you thought I was done lathering Roenick's balls? Wrong. There's more, and with that I present Roenick's playoff stats!!!| 1988-89 | Chicago | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989-90 | Chicago | 20 | 11 | 7 | 18 | -1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1990-91 | Chicago | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991-92 | Chicago | 18 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992-93 | Chicago | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993-94 | Chicago | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994-95 | Chicago | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995-96 | Chicago | 10 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
At age 20, Roenick's Blackhawks made a deep run in the post-season, with Roenick tallying 11 goals and 7 assists. 18 points, 20 games, 20 years old. I'm 20 years old right now, and I'm sitting here (shirts off--fucking heat), writing this blog. Advantage Roenick. There's no faster way to my heart, than performing well in the post-season. Roenick accomplished this, not only at age 20, but for the next two years he continued to average ABOVE a point a game in the playoffs, while leading the Blackhawks to the cup finals (they were swept) in '92. Had they won that year, there is little doubt in my mind, that Roenick and his 22 points and +11 rating would have won the Conn Smyth trophy for playoff MVP. I don't need to summarize the data any further, you can clearly see that this guy was balling at teams when balling was most needed. He followed up his magnificent regular season performances with even better results in a much, much tougher playoff environment. To celebrate his accomplishments with Chicago, I found this awesome clip for your viewing pleasure. Even if you don't want to look at Roenick's ugly mug, the music that accompanies this clip is, let's just say, the stuff of champions...
Admit it, after reading this entry and watching that clip, I've made you a Roenick believer. Don't worry, if this was the Yin the next entry shall be the Yang, and you will absolutely agree that while Roenick had a nice eight year duration in the NHL, he quickly became asshole numero uno.
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