Jeremy Roenick will reach the pinnacle of his career Monday night when he will be officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
But nearly 20 years ago, with his reputation in tatters after having previous drinking and gambling issues and believing his once-illustrious career was at its end, Roenick fell into a dark place.
Following the conclusion of the NHL lockout in 2005, and after two forgettable seasons – one in Los Angeles and the second in Phoenix – Roenick sank into a deep funk, thinking he was now out of the game for good just short of a major milestone.
In the summer of 2007, Roenick even texted a reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer, writing, “I’m retiring; is that still news?”
“Now I’ve realized I’ve reached a point where my attitude, my career, my reputation, is now at an all-time low,” Roenick told TSN in a segment on him that aired Sunday night.
“I’m (five) goals away from 500, and here I am sitting: Is this going to be my legacy? And I remember diving into a mental depression.”
That’s when Roenick heard from his former teammate and roommate with the Chicago Blackhawks, Doug Wilson.
Wilson was just a few years into his tenure as the Sharks’ general manager when he spoke with Roenick. He saw that Roenick still had some fire in his belly, and one week before the Sharks started training camp in 2007, Wilson signed him to a one-year contract.
Wilson, at the time, said he had his reasons for signing the then-37-year-old forward after the Sharks lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Detroit Red Wings just a few months earlier.
“Spice,” Wilson said then. “You know what Jeremy is? He’s like adding a little spice to the recipe.”
Wilson did something else for the gregarious and loudmouthed centerman: He gave Roenick a lifeline.
“I remember working my ass off for the next month, scoring my 500th goal,” Roenick said. “Doug Wilson gave me the true honor of retiring with respect and probably saved me from going into a life that I was probably not going to survive.”
Roenick scored his 500th career NHL goal in November of that season and went on to have a productive year with 14 goals and 33 points. His best moment as a Shark came in the first round of the 2008 playoffs when he had two goals and two assists in a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames in a decisive Game 7.
Roenick did not reach his goal of winning the Stanley Cup, as the Sharks went on to lose in the next round to the Dallas Stars. After Roenick signed another one-year contract with the Sharks for the 2008-09 season, San Jose, as Presidents Trophy champions, lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Anaheim Ducks.
Roenick retired in Aug. 2009 in San Jose with 513 goals and 1,216 points in 1,363 regular-season games. His point total ranks 48th on the NHL’s all-time list.
“In Phoenix, I wasn’t able to say goodbye …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
