Jeremy Roenick - Personality

Personality

Jeremy Roenick was known for giving back to the fans. Whether it was signing autographs for fans by the players entrance or who came up to him on the street Roenick always tried to have a good rapport with the fans and reach out to them each day. For Roenick it was an understanding of what it meant to be the fan on the other side. As a child Jeremy attended Hartford Whalers' games; during one visit hockey legend Gordie Howe picked up a pile of snow off the ice and threw it over the glass and on top of Roenick's head, Howe then continued to skate around but looked at Roenick again and winked. Roenick recalled what a lasting effect it had on him, noting "I thought that was the coolest thing that ever happened in my whole life, it took three seconds. It was me, Gordie Howe and no one else...That moment stuck with me for years and years and years. It was little, it was small and it took nothing out of his power or time but it resonated with me my whole life. So, as a player, as I got older, I tried to reach out to fans, reach out to kids whether on the ice or on the street on in a restaurant. I try to do little things where I can make the same impression on a young child that Gordie Howe made on me. That’s a gift that was given to me. And I made sure I did it, every, single day. Without the fans, without their support, the NHL would be nothing, the NFL would be nothing, basketball, baseball, you name it right down the line ... The two or three seconds you give each day to make sure you appreciate the people who appreciate you, goes a long way." Even with his giving back to the fans Roenick was better known for his mouth, always willing to speak his mind. He was always a popular interview for reporters, he was one of a few players who spoke from the heart and never shied away from taking on the heads of the game, whether it was the Commissioner or the leadership of the NHLPA.

It was Roenick's willingness to talk that got him into a famous trade of quotations in 1996. In the 1996 Western Conference semi-finals between the Colorado Avalanche and the Chicago Blackhawks, after a controversial game in which Roenick was tripped on a breakaway and no penalty shot was called, Patrick Roy said, "I would have saved it anyway." Roenick responded in another interview, "I'd like to know where Patrick was in Game 3 (a game in which Roenick had scored on Patrick Roy on a similar breakaway); probably up trying to get his jock out of the rafters." When later asked about Roenick's comments Roy retorted, "I cannot really hear what Jeremy says because I've got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ear."