On Monday night, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto added another legendary member. After a weekend of festivities, Blackhawks legend Jeremy Roenick was finally inducted. He was joined by players including Shea Weber, Pavel Datsyuk, Krissy Wendell-Pohl, Natalie Darwitz, David Poile and Colin Campbell. However, in typical Roenick fashion, he was the last one to speak, and certainly stole the show.
The Blackhawks legend’s speech included everything Chicago loves about him and was more than any fan could have asked for. For 17 minutes, Roenick regaled listeners with stories of his legendary time in the league, from an apology to the Wirtz family for the dark day in which he left Chicago to a story of Doug Wilson giving him one last chance in the league at the end of his career.
After being drafted by the Blackhawks with the eighth-overall pick in the 1988 draft, Roenick finished third in the Calder Trophy voting the following season, scoring 26 goals. His production only went up from there, with a run of 103, 107 and 107 points from 1991 to 1994. He was a four-time All-Star for Chicago. After appearing in 524 games for the Blackhawks, Roenick was unceremoniously traded to the Coyotes.
In September, Roenick appeared in Chicago to donate several personal items to the Hall. Despite playing in 1,363 games in total with the majority of his career spent elsewhere, it was clear Roenick always held a place in his heart for the team he spent the most games with. When the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup back in 2010, he was visibly emotional on the NBC Sports Chicago postgame set.
Long overdue, very happy for JR