Chicago Blackhawks: Jeremy Roenick should be in the Hall of Fame

Another year, another Hall of Fame induction with Jeremy Roenick on the outside looking in. What’s keeping the Blackhawks legend out?

Somehow lost in the midst of what was a busy weekend for the NHL following the draft, the 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame class was announced on Tuesday afternoon. This year’s inductees include Hayley Wickenheiser, Sergei Zubov, Guy Carbonneau, and Vaclav Nedomansky as players, and Jim Rutherford and Jerry York as builders. Once again, Chicago Blackhawks legend Jeremy Roenick was left out of the hall, even though he’s been eligible for induction since 2012.

At the time of his retirement, he was the second highest American scorer in league history, ending his storied career with 513 goals and 703 assists. Roenick is only one of two players in NHL history to score over 500 goals and over 1,200 overall points not be enshrined in the hall. The other player with that unfortunate accolade is Pierre Turgeon.

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So what’s holding Roenick back? For one, he not only never won hockey’s ultimate prize in the Stanley Cup but never won any major NHL award either. The closest he came to winning a championship was the 1992 Stanley Cup final when he was with the = Blackhawks.

Although his career accomplishments and stats more than speak for themselves, the absence of these awards could possibly hurt his resume. Anyone who thinks Roenick doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame is sure to use this as an argument.

Then there’s the slightly less conventional reason, which is also the reason that Roenick himself expects might be in play. Throughout his career in the public spotlight, he has been known as one to speak his mind and not hold things back.

This has led him to make a number of somewhat controversial statements that bothered the league, the teams he played for, and at times the fans. In a 2018 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Roenick went on into detail what he described as “blunders” and “honest comments” that came off as “bad marks” against his case for a Hall of Fame Induction:

Although professional hockey has had its share of controversial players, some of whose shortcomings make Roenick’s missteps look tame in comparison, but none of those players had the magnificent career Roenick had.

Thus, when we look at what they say or did versus what Jeremy Roenick said or did, it’s an imperfect comparison. Suspects of those “blunders” being the thing between Roenick and a plaque in Toronto will thus never be proven, but always be speculated.

Working into Roenick’s advantage is that players with far less successful stats have already found themselves inducted. J.R. will always have that argument in his back pocket if the day ever comes or doesn’t that he gets his call. Roenick has already been inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and has a cautious optimism that maybe one day he will get inducted, but is at peace if he doesn’t.

“Because I think there’s certain things in life that you really want and you hope really happen. Maybe you just don’t know some of the parameters or the expectations or the rules or the personalities that are involved. For me, if it happens I’m going to be the happiest guy in the world. If it doesn’t, I will continue doing what I’ve been doing and go from there.”

The Hockey News listed Roenick as one of its top ten Hall of Fame candidates for 2019, although he eventually didn’t make the cut. He’s already been listed on ESPN’s prospective picks for the 2020 Hall of Fame class. Those probably provide little to no consolation for Roenick, however.

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Roenick carved himself a place in NHL history. More importantly, he retired as a beloved player by most, keyword most, fans. Whether he eventually gets inducted or not, you cannot take away a lifelong successful career in hockey, but it might be a crowning achievement.

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