theAIHL.com’s Bernard McNamara caught up with NBC Broadcaster and NHL great Jeremy Roenick to talk all things NHL Playoffs and invite the big guy to an AIHL game down under.
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Calling it like it is
Roeniek, or JR as he’s known, played 18 seasons in the NHL from 1988 to 2009. Over his career, he suited up for five teams including the Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, LA Kings, San Jose Sharks and Philadelphia Flyers. These days JR is lending his hockey insights as a Broadcaster and Hockey Analyst for NBC, and has built a reputation for calling the game as he sees it.
“It’s a great job and I’ve always said - if you have an opinion and a big mouth, TV and radio is the best place to be, and obviously I have both,” Roenick said.
However JR acknowledges that there’s a lot more to being a full time Hockey Analyst than just a strong opinion. He admits the job can be very time consuming and requires a lot of homework in order to deliver the stats the fans want.
“The stats guys at NBC do an amazing job,” he said. “These days data is king, and when you can go deep into the numbers and find those crazy numbers or stats, you’re usually going to find the good players.”
In this year’s NHL playoffs, the numbers seem to be adding up for the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks’ top line of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Maroon currently lead the NHL with 34 points; Perry himself leads the league with 15 points.
“I think the best team I’ve seen play (in the Playoffs) is Anaheim,” JR suggests. “Unfortunately, they had a little hiccup against Calgary in Game 3 – they were only 20 seconds away from winning and going 3 games up to take a stranglehold on that series – but Calgary found a way to steal one.”
The Playoffs are a special time of the year, for the players, the fans and particularly broadcasters.
“It’s the best sport to watch come Playoff time. The intensity grows, the animosity grows, the speed and physicality intensify. It’s such a dynamic sport,” he said.
As a man who has had success both on the ice and in front of the camera, he is uniquely placed to be able to compare the stresses of playing and broadcasting.
“At the end of the day, when you’re on television, you wake up feeling fine the next day,” Roenick jokes. “When you’re out there on the ice, they next day you’re covered in ice bags, getting ready to do it again the next night. It’s a high intensity sport.”
As a broadcaster, watching hockey and calling it like it is, has become a way of life for JR. And, he makes it sound like a pretty sweet deal.
“Everyday, I wake up, work out, and grab some lunch before heading to the studio to figure out which game I’m going to watch.”
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Setting the playoff standard
In a 20 year career, Roenick made the NHL Playoffs in 17 seasons, made up of 154 games. As a player, Roenick was renowned for elevating his game come Playoff time, scoring 122 points through 53 goals and 69 assists.
“I established myself early (18-19 year old) as a Playoff player,” Roenick recalled. “In my first Playoff game, I got five teeth knocked out and 20 stitches up the side of my face. I ended up scoring the winning goal in that game – which created the reputation or charter for how people expected me to play – which was good for me. I’m a competitor”.
In the 2004 Playoffs, Roenick helped the Flyers reach the Eastern Conference Finals by scoring the series-clinching overtime goal in game six of the second round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I scored on Eddie Belfour, who’s a Hall of Fame goaltender, and one of my good friends,” Roenick said. “That goal knocked Toronto out of the Playoffs and they didn’t make it back for nine years. It was one of the best shots I’ve ever had in my life at one of the key moments in my career.”
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Unchartered territory
The Chicago Blackhawks drafted JR in 1988, but his time in Chicago came to an end in 1996 when he was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes. The move took him from an "Original Six" team (first six teams in the NHL), to a franchise that had just relocated to a city known more for its golf courses than hockey rinks.
“Playing for an Original Six team has a certain aura built into it,” Roenick said. “Every single night you have fans following you from all over the city and country”.
When the Coyotes moved into the America West Arena in Phoenix in 1996, there was plenty of change. The configuration of the Arena at the time had one end of the upper seating hanging over the boards, obscuring almost a third of the rink from the crowd.
“Starting in a new city that wasn’t a traditional hockey market was tough,” Roenick explained. “We had to teach people more about the game, why it was important to come to the games and teach them about what they were seeing.”
Despite the team’s teething problems, Roenick is upbeat about the NHL’s potential to expand into new markets like Las Vegas.
“There so many talented hockey players all around the world, playing in the Minors right now, that could make it in the NHL,” he said. “Any time we can create more jobs in the NHL Players Association (NHPLA) is a good thing.”
Could we see him in Australia one day watching an AIHL game?
“Australia has always been a place my wife and I would like to visit, it’s definitely on our bucket list,” Roenick said. “I’d get to watch some hockey and see the sites – kill two birds with one stone.”
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We want to thank Jamey Horan, Nicole Buckley, and the NHL communications team for organising this interview.
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