ON THE POND

by The Original JD, Six Pack Sports Report

It's a pretty big Tuesday here in SPSR HQ because as I may have mentioned before I spend much of my free time playing video games. Well for those Epic Carnival fans who share in my addiction you already realize that this week is a huge week for games being released and I couldn't be more excited. You might be asking yourself what does this have to do with hockey? - and I'd tell you simply that my love affair with video games, and my love of hockey both came from the same place. Super Nintendo, NHL 94, Jeremy Roenick. Which brings me to what I want to talk about today because the not quite the Great One made history on Sunday night by scoring his 500th career goal and he deserves a few paragraphs of appreciation.

I've talked about Roenick before over at SPSR because his video game likeness in the mid 90s NHL games for Super NES (I'm pretty sure these were out on SEGA Genesis but if you had a SEGA you've probably killed yourself by now). Sure people of my generation, and old (see: Simmons, Bill) will wax poetic about the power and dominance of Bo Jackson in Tecmo Super Bowl but that's simply because they couldn't grasp the grace and violence with which video game Roenick dominated the ice. If you're reading this right now and not thinking about skating down the wing with Roenick, stopping right after the blue line and then skating across from wing to wing while loading up a slapshot - well you've probably never played NHL 94 or 95.

However, what made Roenick so much better then Bo Jackson was that his video game likeness mirrored his real life prowess. He broke into the league when it wasn't a crazy idea to have a big American on your team. He had the same tool set as Cam Neely, plus he was from the Boston area which immediately made him my favorite non-Bruin in the league. He was (and still is) the NHL version of Curt Schilling, and there is a pretty strong argument that he's the greatest American born hockey player since the 1970s.

The crazy thing about Roenick scoring his 500th NHL goal was that during the summer I wrote my good bye to both Roenick, and the NHL. When he announced his retirement I thought - there goes the last link to my childhood fandom of the NHL. I actually wrote at Six Pack Sports Report that with Roenick gone, the new look NHL held no appeal to me. Funny how things change isn't it? I'm back to watching professional hockey at every turn, and Jeremy Roenick is back to scoring goals (albeit in a teal sweater with a shark on it).

Only two other American born players have done what Roenick has now accomplished - Mike Modano, and Joe Mullen. Frankly I was always a fan of Modano, and I couldn't have more apathy towards Mullen but if you're asking me which one of those three guys I'd want as the face of American hockey it's J.R. without a doubt. During the lockout he told ESPN that certain NHL players were spoiled, and he once told fans that they could "kiss my ass." Always outspoken, he could back it up and that's what made him so much fun to follow.

I know he has said that he hopes his success will lead to more American kids picking up hockey. An influx of American born and bred talent into the NHL will help kick start the sagging league and I agree with him on that point. However, for the time being he should just sit back and do something that he has never done before - shut up and enjoy the moment. He gave up drinking this season so he had no excuse for not performing so he'll have to keep the champagne on ice but scoring 500 goals is an amazing accomplishment and I'm glad that J.R. got there. Just like Roenick I was out of the NHL, I had given up on hockey - but just like him I'm back now and I'm glad that I got to see one of my favorite players reach a milestone. It's the little things that help you remember why you love sports - and if Double Down Trent was here he'd probably close this piece by saying: "It's not me it's Roenick, he's too good."