April 8, 2008
A Quieter, Gentler JR?
  

He returned from a year off after the NHL lockout and frankly, put up two horrid seasons in Los Angeles and Phoenix. I witnessed the Kings' debacle where JR was more concerned with appearances on the Best Damn Sports Show than scoring goals.

To make matters worse, Roenick didn't own the injury-ridden, nine-goal season; he preferred to blame bad skates.

So let me get this straight, you make $6 million a year and you can't get a pair of skates made to fit?

Rightfully, Kings' fans gave him the business and still do to this day.

The JR sojourn gravitated 500 miles east last season to the desert; Phoenix to be exact. The thought was that JR would perform better in his home town (Roenick owns a construction firm there) and with Wayne Gretzky as the head man, his leadership would be welcome.

Um, that's a no, too.

Eleven goals and no playoffs ended that one-year experiment.

It didn't help that JR decide to leave a game after a healthy scratch and dine at a local restaurant. Something about how it tampered with team unity, violated respect for the game that dining during games causes.
 

I guess San Jose Sharks' GM Doug Wilson awoke early one September morning and had a vision none of his 29 other brethren did.

"Jeremy Roenick can help us win the division and possibly the Cup."

Yeah and the Giants are going to beat the Patriots in the Super, err, never mind.

The Sharks had a nice chunk of veterans that underperformed in the playoffs, so why not add one more (at least Wilson stopped short by passing on Keith Tkachuk)?

The Sharks top six forwards were established and their system always seems to generate one or two more every year. To put JR on the fourth line (it's not like he was going to play on the stopper unit) seemed better suited for the young talent that always seems to filter up to the NHL from the Sharks' feeder system.

But Roenick had one big ally on his side, San Jose Coach Ron Wilson.

"I'm not here to stick J.R. out there on a fourth line and let him play six or seven minutes a game. I'm not going to make him completely change what he's always done. He knows how to play offense and it's just a question of getting people around him where he can be utilized. We're going to see a different J.R.," Wilson conveyed before the season started.

As much as I dislike Wilson for his eternal smugness, the guy guessed perfectly with JR.

"J.R.'s always giving me tips and trying to make me better, whether it's yelling at me or putting his arm around me," said rookie Corey Mitchell.

Roenick has had a season that can be summarized in one word: vindication. 71. 6% of the goals Roenick has scored this year are game winners (10 out of 16), a percentage that stands to set an NHL record among players who've scored more than 10 goals in a season.

The former record was 63.6% shared by Hall of Famer defenseman Al MacInnis and Phoenix's Derek Morris.

To put it another way, Roenick has had the deciding goal in 20% of the Sharks' victories and he potted the one that clinched the Pacific Division crown in Anaheim two Sundays ago. But is he the NHL's version of A Rod? He's sets records in the regular season but has yet to finish the job come the second season.

On the cusp of the championship tournament, there is a very different Jeremy Roenick that is pursuing the most storied trophy in sports. Just few days before he goes to war with his Sharks against a very difficult first round opponent in the Calgary Flames, a gentler, kinder, dare we say a muted JR spoke about his achievements and his short and long term future.

"It was great to be a vital part of this team. People said I couldn't perform at the level I did this season, contributing on the second line, contributing to the second powerplay unit," Roenick said.

"I think vindication would be a stronger word than what I'm feeling but it was good to do it on the ice rather than with my mouth. I welcome the fact that I'm not the central focus of this team; it belongs to Patty Marleau and Joe Thornton. It's great being in a support role for those players and having less pressure on you to produce. I'm not a 20 minute a night player any more, but I'll do fine with 13-14 of ice time and am happy to play on the fourth line, too."

When he agreed to terms with San Jose in September, it was assumed that this would be the last bullet in the chamber for the Boston Gunslinger, but 'not so fast' says the sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer.

"I feel great, a lot of my success this season has come from the fact that I'm in great shape and still have the speed to do certain things on the ice," Roenick said. "I came to San Jose with the expectation of signing for one-year to give myself the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. But given how great I feel coming into the playoffs, I think I can play one more year. If we do win the Cup, I may have to re-think that and retire, but if we don't I think I can come back for another year. (Sharks GM) Doug Wilson thinks I have one or two good years still left in me."

The major question the Sharks have to answer is how they can put together a deep playoff run given their previous (read: numerous) post season failures.

The only member of the team to own a Stanley Cup ring is the infrequently-used Sandis Ozolinsh and he got his over a decade ago. The last time Roenick got to the Finals the calendar read 1992 and neither team leaders Marleau and Thornton have been there. So while there's a legitimate reason to question this team's ability to win 16 post season games, Roenick thinks there's a not so secret ingredient that can put this team over.

Soup? Not exactly the soup that mom used to make, but a more condensed hockey version. Brian 'Soupy' Campbell (can the NHL PLEASE get a nickname consultant) has made this team a much more fluid one according to JR.

"We are a much better and different team the day we acquired Brian Campbell," Roenick said. "We've become a more fluid skating, puck control team with him in the lineup, we didn't have that skill set on our team before hand."

Roenick also credits enforcer Jody Shelley for raising team toughness with a regular stint on the fourth line.

But will we see Roenick delivering potential bulletin board material for Jarome Iginla, Mike Keenan and Dion Phaneuf in the coming days?

Based on his final words, it's more likely Joe Thornton will.

"I've been much quieter this season, and I've bit my tongue on more than one occasion to prevent myself from saying things I would have said in the past," said Roenick. "It's gratifying to have your game do your talking for you."
 

Dennis Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media, is a columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com and the Los Angeles Correspondent for The Fourth Period Magazine.