Former Blackhawks star Jeremy Roenick to be inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame
Former Blackhawks star Jeremy Roenick will be one of seven 2024 inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the hall's selection committee announced Tuesday.
Roenick will become the second former Hawk to be inducted since Chris Chelios heard his name called in 2013, joining Doug Wilson (2020).
"I’m so happy, I can’t thank everyone who was behind this honor enough," Roenick said in a statement. "I’m at a loss for words, and I’m never at a loss for words. Getting over this last hockey hurdle means so much to me."
The other 2024 Hall of Fame inductees will be former Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk, former Predators defenseman Shea Weber and former Olympic women's hockey stars Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Natalie Darwitz in the "player" category, marking the first time ever a class has included multiple women. In the "builder" category, former NHL executive Colin Campbell and former Predators general manager David Poile will also be inducted.
This day has been a long time coming for Roenick, though, who first became eligible for induction in 2012 but ended up having to wait more than a decade.
After going eighth overall to the Hawks in the 1988 NHL draft, Roenick broke into the league late that season and became a veritable star within two years. He tallied 94 points in 1990-91 and eclipsed the 100-point threshold each of the following three seasons.
After being dealt to the Coyotes in 1996 — a trade considered in retrospect one of the worst in Hawks franchise history — Roenick went on to enjoy lengthy stints in Arizona and Philadelphia before finishing his career with brief stints on the Kings and Sharks and retiring in 2009. He was hampered by concussions later in his career.
Roenick, a Boston native, ranks sixth all-time among American-born NHL players in games played (1,363), fifth all-time in points (1,216) and fourth all-time in goals (513). His Hall of Fame selection seems very much based on cumulative lifetime achievement rather than specific achievements, considering he never won the Stanley Cup nor received any major NHL single-season awards.
His outspoken personality has led to quite a few controversies over the years, including a messy departure from NBC in 2020 after 10 years working in TV as a studio analyst, but has also endeared him to thousands of fans.
"I played the game how I wanted to and the way I thought was right," Roenick told the Sun-Times in 2018. "I wouldn’t change it now. And whatever happens, happens. You live life once, you make your decisions and you go with it. And I’m perfectly happy with it."
This story will be updated.