jake

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Jan. 15th, 2004

jake

this entry brought to you by maple syrup and friendliness

Jeremy Roenick, a forward in the National Hockey League who reached his peak in Sega's hockey bloodbath, NHLPA 1993, is still a pretty good hockey player and quite a drama queen. It seems Jeremy got a stick to the face, causing a seven-stitch gash and a lost tooth, and well... he was a bit upset. He screamed at the referee from the ice and then from the bench, and when it became clear he was being ignored he threw a water bottle across the ice at the ref. For some reason, this behavior was not seen in a positive light by NHL officials, and they suspended him, and he said some funny things about it.

To be honest, I just wanted to use this opportunity to talk about how at his peak (at least his video game peak, I don't really remember his actual playing peak) JR was the best American-born hockey player ever to lace 'em up. He was fast, a great puck-handler, and had a wicked slapshot to boot. In NHLPA 93, his stats were all up in the 90s and he could single-handedly dominate a game (he made left winger Michel Goulet, the slowest player in the game, an all-star). He was also a tough guy with a good right hook, an essential skill in the rough and tumble mid-early-nineties.

Other NHLPA 93 Blackhawks of note:
Goalie Eddie Belfour before he became an old veteran jerk.
Defenseman Steve Smith when he was an old veteran jerk.
Christian Ruutu when he was an NHL player, and a capable backup for when Roenick got kicked out of games for checking refs (have I mentioned that you can check the ref in NHLPA 93?)
Right Winger Steve Larmer had an unstoppable slapshot.
A little guy named Chris Chelios, who played fearless powerful defense.

A final note: NHLPA 93 was the last installment to include blood on the ice after injuries. That unflinching realism is what really drew me to the game.

All this, and more, is why Jeremy Roenick will always be my favorite player. Even if he now plays for the despicable, evil Philadelphia Flyers.