Inside The Penalty Box 09.17.07: Roenick’s Return With San Jose

Posted by Neil Borenstein on 09.17.2007

At one point, it was believed he would retire. But on Sept. 4, Jeremy Roenick decided to give winning a Stanley Cup one more go with the team the Canadian Press has pegged as the favorite to go all the way – the San Jose Sharks. In this edition of Inside The Penalty Box, Neil Borenstein takes a look at what Roenick offers to a team already primed for a strong 2007-2008 season!

he puck has dropped on the 2007 National Hockey League preseason schedule.

On Thursday, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings faced off in a contest of Pacific Division rivals. Thanks to an even strength goal by Brian Willsie with 5:06 remaining in the third period, Los Angeles secured a victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Ducks landed a bit of revenge, if any is really necessary in exhibition, when they defeated the Kings, 3-2 two nights later. Ryan Getzlaf netted the game-winner in this contest with an even strength goal at 14:28 in the third period.

Getzlaf is a player Anaheim expects to contribute heavily this season. In an NHL media conference call on Tuesday, Anaheim general manager Brian Burke said, "Both [head coach] Randy Carlyle and I have both said that Ryan Getzlaf is going to be as good as he wants to be … Ryan has a chance to be a dominating, physical, hard-nosed, scoring player in our league, and I think he's going to get there."

These rivals opened their preseason schedules early since they will also open their regular seasons prior to the other 28 teams in the NHL. On Sept. 29 and 30, the Ducks and Kings will play their first two regular season games as part of the NHL Premiere 2007 series in London, England.

More teams opened their preseasons on Sunday.

The Carolina Hurricanes secured a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals. Washington controlled the game through two periods, entering the third period with a 2-0 lead. But Carolina managed to score three goals in the third to one from the Capitals. In overtime, Eric Cole scored his second goal of the game on the power play to give Carolina the victory. Eric Staal had three assists, which is reassuring after the player's arrest this offseason.

The Nashville Predators defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1. For as meaningless as the preseason is, the Predators' victory has to be somewhat special for a team that's gone through the amount of turmoil Nashville has this summer. All of the game's goal scoring took place in the second period. Petr Pohl scored the game-winner at 5:43 on a shorthanded opportunity.

Columbus not only lost the game, but they also will be without one of their top forwards for an unknown period of time. David Vborny was on the bad end of a Martin Erat check in the first period. He suffered a knee injury and needed to be helped of the ice.

The Atlanta Thrashers got back to worked after being eliminated by the New York Rangers via a sweep in the first round of the playoffs last season. Atlanta defeated the St. Louis Blues, 3-1. The Blues scored the first goal from Paul Kariya at 6:25 in the first period. But the Thrashers scored three straight, with Eric Perrin scoring two in the second period. Ondrej Pavelec played all 60 minutes for the Thrashers, turning away 25 shots in the process.

Pavelec was Atlanta's second round, 41st overall draft pick in 2005. He probably won't received much playing time in the NHL this season, as Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg occupy the top two goalie spots on the Thrashers' depth chart. But he might be a guy to keep an eye on for backup duty in the future of the organization.

The Florida Panthers shutout the Calgary Flames, 3-0. It doesn't appear as if Matt Keetley will be stealing any starts from Miikka Kiprusoff during the season, as he played all 60 minutes and surrendered all three goals. Somehow, Keetley still walked out with the first star of the game, probably based off making 31 saves. Tomas Vokoun and Craig Anderson split the shutout for Florida. Olli Jokinen's power play goal in the first period turned out to be the game-winner. Newly signed forward, Richard Zednik, added one of the insurance goals in the third period on a shorthanded attempt.

The Ducks played their third exhibition game on Sunday, this time against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Ducks fell to a 1-2 record based on this game, as the Coyotes secured a 2-1 victory via a shootout. Chris Kunitz put the Ducks up early in the first period. But Radim Vrbata tied the game in the second period on a power play goal at 6:24 and then scored the deciding goal in the shootout.

The Ducks received more bad news on Sunday when they learned that their potential replacement for Scott Niedermayer, Mathieu Schneider, would miss at least four weeks of action with a broken bone in his left ankle.

Jeremy Roenick Giving Hockey Another GoCenter Gears Up For Season With Sharks

Credit: Yahoo! SportsJeremy Roenick signed a one-year deal with the San Jose Sharks on Sept. 4.

Jeremy Roenick has long been one of the most outspoken players in the National Hockey League. He has never attempted to censor himself and has always said exactly what was on his mind. He's even gone as far as to insult Patrick Roy and tell fans to kiss his ass – something he says was taken out of context. Regardless, Roenick could always be counted on as a player that never sugar coated how he felt.

On July 4, the NHL almost saw the end of Roenick's career. Reports indicated that Roenick sent a text message to The Philadelphia Inquirer, informing them of his plans to retire. Neil Abbott, Roenick's agent, did some cleaning up less than two weeks later by saying Roenick hadn't decided if he would hang up the skates just yet. On Sept. 4, we received a final answer from Roenick. He signed a one-year deal with the San Jose Sharks for $500,000.

We get at least one more year of Roenick calling it like it is, and not just from a behind the desk as an NHL analyst.

Roenick's career is far from what it used to be. On the ice, he just can't physically handle the grind of the game like he once could. That comes with age and injuries, though. Being 37 years old with several health issues, Roenick's skills have understandably been on the decline. Seasons with points total in the 70s are no longer in Roenick's repertoire.

Last season, Roenick suited up for the Phoenix Coyotes after signing with the organization to a one-year, $1.2-million deal during the 2006 offseason. He scored 11 goals and notched 17 assists for 28 total points in 70 games, eight points coming on the power play.

One year prior, Roenick played 58 games with the Los Angeles Kings. The Philadelphia Flyers traded Roenick to the Kings to create cap space to be used in signing Peter Forsberg. It was a deal Roenick understood, as even he knew he couldn't provide the kind of offensive output Forsberg could. With the Kings, Roenick only managed nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points.

That was probably the clearest indication that Roenick would never really be a big scorer in the NHL. His years in Philadelphia had seen some decreasing production. And the final straw for Roenick was when he suffered a concussion against the New York Rangers during the 2003-2004 season. He missed a month of action due to that injury. And while physically he's recovered from the injury, at least enough to play, I don't think he's mentally recovered enough to be that spark he once was in the NHL.

That's why, to a degree, I questioned why the Sharks would want to sign Roenick. Recently in a Canadian Press story, the Sharks were pegged by many as the favorites to win the Stanley Cup this season. San Jose already has a team pretty well geared toward taking a run at a championship. Why is it necessary to sign Roenick?

In his own words, Roenick wants to provide a spark.

"This team is really smart, and it already knows what it needs to do to win it all," Roenick said to AP Sports Writer, Greg Beacham. "All it needs is that last push at the end of the season, and I'm hoping I can provide it."

From a leadership standpoint, Roenick can provide that push. Age and injuries cannot take away Roenick's ability to be vocal. His ice time will probably not peak past 12 minutes on most nights. And we've already established his offensive prowess on the ice is not quite up to snuff. Because of that, I doubt he'll be on the ice in pressure situations when the Sharks desperately need that one goal to tie up or win the game.

Whether he's on the ice or on the bench, though, he can still use his leadership and experience to motivate those players around him. There's a lot of youth in San Jose. And nobody on the Sharks has won a Stanley Cup – including Roenick. Roenick's hunger for a championship has to be stronger than anybody else's. And if those around him can feed off his determination to raise Lord Stanley, Roenick is serving his purpose.

Roenick isn't necessarily in San Jose to score goals and setup plays. He's there to be a vocal leader and symbol of determination – playing one more season for one more shot at the biggest prize in hockey.

I think Roenick will start the season as the team's fourth line center. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, who both signed extensions with the team this summer, are guaranteed the top two center positions. Joe Pavelski had a very strong rookie campaign last season, scoring 14 goals and tallying 14 assists. Eleven of his points came on the power play. So third line center duties will likely be offered to him, at least to start the season.

Fourth line duties will probably allow Roenick about five-eight minutes per game, but I think he will probably also see some penalty kill time, as well. Power play time might also be in the cards for Roenick, but I wouldn't bank on him getting a lot of it. There's entirely too much firepower on the Sharks that's still at its prime.

My best guesstimate would be that Roenick scores 12 goals and notches 20 assists this season for 32 points in 68 games. Maybe five of those points will come on the power play. I figure Roenick misses some time during the season between a mix of some injury and rest time, so a full 82-game schedule is not likely.

A big storyline for Roenick right way is that he is only five goals away from reaching 500. That was probably a big factor drawing him back into the NHL, though I think the chance to win a championship is what really gave him the motivation to work toward coming back with the Sharks.

And he stands a good chance with the Sharks. As previously noted, the Canadian Press has them tabbed as the favorites by many peoples' standards. And they're a team chock full of talent – both young and old. All that's missing is that claim of being a Stanley Cup championship organization. With Roenick's 18 years of NHL experience without a championship as well, the hunger becomes that much stronger in San Jose.

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Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!

~ Neil Borenstein