Jeremy Roenick wants to return to Chicago Blackhawks
Bob Verdi Sunday Column
Jeremy Roenick has numerous options for what to do with the rest of his life, including stage, screen and television. But he will clear a busy schedule for one particular job title, should it be offered.
“I began my career with the Blackhawks and should have ended it with the Blackhawks,” he was saying the other day from his home near Phoenix. “And there should have been no in between the Blackhawks. I should never have left. I didn’t want to leave. I loved Chicago and felt loved in Chicago.
“Anyway, I’ve seen what they’ve done for some retired guys like me. Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito, Denis Savard. They’re ambassadors for the club. I could go for that. As long as we’re at it, it would be cool if they retired my number, 27, too. I would be honored.”
If departing the Hawks for specious causes and against a backdrop of perpetual scowls constitute credentials for status as ambassador, Roenick qualifies easily, as do the aforementioned legends.
Before the franchise changed its ways under the current enlightened regime, attrition and anger were more important to management than goals and assists. Roenick could have filled the new United Center for years but went instead to Phoenix in 1996 for Alexei Zhamnov, whose agent claimed the Hawks had acquired a “magician.” Indeed, on any given game night, Zhamnov would disappear, just like that.
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