Controversial Jeremy Roenick among surprise picks for Hockey Hall ...

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Published Jun 25, 2024  •  Last updated 4 hours ago  •  4 minute read

Former Chicago Blackhawks player Jeremy Roenick acknowledges the crowd after being honored before an NHL hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Blackhawks in 2017. AP Photo

The Hockey Hall of Fame chose to look at skill and not listen to squabbling outside its doors in making two noteworthy picks among seven new members.

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With Russian hockey caught in a new Cold War on the world stage, the selection committee did not ignore the deserving first-year eligibility of centre Pavel Datsyuk, as well as controversial — and long-ignored 500-goal forward Jeremy Roenick.

One of two females added was Natalie Darwitz, just removed this month as general manager of PWHL Minnesota by the league after their inaugural league title.

“We’re certainly aware of what’s going on in the world,” said committee chair Mike Gartner after Tuesday’s announcement. “However, we look at our responsibility as what has happened with players and builders in the game in the course of their career.

‘We’re a completely non-political, non-social group, just a bunch of people who’ve been in the game a long time, trying to make the best decisions we can, based on hockey.”

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Joining Detroit’s two-time Stanley Cup champion Datsyuk and Roenick was another first-year eligible, Canadian defenceman Shea Weber, Darwitz, another American star-turned NHL scout Krissy Wendell-Pohl and builders David Poile and Colin Campbell.

The committee reached around perceived reluctance to recognize Russians for its aggression in Ukraine, though that didn’t extend to Alex Mogilny, whose Hall vigil continues.

Roenick, meanwhile, had clearly been too hot a potato for the Hall for more than a decade, carryover from his chirpy playing days and media career, including a fallout with NBC in 2019 over a morals clause.

But whoever on the committee that brought his name up Tuesday for a vote (14 of 18 needed to pass) was able to shine a light on the ‘new’ J.R.

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“The last four months of my life has been very different, a change of path” the 54-year-old insisted. “I had to take a look at my life and how I was living it, with my work and things I was doing, battling mental issues.

“You have to make yourself more accountable for a lot of things I did. I made a promise to myself I’d be more grateful of friendships, my family, and to be more present with them rather than all over the world. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror and my life’s been one good story after another since. This is the cherry on top.”

Roenick took the call at a Starbucks’ and “froze” seeing the 416 Toronto area code on his phone. After being congratulated by Gartner and Hall chairman of the board Lanny McDonald, he worried he’d alarmed the barista with his tears.

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Datsyuk was not asked about his fear of being bypassed, calling himself “a lucky boy” for joining a large group of Red Wings from Detroit’s early 2000 Cup clubs with Frank Selke and Lady Byng Trophies galore. But in addition to the puzzling snub of Mogilny, which dates far before the current Russian situation, goalie Curtis Joseph will wait at least another year while many crease contemporaries are already in.

Two first-year goalies, Pekka Rinne and Ryan Miller, joined the parking lot, though it should be mentioned three got in last year, Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon. It was still a big day for Rinne’s Nashville Predators, with draft pick Weber and retired GM Poile set for official induction on Nov. 11.

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Tuesday was the 27th anniversary of the NHL granting Music City an expansion franchise with Atlanta, Minnesota and Columbus.

“Shea and Pekka defined Predators’ hockey, the Predators’ way and got us to be competitive,” said Poile, the wins leader among all NHL GMs who was very emotional at the thought of joining his father, Bud, in the Hall.

Weber, he of the booming shot and 100-plus power play goals for Nashville and Team Canada, thanked fans in both Nashville and Montreal, where he ribbed Poile about “his worst trade”, the 2016 deal that sent Weber north. Injuries ended his career in 2021.

There’s not much Campbell hasn’t done in the game, playing in the old WHA, a year with Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers as part of his four teams, then coaching in Detroit and New York before work as a senior hockey operations director for the league, dealing with discipline and rule changes.

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He noted the irony of getting the good news call Tuesday when he often had to ring up players and tell them bad news about their suspensions.

It’s becoming the norm to allow the maximum two females in each year, but Darwitz and Wendell-Pohl were surprises ahead of Meghan Duggan and Canadian Jennifer Botterill. Certainly, it was an uplifting day for the unemployed Darwitz, the St. Paul native with three Olympics and eight world championships to her credit.

“A huge honour,” said Darwitz. “I’m in shock as Krissie and I are a little bit younger than some people in the Hall.”

Teammate Wendell-Pohl, now a scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who is at this week’s draft in Las Vegas, agreed with husband John that accompanying his travels in collegiate hockey the parent Maple Leafs and their farm team helped develop her keen eye for talent in the women’s and men’s game.

“He had a unique path and you could see different levels and the work that went into it. We have three girls and now he’s outnumbered. But he’s excited for me today. Our girls have never been to Toronto.”

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