Chicago Blackhawks Greatest 100- #7 Jeremy Roenick

We are one week away from opening night, which is really exciting. So we are down to our top seven Chicago Blackhawks of all time. 

Al Secord was my favorite player as a kid, but if you asked me who replaced him when he left the Chicago Blackhawks, the answer is pretty simple: Jeremy Roenick.

Roenick played a reckless game that made him a fan favorite, and he could score in bunches which made him everyone’s favorite.

Roenick was the eighth pick overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1988, and he was in Chicago pretty quickly after that.

In his first full season in 1989-90, he finished third in the Calder Trophy race, which ironically would be the highest he ever finished in an awards race. It seems odd for me from a player that scored more than 500 goals and 1,200 points.

Roenick was the offensive leader on the team, becoming only the third player in franchise history to score 50 goals or more and joining Secord and Bobby Hull.  His first 50-goal season was the magical 1992 season.

Roenick helped lead the ’Hawks all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, which was something the team hadn’t experienced in nearly 20 seasons.  The ’Hawks were coming in hot, winning 11 straight games, and they grabbed a big lead in Game 1. But the Penguins fought back to win the game, and somehow took all the steam out of their opponent’s sails as the ’Hawks ended up getting swept.

I think the reason everyone loved Roenick was that he wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone, especially in the youth of his career with the Blackhawks — including taking on

Bob Probert

.

Roenick would get traded away for Alexei Zhamnov in a move everyone hated, but knew would come because of the cheapness of Bill Wirtz.

Roenick never was the player he was with the ’Hawks for any other team, and he never won a Stanley Cup. The thing is you knew he was a Blackhawk at heart when he cried on national TV when the ’Hawks broke the drought in 2010.

Next: Blackhawks Greatest: Nos. 9-8, Hall And Esposito

A great player and a top seven all-time in Blackhawks history. And with that, we’re at only one week until the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 5.