Former Flyer Jeremy Roenick described the emotional phone call he received three days ago, presenting him with the news that he will be inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame.
"I literally was just doing my regular morning routine, I went to the gym, I worked out, I came out, I wasn't expecting anything," Roenick told Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on Friday's 94WIP Morning Show. "I wasn't even thinking anything and I'm all sweaty and I looked at my phone and I see a 416 number, which is Toronto, so I dial it back. And it's a recording that says, 'Hi welcome to the National Hockey League Hall Of Fame. It says press, 'Two if you want tickets.'"
Roenick, 54, admits he was getting frustrated as the years past and he did not get into the Hall Of Fame. Roenick says when his father passed away in 2022, he kind of let the dream go. And then boom, he received the call.
"I was just so nervous," Roenick said. "All of the sudden my hands started sweating. And then about five minutes later I'm sitting in the Starbucks line, I had just ordered a coffee and here comes the phone again—416. I felt my stomach kind of get upset and I answered the phone. It's [Hockey Hall Of Fame chair member] Mike Gartner and [Hockey Hall of Fame Chairman] Lanny McDonald and I literally just started tearing up before they even said anything because I knew it was coming. Lanny says, 'You've just been inducted into the Hall Of Fame.' Literally, it was like Niagara Falls. I couldn't breathe. I said, 'No way this is happening, no way!' And I got to the window, I had been in serious tears. The guy has my coffee. I can't grab it. I don't know whether to pay for it. I'm talking to Lanny McDonald and I'm crying...And then I stop the car after I left the window, I literally scream at the top of my lungs. I swore and I said, 'Finally, F-in finally!'"
Roenick played for the Flyers from 2001-2004, but developed what he calls an "unprecedented" relationship with city of Philadelphia.
"When I went to Philly I have never gotten a closer attachment to a fan base like I did there," Roenick said. "It was almost like I was made to play in the most passionate hockey city, or sports city, in the world...We just got along. Everywhere I go and I'm not kidding guys, I see a Philly fan and I hug them and I say thank you and they give me their thanks. Even if it was just three years, it was three years of real love, passion and admiration on both sides. And good teams where we had a chance to win.
"I just want all Flyer fans to know this because I get a lot of grief, 'Oh you like Chicago better.' I had a connection with Philadelphia in three years that is unprecedented and still today I have a great relationship with them wherever I see them and my gratitude and love for them is just huge," he continued. "I'm just glad I don't have to pick a jersey at the Hall Of Fame because they pick it for me, because it would be really, really difficult."
Following the lockout in 2005, Roenick agreed to waive his no-trade clause so then GM Bobby Clarke and the Flyers could acquire star Peter Forsberg, someone JR admits he believed gave Philadelphia a better chance to win than himself. Now, Roenick says if he could go back to that moment, he would tell Clarke no.
"I would go back and say, 'Hey, Bob, no sorry. Go take a cold shower. I'm not leaving, sorry.' I would have done that."
The 94WIP Morning Show played the audio and call by Jim Jackson of Roenick's overtime goal in Game 6 of the semifinals to advance past Toronto .
"I'm literally almost crying again, it's crazy," Roenick said after hearing the cal. "The chills of that goal and that call was like one of the best calls of all-time.
Most Popular
Comments / 0