Jeremy Roenick scored over 500 goals and 1200 points during his NHL career but remains outside the Hockey Hall of Fame. He has at least one theory as to why; he’s American.
Roenick joined CBS Sports Radio’s The Zach Gelb Show this week to break down the NHL playoffs. During the interview, Gelb asked Roenick about being rejected by the Hockey Hall of Fame despite owning statistics that are worthy of the honor.
“I guess I’m just not their type of person,” Roenick said. “I think my stats and my career speak for themselves, but obviously I’m not a favorite of them personality-wise with the people that are there.”
.@ZachGelb asked @Jeremy_Roenick why he isn't in the @HockeyHallFame.
“This comes down to the people that are on the board whether they like me as a person or not because I think all my stats and what I did in my career pretty much speaks for itself." -Jeremy Roenick pic.twitter.com/qi7LYxDwoU
— CBS Sports Radio (@CBSSportsRadio) June 1, 2022
Roenick has been Hall of Fame eligible since 2012, but he lost visibility within the sport in recent years. In 2019, Roenick was suspended and eventually let go by NBC Sports for suggesting he’d be open to a threesome with colleagues during an appearance on Barstool’s Spittin Chiclets podcast.
“If I’m just not one of their type of people because I’m a little bit more in your face or a little bit more honest or a little bit more brash, then so be it,” Roenick continued. “But I think I’ve done a lot for the National Hockey League and hopefully one day they see it, but I’m not holding my breath.”
Roenick sits 45th on the all-time NHL points list and 41st in goals. A nine-time All-Star, his totals amongst American-born players are even more impressive, but Roenick doesn’t seem to think that will buy him any Hall of Fame votes. In fact, it might even be a deterrent.
“I’m third all-time American in goals, I’m third all-time American in points…won a silver medal at the Olympics,” Roenick told Gelb. “This is a lot of stuff that qualification-wise, you wonder – do they have something against Americans or have something against me. I think it’s starting to be readily apparent.”
The Hockey Hall of Fame has been called out for being biased, but those criticisms generally allege its voters favor North American players who were in the NHL.
