After a lengthy career, waiting out his eligibility period, and then 12 years of sitting by the phone, Jeremy Roenick finally received the call—he was being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And on Monday night, in a ceremony with the rest of his class, the 54-year-old American formally entered into the hallowed halls of hockey immortality.
Roenick, who banked 1,216 points in 1,363 games over a 20-year NHL career, was among the headliners in a class that included Shea Weber, Pavel Datsyuk, Natalie Darwitz, and Krissy Wendell in the player category. David Poile and Colin Campbell entered as builders.
“I love this game,” Roenick said during his acceptance speech. “It’s been such a huge part of my life for most of me.” Roenick spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he established himself as a colorful, Boston-born winger known for his gritty, fast-paced, and highly skilled play. He added 122 points, including 53 goals, in 154 playoff contests and won a silver medal with Team USA at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Tracy, his wife, stated, “He would perform that same routine in the locker room in order to get everyone jamming.” “That’s just part of him. That’s who he is.” Shea Weber, the former defenseman whose career ended prematurely due to a long list of injuries, has been unable to play since helping drag the underdog Montreal Canadiens to the 2021 Stanley Cup final.
“My love for the game remains strong,” the 39-year-old said during his speech, “even if my body didn’t hold up as long as I had hoped.” Weber registered 589 points in 1,038 games with the Canadiens and Nashville Predators, adding 42 points in 97 playoff contests.
Pavel Datsyuk, 46, put up 918 points in 953 games with the Detroit Red Wings, chipping in 113 points across 157 playoff contests that included Stanley Cup victories in 2002 and 2008. The Russian center, known for his majestic skill, won the Lady Byng Trophy four times as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player and won the Selke Trophy three times as the league’s top defensive forward.
Datsyuk described his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a tremendous honor. “(An) honor I couldn’t even dream of.” Krissy Wendell, 43, twice represented the United States at the Olympics, winning silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006. The forward from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, grabbed six medals at the world championships and was the first American captain to capture tournament gold.
“The greatest thing about hockey was not winning championships or medals,” Wendell said, “but the people that I got to meet along the way.” Natalie Darwitz, 41, suited up for the U.S. at the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Games, winning two silver medals and a bronze. The forward out of St. Paul, Minnesota, also competed at the worlds eight times, securing three gold medals.
“I wasn’t your everyday little girl, and somehow my mom was on to me,” Darwitz said. “On my fifth birthday, my blonde French braids strolled into the hockey rink.”
Campbell’s hockey life has included time as a player, coach, and, for the last 25 years, a senior executive vice president with the NHL. He helped spearhead the league’s centralized video review hub that’s now the standard across much of the North American sporting world. The 71-year-old also won the Stanley Cup in 1994 as an associate coach with the New York Rangers.
David Poile, 74, started as an NHL executive with the Atlanta and Calgary Flames in the 1970s before becoming general manager of the Washington Capitals in 1982. The Toronto native joined the expansion Predators in Nashville in 1997 to become GM, a position he held until retiring in 2023. “I have poured my heart and soul into the game,” Poile said. “But hockey has given me and my family so much more.”