The future is now for the Flyers: for the Flyers to win their first Stanley Cup since 1975, Jeremy Roenick must return from serious injury

Hockey Digest, May-June, 2004 by Keith Loira

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. Four shots was all it took for Jeremy Roenick to hit his four targets and win the accuracy contest at the Skills competition during NHL All-Star Weekend. It's that type of puck shooting that the Flyers hope to see from Roenick in the second half of the season as the team gears up for a successful playoff run.

"I hate to put the spotlight on one guy but I would say that offensively, Roenick is the most important player or at least his line is most important," says Flyers play-by-play announcer Jim Jackson. "You look at the team now and you can't check them with one line because they have more than one line that can score. Roenick seemed to hit a lull going into the All-Star break and they need him to get back to his first half of production. They need to continue to have strong lines that can score."

The Flyers also have to hope Roenick can recover from a concussion and broken jaw he sustained February 12 when a Boris Mironov slapshot caught him in the face. The injury left him pondering not only the remainder of this season, but also his career.

"I've spent a few days in the hospital from a couple of concussions from my early career, and then have not really missed any time when I should have for other ones," he says. "They catch up to you. I think there's a lot of contemplating going on. I can't say [retirement] hasn't entered my mind, because it has."

Factoring in the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement talks and the age of some of the Flyers' top players, Roenick knows this year's postseason might be the Flyers' best--and last--chance for a while to win a championship. Along with the 34-year-old Roenick, the Flyers boast 34-year-old Eric Desjardins, 33-year-old Keith Primeau, 36-year-old Mark Recchi, 34-year-old John LeClair and 33-year-old Tony Amonte. They have all been banged up at one point or another, too.

"The lockout is looming and let's face it, we could be running out of time," Roenick says. "There's an urgency because we're getting a little weary on the front side with everyone getting older. This is am important year for us and we want to get that Stanley Cup now rather than later."

"Certainly for a team that has as many guys in the mid-30s as they do, these are guys who may not get many more chances at the Stanley Cup. They all, to the man, feel that with their great coach and the talent on hand, they have a legitimate shot," Jackson adds. "There's a sense of let's go for it and [GM] Bob Clarke adds to that by making moves that shows the team wants to go for it this way. When you trade away a Justin Williams, you're saying you want to win now, and that's Clarke's philosophy."

The 16-year vet has no problem with his GM's thinking. In 118 career playoff games Roenick has scored 103 points and registered 93 penalty minutes. He clearly brings his A-game to the playoffs and is looking forward to padding his postseason stats this year as he tries to finally get a taste from the elusive Cup.

It's been seven years since the Flyers have been to the finals--an unmemorable four-game sweep at the hands of the Red Wings--and 29 years since they last hoisted the Cup in victory. The Flyers have had some major playoff disappointments since 1997 but Roenick believes that the current group is ready for anything.

"This is the second year we are playing behind [coach Ken Hitchcock's] system and I think everyone really understands how this is going to work for us," Roenick says. "He's won a Stanley Cup, he's won divisions. Everyone who plays here adheres to the system and I think coaching has a lot to do with our success."

The days following the All-Star Game were significant for the Flyers. First they traded for Phoenix goalie Sean Burke and then they won a critical showdown with the Atlantic rival New Jersey Devils that put them 7 points in front of them also left them two points up on Toronto for first place in the East.

Roenick's hamstring was injured in the Devils' game but it didn't appear as if it would keep him out for any long length of time. But Mironov took care of that.

In the span of two weeks the team lost four defenseman and then lost goalie Robert Esche who was filling in for the since-retired Jeff Hackett (who was suffering from vertigo and hadn't played for the team since Jan. 13), yet the team still found ways to win. Esche was playing the best hockey of his career when teammate Simon Gagne inadvertently crashed into his left knee while trying to break up a 3-on-1 in early February.

"It's been a team in flux lately but in the past 10 games they have gone 8-1-1 and I don't think that many teams can make that many changes on defense and in goal and just keep winning," Jackson says. "It's very impressive and bodes well."

In picking up Burke, the Flyers now have options in the postseason. There have been more than 14 different net-minders in goal for the team in the past decade during the playoffs, and goaltending has been blamed on many occasions for those playoff disappointments.

"Esche and Burke are good friends and I think he could be the last piece of the puzzle for us," Roenick says. "We're excited about him coming over. He can be a big factor when all is said and done."