Retired Roenick To NBC Booth?
- Friday, August 7, 2009 6:45 PM
- Written By: Josh Marks
So what's next for Jeremy Roenick now that he has retired after 20 seasons in the National Hockey League?
The outspoken star is one of the boldest and candid personalities in the league and he is exactly the type of controversial figure that the conservative NHL establishment needs in the NBC broadcast booth to shake things up and draw in more viewers.
The current NBC commentating team of Ed Olczyk, Pierre McGuire, Mike Milbury, Darren Pang and Mike Emrick do a fine job. However, they are Canadian dry and don't really bring much color to their commentary.
Enter Roenick. This guy is Denis Leary on skates. Don Cherry without the anti-European rants and tacky suits. His mouth may get him in trouble sometimes but he would be a breath of fresh air in the staid broadcast booth.
So he does bring some baggage, but his ability to stir controversy could translate to more viewers tuning in. Perhaps his most famous outburst was during the 2004-2005 lockout when he went after fans who called NHL players spoiled. Roenick had some choice words for these fans and told them they shouldn't attend games or watch the NHL on TV anymore.
OK. Not exactly what you would want to hear from a national broadcast announcer. But Roenick has cleaned up his act. He has been a hockey analyst for Canada's TSN since 2007 and co-hosted The Best Damn Sports Show on Fox Sports Net.
And who wouldn't want to see Roenick interview Alex Ovechkin or Sean Avery? On second thought, NBC probably wouldn't allow the Avery interview to take place. But you get the point -- the NHL needs more charismatic personalities in the broadcast booth to lure viewers.
