Roenick a gamer in When the Flyers signed Jeremy Roenick as a free agent on July 2, 2001 the organization knew they were getting a gamer who came to play with intensity, grit and skill every night. The team also knew that the high-scoring center wanted to win a Stanley Cup in the worst way. "Right now in this point of my career I want to win a Cup and I think this team is as close to winning a Cup as I've ever been with the quality that we have here," Roenick said. But what Bobby Clarke and Co. didn't know was that Roenick was a gamer in another sense of the word. The former first-round draft choice loves playing video games – and it has nothing to do with the legacy his likeness established way back in 1993 with Sega Genesis hockey. "I started playing video games a long time ago," he said. "I was an Asteroid man when I was a kid. The industry has come so, so far. It's absolutely incredible to see how far the video game industry has come just in the last 10-15 years." Sega's NHL '93 made him a legend in the gaming industry, as his likeness could light the lamp almost at will in that version of the game. Roenick, who was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks at the time, was consistently outscoring greats like Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky in that year's edition of the video game. All across North America college students -- in between their homework and studying, of course -- were duking it out as to who was going to get to be Chicago in their frat-house tournaments. While the Blackhawks are one of the NHL's most storied franchises, the bickering over who was going to get the team from the Windy City for the games had nothing to do with their allegiance to the Original Six squad. It had everything to do with who was going to get to be Roenick.
"I literally had college kids from all over coming up to me and telling me that they got their party money from betting on Sega games and being me and the Blackhawks during Sega games. One guy actually got into a beef with another guy and literary got beat up because they were fighting over who was going to be me in the college dorm tournament." Some gamers even have the audacity to tell Roenick that he's a better player on TV then in the NHL. "Most people tell me I'm better in the Sega game than I am in real life," he joked. "But I think it's great. Anything that promotes our game in the entertainment aspect is fantastic. Whether it's having people come to the actual stadiums and seeing the games or just being at home playing a video game, it's great for the game. If people can learn about the game and get excited about what we do and about the sport we play, especially in the video game aspect, it's great press and great PR for us and our game." "JR" doesn't need any video game to help him get press. The Flyer forward has a knack for being the center of attention, having appeared on TV shows like One life to Live, Arli$$ and The Jersey. The Boston native should change his nickname to "PR" instead of "JR" with all the great publicity he gives the sport of hockey away from the rink. Roenick was also mentioned in movies such as Beautiful Girls and Swingers and his likeness appears in a scene in the flick Wayne's World, where pictures of him populate the walls of Stan Mikita's donut shop. The memorable scene in Swingers has the actors playing a game of Sega hockey and talking about how good Roenick is in the game.
But despite the fame on the silver screen Roenick has a huge impact on the smaller screen. "I think when you think about video games one of the first systems that comes to mind is Sega," he said. "One of the first things that pops into my mind is the commercial for the video games where at the end they give you the little 'Sega!' (sound byte) and that kind of sticks in my head. "But also they're a company that's very high in the entertainment and gaming market. If you can be involved with a company like that I think not only does it do good for yourself, but you can also do good things for them." The seven-time NHL All-Star approached his role with Sega with vigor just like he's done every time he's jumped over the boards in his NHL career. Roenick gave his input and insight to 2K3 so the game could be as close to the real thing as possible. "I did get a chance to go over some tactical aspects of the game," Roenick said. "Obviously this game is very, very realistic in how it's played out. You can control the power play, penalty killing, changing lines and different plays. So I think with them getting my input on what happens during the course of the game, it makes the game be more life-like in terms of playing. "So when they do actually watch a game, [gamers] can say ' hey we play that same way in the Sega game. We play that same kind of system. So I did give them a little background of what we like to do in the course of a game. I'm definitely satisfied with the finished product. The game is very life-like, right down to the stadiums that look exactly like the ones we play in every night.
Roenick also enjoys playing video games with his daughter, Brandi, and his son, Brett. But just because he's the father and the game's spokesperson doesn't give him the right to chose the team he wants to be against his kids. "When I play I always have the second choice," Roenick said. "There's no way my daughter or son will let me pick the team that I want to pick. But when I play my teammates I'm always going to go with my likeness. I'm with Philadelphia right now so when I play against my teammates I'll be the Flyers and they'll have nothing to say about it." Unlike Roenick who has something to say about everything.
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