Jeremy Roenick is one of the greatest American players ever. But one time, he injured the player he considers the greatest American player ever, Mike Modano. The retaliation from the Dallas Stars led to a broken jaw that angered Roenick, who refused to leave the ice.
Drafted eighth overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1988, Roenick had one of the greatest careers ever by an American player.
Considers Mike Modano the best
However, Roenick considers Mike Modano the best American-born player of all time. Modano was selected first overall in the same draft year, and Roenick always looked forward to competing hard against him and the Dallas Stars. One time, Roenick accidentally injured Modano—and paid a heavy price for it.
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Injured Mike Modano
Appearing as a guest on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast in 2019, Roenick recalled what happened:
“I knocked out Mike Modano in Arizona, I think about two weeks before the playoffs. He was coming around the net. I like to do those cut-offs at the side of the net. He threw the puck back—it might have been a little late. But I crushed him, and he went down. I went after Mike Modano all the time. He was my measuring stick. He was the guy I thought was the best player—the best American player ever. So every time I played against him, I wanted to beat him. I wanted to get the best of him,” Roenick said on the podcast.
Jeremy Roenick broken jaw
He continued:
Two days later, we’re playing in Dallas. In the paper, it says ‘Retribution Day,’ so I knew it was coming. In the first period, they’re coming at me left and right. I come around the net, Craig Ludwig slashes me, and my thumb snaps in half. Less than a second later, Derian Hatcher comes in with an elbow. That elbow was perfect to the jaw. It cracked my jaw in five or six places. I could feel my jaw moving around. I go back to the bench and show my trainer. If my skin wasn’t holding everything together, I could have pulled part of my jaw out of my mouth. I saw a lady in the front row—she saw me and went right down,” Roenick said on the podcast.
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Refused to come off the ice
The broken jaw angered Roenick, who refused to come off the ice to get it treated:
“We get a 5-on-3. My trainer’s like, ‘We gotta go.’ I’m like, ‘F*ck no, we have a 5-on-3.’ I go on the ice because I wanted to score so badly, then give everybody the bird when I got off. Every time I got hit, I could hear my bones cracking—my jaw was flapping all over the place. I played about three and a half minutes on that power play, trying to get a goal. We didn’t score, and when I got to the bench, my trainer said, ‘Okay, we gotta go now.’”
You can watch the brutal memory below.
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