NBC isapproaching a wastershedmoment in the 2017-18 hockey season when theNHL All-Star Game and Winter Olympics clash and thenset the tone for the stretch run into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Front and center on many of Fernando Valenzuela Jersey thosebroadcasts will beJeremy Roenick, atwo-time Olympian andNHL star turned television personality. THE OLYMPIAN: Roenick, who spoke to Sporting News , took some timeaway from his48thbirthday "I'm used to the working birthday" to answer an a sortment of questions about major storylines around the NHL and the 2018 Games. POWER RANKINGS: The ever-opinionated "NHL on NBC" analyst touched on the NHL's controversial booking of Kid Rock to headline the 2018 All-Star Game, Andrew Cogliano's suspension, (two of Roenick's former teams) can rejuvenate Anthony Duclair'scareer,plus much more. Note: Some of theinterview has been edited for brevity and clarity. SPORTING NEWS: Andrew Cogliano'stwo-game suspension . Did he deserve it? JR: I hate it. I hate the call, I hate the decision, I hate the fact we have one of the coolest streaks in sports going, especially an ironman streak in a sport that is as brutally hard and physicaland demanding as hockey. I know what a profe sional and what a true gentleman Andrew Cogliano is and how he plays the game. His profe sionalism is off the charts. The way he has conducted his career he's played 830 straight games through pain, through injury, through probably other people'ssuggestions not to play because of the pride in that durability and in that streak. And he also has 281 penalty minutes in those 830 games. That tells me he's an honest player, a respectful player. I didn't even think the hit was that bad at all. We've seen millions of hits that were way worse than what Andrew Cogliano did to (Adrian) Kempe. Kempedidn't even leave the game. I question whether he had a real strong blow to the head. Whatever the determination of the decision was, I disagree with it. They took away something from him that was very important to him and to the league. Sometimes you should be able to turn a blind eye to certain things. I think a fine would have been perfectly acceptable for the actions that happened, and the NHL dropped the ball on Cogliano's decision. MORE: SN: IfCoglianounofficially sets therecord (964 games), does it hold up in your mind, even with the asterisk? JR: No. He'll keep on playing, but still, the damage is done. That's what's really sad, because that was his identity. That was his identity to himself waking up every morning getting ready to play the game. It was his identity to the guys on his team, the guys that played against him. It's going to be a totally different feeling for Andrew now coming into that locker room knowing the pride of that streak is now snapped because of somebody else's decision. Granted, they do try to protect people, and it was a penalty. But by no means do I think it was anywhere near brutal enough or violent enough to require a two-game suspension. It was really unnece sary, in my opinion. SN: What do you think about the Sharks asking players about their least favorite places to play:Fun and lighthearted, or does it put players in a bad spot? JR: I think they should do more of it, no question. If other cities take it personal, they should get thicker skin. Everybody has opinions, everybody has their favorite places and least favorite places. People are way too sensitive in this world today. It drives me crazy to think people can't speak their mind or have their own opinion without getting blasted from some dumba s who wants to argue about it or wants to tell you you're a jerk for saying it. That's what our world is all about, having our own likes, having our own dislikes, and having a conversation about stuff if you don't agree. It's sports. San Jose shouldn't like Winnipeg. They're rivals, they're competing for a Stanley Cup. They shouldn't like Nashville. It's not a knock against the people that live there. Don't take things so damn literal all the time. MORE: SN: What areyour thoughts on Anthony Duclair'stime in Arizona? Is Chicago the place he can turn thingsaround? JR: To be totally honest, he was a dog in Arizona. He was a high draft pick that came over from an Original Six team (Rangers) to a team that needed help, that needed talent and someone who is totally dedicated to working every night to make the team better. Anthony Duclaircame to (Glendale) and did nothing for the city. Not a thing.The team had to beg him to work day in and day out, to put some effort into his game. That just drives me crazy. ... Unfortunately, when you have the reputation of being a guy that doesn't want to work and has as much talent as Anthony Duclair, it's very hard to trade you when you get a bad name and a bad reputation. MORE: I hope this trade to the 'Hawks wakes him up and gives him a new sense of reality and a new sense of maybe motivation so he can use those great, God-given talents that he does have so he can become the player he thinks he is. Because he's done nothing in the NHL and he feels like he needs to be treated like a superstar. We'll see if he has that, but as of right now, I think Arizona was lucky to get rid of him and I think Chicago needs to work on his attitude and his work ethic. If he does that, he's going to be a great player in this league. (Editor's note:Duclairoften participated in and with the Coyotes.) SN: Are you a Kid Rock fan? JR: I'm a huge Kid Rock fan. I've known him (real name Robert James Ritchie) for a bunch of years now. I love his music, I know how talented he is. I've been around him when he's done impromptu performances, whether he's sitting on an airplane or standing in a bar with him in Chicago. He's without question going to totally entertain the fans at the All-Star Game because he loves music so much and he wants to make sure the performance he gives is all about the music, all about making people happy, all about making them sing and rock out. So I think it's going to be pretty special to watch. It's a great get. MORE: SN: There's some unfavorable feedback about the decision given Kid Rock's . Do you think that should factor in? JR: See, this is where I get driven crazy by people today. Why does anything have to do with politics or where he stands with politics when it comes to entertaining and singing to people at a sporting event? It drives me crazy. All these people have their panties so hung upthey can't even thinkstraight. They don't understand the performance. Entertainment has nothing to do with whether he likes (Donald) Trump or he doesn't like Hillary Clinton. Let him perform, sing his songs that have nothing to do with politics. All these people have got to stop with this narrative that's going around and the divide they're bringing to this country. It's driving me crazy. MORE: SN: Let's pick midseason awards. Who do you have for the Hart, Vezina,Calder and Adams? Hart: I have (Nikita) Kucherov. He's starting to slow down a little bit, but he's been so good. (Steven)Stamkos, Kucherov, I would put him up there. Claude Girouxis starting to find his way up there if the Flyers make the playoffs. He's been spectacular. John Tavares is going to be up there. Vezina: I think theVezinais up for grabs. I don't see really any one goaltender grabbing the spotlight and running with it. You can talk about howTuukkaRask is having a great year again after a slow start. That's probably my toughest one. ... I think Marc-Andre Fleury, if Vegas continues to play the way they are, is going to have an opportunity. (Andrei)Vasilevskiyis playing fantastic. If the Lightning finishNo. 1,Vasilevskiyis going to be on that list. Interesting options. Calder: Brock Boeser and Mathew Barzalare leading the charge. I think (Mikhail) Sergachev and (Charlie) McAvoyare toward the top, too. Adams: There's no competition. Even if Vegas goes .500 the next 40 games, they'll have the coach of the year (Gerard Gallant), the general manager of the year (George McPhee). That, to me, is without question. If you can bring an expansion team to this much dominance this early, you deserve all the accolades you can get. MORE: SN: Do you think the Golden Knights will make the playoffs? JR: I do. They're too good, they're too exciting and they have too much of a home-ice advantage to not make it in their first year. SN: What are some of your favorite Olympic stories from the 2018 U.S. roster? JR: The Bobby Butler . My buddy Teddy Donato, his son made it. I'm sure they had a pretty unbelievable family celebration. ... It's one of the best venues to watch the best athletes in the world. It's unfortunate the NHL guys aren't going to be there, but it does open up the opportunity for some of these young kids to have a taste of Olympic experience, which is phenomenal. SN: This is the fourth year of the Kraft Hockeyvillecontest. What makes this promotion important to you? A: I'm so pa sionate about hockey. I know what it's like to be growing up in a town playing in my arena, my home arena, and how much it meant to me. There are communities all over America that have the same feelings for their local arenas. And a lot of those local arenas need help. They're breaking down, they need new boards, better compre sors, new gla s, whatever the case may be. I love the fact Kraft is putting hockey first. They're showing their commitment to learning the game. It's not just me, it's not just the NHL. This is hockey at its gra s roots. This is the best way to have communities come together and work together around the best game in the world. Fans can nominate their arena and community on krafthockeyville.com until March 10. The winners receive $150,000 in arena upgrades and a chance to host an NHL preseason game. . Vin Scully Jersey
NBC isapproaching a wastershedmoment in the 2017-18 hockey season when theNHL All-Star Game and Winter Olympics clash and thenset the tone for the stretch run into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Front and center on many of Fernando Valenzuela Jersey thosebroadcasts will beJeremy Roenick, atwo-time Olympian andNHL star turned television personality. THE OLYMPIAN: Roenick, who spoke to Sporting News , took some timeaway from his48thbirthday "I'm used to the working birthday" to answer an a sortment of questions about major storylines around the NHL and the 2018 Games. POWER RANKINGS: The ever-opinionated "NHL on NBC" analyst touched on the NHL's controversial booking of Kid Rock to headline the 2018 All-Star Game, Andrew Cogliano's suspension, (two of Roenick's former teams) can rejuvenate Anthony Duclair'scareer,plus much more. Note: Some of theinterview has been edited for brevity and clarity. SPORTING NEWS: Andrew Cogliano'stwo-game suspension . Did he deserve it? JR: I hate it. I hate the call, I hate the decision, I hate the fact we have one of the coolest streaks in sports going, especially an ironman streak in a sport that is as brutally hard and physicaland demanding as hockey. I know what a profe sional and what a true gentleman Andrew Cogliano is and how he plays the game. His profe sionalism is off the charts. The way he has conducted his career he's played 830 straight games through pain, through injury, through probably other people'ssuggestions not to play because of the pride in that durability and in that streak. And he also has 281 penalty minutes in those 830 games. That tells me he's an honest player, a respectful player. I didn't even think the hit was that bad at all. We've seen millions of hits that were way worse than what Andrew Cogliano did to (Adrian) Kempe. Kempedidn't even leave the game. I question whether he had a real strong blow to the head. Whatever the determination of the decision was, I disagree with it. They took away something from him that was very important to him and to the league. Sometimes you should be able to turn a blind eye to certain things. I think a fine would have been perfectly acceptable for the actions that happened, and the NHL dropped the ball on Cogliano's decision. MORE: SN: IfCoglianounofficially sets therecord (964 games), does it hold up in your mind, even with the asterisk? JR: No. He'll keep on playing, but still, the damage is done. That's what's really sad, because that was his identity. That was his identity to himself waking up every morning getting ready to play the game. It was his identity to the guys on his team, the guys that played against him. It's going to be a totally different feeling for Andrew now coming into that locker room knowing the pride of that streak is now snapped because of somebody else's decision. Granted, they do try to protect people, and it was a penalty. But by no means do I think it was anywhere near brutal enough or violent enough to require a two-game suspension. It was really unnece sary, in my opinion. SN: What do you think about the Sharks asking players about their least favorite places to play:Fun and lighthearted, or does it put players in a bad spot? JR: I think they should do more of it, no question. If other cities take it personal, they should get thicker skin. Everybody has opinions, everybody has their favorite places and least favorite places. People are way too sensitive in this world today. It drives me crazy to think people can't speak their mind or have their own opinion without getting blasted from some dumba s who wants to argue about it or wants to tell you you're a jerk for saying it. That's what our world is all about, having our own likes, having our own dislikes, and having a conversation about stuff if you don't agree. It's sports. San Jose shouldn't like Winnipeg. They're rivals, they're competing for a Stanley Cup. They shouldn't like Nashville. It's not a knock against the people that live there. Don't take things so damn literal all the time. MORE: SN: What areyour thoughts on Anthony Duclair'stime in Arizona? Is Chicago the place he can turn thingsaround? JR: To be totally honest, he was a dog in Arizona. He was a high draft pick that came over from an Original Six team (Rangers) to a team that needed help, that needed talent and someone who is totally dedicated to working every night to make the team better. Anthony Duclaircame to (Glendale) and did nothing for the city. Not a thing.The team had to beg him to work day in and day out, to put some effort into his game. That just drives me crazy. ... Unfortunately, when you have the reputation of being a guy that doesn't want to work and has as much talent as Anthony Duclair, it's very hard to trade you when you get a bad name and a bad reputation. MORE: I hope this trade to the 'Hawks wakes him up and gives him a new sense of reality and a new sense of maybe motivation so he can use those great, God-given talents that he does have so he can become the player he thinks he is. Because he's done nothing in the NHL and he feels like he needs to be treated like a superstar. We'll see if he has that, but as of right now, I think Arizona was lucky to get rid of him and I think Chicago needs to work on his attitude and his work ethic. If he does that, he's going to be a great player in this league. (Editor's note:Duclairoften participated in and with the Coyotes.) SN: Are you a Kid Rock fan? JR: I'm a huge Kid Rock fan. I've known him (real name Robert James Ritchie) for a bunch of years now. I love his music, I know how talented he is. I've been around him when he's done impromptu performances, whether he's sitting on an airplane or standing in a bar with him in Chicago. He's without question going to totally entertain the fans at the All-Star Game because he loves music so much and he wants to make sure the performance he gives is all about the music, all about making people happy, all about making them sing and rock out. So I think it's going to be pretty special to watch. It's a great get. MORE: SN: There's some unfavorable feedback about the decision given Kid Rock's . Do you think that should factor in? JR: See, this is where I get driven crazy by people today. Why does anything have to do with politics or where he stands with politics when it comes to entertaining and singing to people at a sporting event? It drives me crazy. All these people have their panties so hung upthey can't even thinkstraight. They don't understand the performance. Entertainment has nothing to do with whether he likes (Donald) Trump or he doesn't like Hillary Clinton. Let him perform, sing his songs that have nothing to do with politics. All these people have got to stop with this narrative that's going around and the divide they're bringing to this country. It's driving me crazy. MORE: SN: Let's pick midseason awards. Who do you have for the Hart, Vezina,Calder and Adams? Hart: I have (Nikita) Kucherov. He's starting to slow down a little bit, but he's been so good. (Steven)Stamkos, Kucherov, I would put him up there. Claude Girouxis starting to find his way up there if the Flyers make the playoffs. He's been spectacular. John Tavares is going to be up there. Vezina: I think theVezinais up for grabs. I don't see really any one goaltender grabbing the spotlight and running with it. You can talk about howTuukkaRask is having a great year again after a slow start. That's probably my toughest one. ... I think Marc-Andre Fleury, if Vegas continues to play the way they are, is going to have an opportunity. (Andrei)Vasilevskiyis playing fantastic. If the Lightning finishNo. 1,Vasilevskiyis going to be on that list. Interesting options. Calder: Brock Boeser and Mathew Barzalare leading the charge. I think (Mikhail) Sergachev and (Charlie) McAvoyare toward the top, too. Adams: There's no competition. Even if Vegas goes .500 the next 40 games, they'll have the coach of the year (Gerard Gallant), the general manager of the year (George McPhee). That, to me, is without question. If you can bring an expansion team to this much dominance this early, you deserve all the accolades you can get. MORE: SN: Do you think the Golden Knights will make the playoffs? JR: I do. They're too good, they're too exciting and they have too much of a home-ice advantage to not make it in their first year. SN: What are some of your favorite Olympic stories from the 2018 U.S. roster? JR: The Bobby Butler . My buddy Teddy Donato, his son made it. I'm sure they had a pretty unbelievable family celebration. ... It's one of the best venues to watch the best athletes in the world. It's unfortunate the NHL guys aren't going to be there, but it does open up the opportunity for some of these young kids to have a taste of Olympic experience, which is phenomenal. SN: This is the fourth year of the Kraft Hockeyvillecontest. What makes this promotion important to you? A: I'm so pa sionate about hockey. I know what it's like to be growing up in a town playing in my arena, my home arena, and how much it meant to me. There are communities all over America that have the same feelings for their local arenas. And a lot of those local arenas need help. They're breaking down, they need new boards, better compre sors, new gla s, whatever the case may be. I love the fact Kraft is putting hockey first. They're showing their commitment to learning the game. It's not just me, it's not just the NHL. This is hockey at its gra s roots. This is the best way to have communities come together and work together around the best game in the world. Fans can nominate their arena and community on krafthockeyville.com until March 10. The winners receive $150,000 in arena upgrades and a chance to host an NHL preseason game. . Vin Scully Jersey