NHL: March Madness Hockey Style

The playoff race is now a tooth and nail, biting and scratching battle. Forget about anything as simple as racing, it's all about down and dirty street fighting to secure those last undecided playoff berths. Teams are also not above pinching and spitting either, as long as the ref doesn't catch them. Although my Phoenix Coyotes are now officially out of the mix, it will be interesting to watch the final seedings, which are beginning to look like a high school math problem. But instead of "If A=1 and B-=4 and C=37, what is A x b - 4(c )" our math problems are more along the lines of "If Edmonton ties and LA loses and San Jose wins, then who does Colorado get in the first round?" You know, I always did hate math.

WILL HE STAY OR WILL HE GO?

No, that's not a bad cover of an old pop song, but the nagging, recurring question about the future of Jeremy Roenick with the Phoenix Coyotes. While he has repeatedly insisted to this columnist that he isn't going anywhere, news stories persist that if talks with the Coyotes are "not successful," Roenick would entertain offers from any team willing to "spend the money to win the Cup." His recent post game comments also lead one to believe that his protests to me about "not going anywhere" might not be as genuine as they seemed at the time. After all, does a player who "isn't going anywhere" comment how he feels he has earned his upcoming, unrestricted free agency status, how he expects to be "valuable" for the rest of his career, and has put himself in a position of value?

While all these statements may indeed be true, are they ones that are made by a player who is negotiating in good faith to remain with his current team, or is looking out the door to whomever is willing to pay him the most money?

There are several flaws in Roenick's reasoning, which for the most part seems to be based on potential future cash rather than his stated desire to "win a Cup," and if given the opportunity, I would like to point them out to him in person and at length. While Milbury, GM for the Islanders, has coveted Jeremy Roenick for many years, and rumor has it that the Islanders are willing to offer Roenick a sum of $5 Million more than the last offer received by the Coyotes, Mr. Milbury cannot afford him. Secondly, and most important, JR can't afford to accept an offer from Mr. Milbury. Roenick has stated repeatedly that his goal is to win a Stanley Cup, to lift that trophy over his head. And he has also stated that he is running out of time in his career to do so, and does not want to be a part of a team that is involved in a youth movement or rebuilding process. All right, then, Jeremy, let's look at this realistically, shall we? Is a youth movement/rebuilding process not what any marquee player wil be facing with any team in a position that the Islanders are in? Or the Blackhawks, or the Bruins, the other teams mentioned in the possible bidding war for Roenick this summer?

There is a faction that would like nothing better than to see Roenick return to the Windy City and once again wear the Indian head on his chest. Not THIS journalist, but they are out there. (Although with JR as a Blackhawk once again, I wouldn't have to purchase any new jerseys.) But once again, reality delivers a slapshot to the side of the head. Win a Cup on the Island before Roenick retires? No. And win one in Chicago, after one of their most abysmal seasons in recent history? Hardly.

There are a large number of potentially high priced and high profile free agents available July 1st, Roenick being one of them. Also included in this list will be big guns such as Rob Blake, Joe Sakic and others. Established teams will be looking to add to their firepower, and struggling teams want to "rebuild." The chances of Roenick going to a team such as San Jose or Colorado or St. Louis may not be as realistic as he thinks. There was a lot of of buzzing about the number of phone calls that came for Tkachuk and Juneau at the trade deadline, with very few calls coming for Roenick. Before his next speech about free agency, or his next protest about not going anywhere, these are the kinds of reality checks that he and agent Neil Abbott might want to make.

So there it is. All the talk about being willing to go to a team willing to "spend what it takes" to win the Stanley Cup is all well and good. But let's not gloss over the fact that it may be more of being willing to go to whatever team that is willing to spend what it takes to give Roenick the cash he wants, never mind the Cup. To walk away a free agent and not sign with the Coyotes, now run by Wayne Gretzy and guided by hockey brain Cliff Fletcher in what will realistically be his last best chance at a Cup run, would be a stab in the back to any legitimate Cup hopes that Roenick may have. And a definite blow to the faithful Yotes fans who believed him when he said he wasn't going anywhere.