© Bill Smith/NHLI

Denis Savard was about 10 years into his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks when Jeremy Roenick arrived, and the two were teammates from 1988-90 and again from 1994-96. Savard also faced Roenick many times in his career before retiring after the 1996-97 season. The forward, who won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 13, 2000.

Here, Savard shares his thoughts on Roenick, who will be inducted into the Hall on Monday.

It’s been a long time waiting for this, but Jeremy Roenick had a career that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I mean, he played 20 years and nearly 1,400 games (1,363). He’s been in many, many All-Star games, 500-plus goals (513) and had two 50-goal seasons.

When the United States won the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, obviously that really sparked its hockey growth, big time. Then you look at the U.S. a few years later and now you have Mike Modano, you have Joe Mullen, you have Jeremy, and they were a huge part of the continued growth of U.S. hockey.

I do remember Jeremy as a young man when he came into Chicago. He was something else; he played very, very hard. He had no fear, zero, zero fear is what I remember from him. In his first season in Chicago, he got his teeth knocked out against the St. Louis Blues in the last game of the Norris Division Finals and never missed a shift. That’s Jeremy. I mean, that’s all he was and that’s how he’s always played the game. He played hard and at a high level.

When Hockey Hall of Fame Chair of the Board Lanny MacDonald and Chair Mike Gartner called Jeremy to tell him he was inducted, I heard his reaction. He broke down. He was pretty choked up about it. I’ve been there and it’s a [heck] of an honor. As a young boy, if you end up playing in the NHL, that would be great. That’s one thing you’d love to do. Then you achieve things that you never knew you could achieve and all that good stuff, and then you get the call. I remember mine in 2000. It was in July, and I remember exactly where I was at. It’s pretty special and I’m happy for him.

We all know about J.R.’s personality. He’s an outgoing person. He’s very loved, I know that for a fact. He still does a lot of charity events at times, and I get to see him. J.R. was J.R. and I always say this: Whenever you come to the League, certain things have to change sometimes, but you have to be the person you are. That’s what drove him to be the player he was. He liked to have fun but at the end of the day, it’s the result that you give on the ice.

Jeremy had energy. He wasn’t a fighter, we all know that, but he put his team into a fight if there was no energy. He would do that by hitting someone, causing a little bit of havoc with the other team. Those are the types of players who are so important on a team. If there’s nothing going on, somebody has to create some energy. That’s what he represented in the years I played with him and throughout his career. When he moved onto other places, he was still that type of guy, for sure.

Of course, it was no fun to play against him because not only was he skilled and he was fast, if you had your head down, he would hit you. There’s no doubt he would take a piece of you, and that’s tough to do. Being gritty with skill, there aren’t too many players that have been around that are that way, but he was a character and still is. I got to see him about a month-and-a-half ago. In the old days I used to be able to play golf with him and stay with him, played him pretty close. That’s no longer the case. Not only was he a good hockey player, but he’s a heck of golfer, too.

I’ll definitely be there for his induction in Toronto. I wouldn’t miss it. It’s been a long time waiting and so I’m excited for him. He’ll realize it when he’s there that day. He’s going to have a lot of nervousness and even though he’s a great speaker, it’s different. When you walk into that room for the induction, it’s pretty impressive, but I think he’ll do very well.