I Miss the Old Jeremy Roenick...

You know... the one who had his jaw wired shut circa April, 1999.
He was certainly less talkative in those days... for a short period of time, at least.

Jeremy Roenick recently chimed in on the James Neal suspension, echoing the recent comments of the victim Derek Dorsett.

''If Neal would have done this 20 years ago, he would have been blackballed from the league,'' said Roenick. ''If you're going to get challenged, then drop your gloves and go to it - fight, but don't come back later on and then give a cheap shot to a guy who has already challenged you.

''To me, that's kind of gutless and I'm sure a lot of guys in the league think that's gutless also.''

Makes me chuckle a little, because Roenick was always known around the league for big talk on situations like this (and everything else)... yet he played a game that was very "on the edge" himself. Just ask Modano how much Roenick respected the health of the guys he played against... Thankfully TSN isn't as ubiquotous in Texas as it is in Canada, because I don't think I'd be able to stand listening to his "Oh, JR!" segments very often. (Seriously... it's hard enough to take JR seriously. They couldn't come up with a more serious name for his segment? It's like he's asking for people to take everything he says as a throw-away comment. Probably for the best, but then again, what's the point?)

My take on the whole situation is this... Roenick is an idiot. Always has been. Dorsett is a cry baby. Not sure if he always has been, because he's mostly famous for getting hurt by Neal. James Neal wasn't trying to hurt Dorsett. Injuries are an unfortunate part of hockey. So are suspensions. It isn't really any of Roenick's business, and if Dorsett doesn't feel the suspension was a stiff enough penalty, the Jackets come back to Dallas on December 23rd. He can handle it then. I'll give Dorsett a free pass though, since he DOES currently have a brain injury. It's okay for him to make dumb statements... what's Roenick's excuse?

James Neal isn't a dirty player, so it's unfortunate that Roenick and Dorsett feel the need to drag his name through the mud. At least Stars fans know and love "Sweet Baby James" for the player and person that he is... even if Blue Jackets fans disagree.