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"No way." That was all I could say when I heard the Roenick news Tuesday morning. I couldn't have been more surprised if I heard Adam Graves was coming out of retirement to back up Nabokov. I couldn't have been more surprised if I woke to find bacon stapled to my face. Like most people, I thought Roenick was retired, but it's a great thing for hockey and the Sharks that he's sticking around.

“My motivation is to win a Cup," he said, "to try to gain my respectability as a hockey player back and to give the San Jose Sharks every ounce of Jeremy Roenick that I have in me.”

Several questions immediately spring to mind. Can he skate? How productive can he be? Where's he going to line up? Who will he play with? What does he have left in the tank? I think the best thing about JR, the thing that truly sets him apart from other players, is his outright honesty about himself and the game. You hear things from Roenick nobody else would ever say.

I remember an interview he gave when he was playing for the Flyers. He said all hockey players were overpaid, and of course in the next sentence he admitted he was one of them because his numbers weren't as good as they should have been. I remember the summer after the 2005-06 season he spent with the Kings, he admitted he didn't feel comfortable on his skates and he'd been scared on the ice at times. It wasn't the common clichés or canned answers most players give you, but it was genuine.

There were a few moments like that Tuesday afternoon, when JR admitted he wouldn't be playing at all if it wasn't for a contender, or openly saying he was losing the desire to play but felt he could keep the adrenaline going all season with the Sharks. Sure it sets off a few little alarm bells, but you have to appreciate that honesty, and JR has something to prove. Like any player, he wants to win the Cup and the Sharks will have a better shot with him in the lineup. Also, who can forget one of the greatest lines in movie history:

"It's not even me so much as it's Roenick. He's good."

He's not the same player he once was, but he'll still take a hoof in the face to score and he doesn't back down from anything, strapping them on and taking the ice with a titanium jaw and scars dating back to the days when Campbell played Wales at the All-Star Game. I think he's still got a lot left in the tank, playing a supporting role on the third or fourth line and seeing some time on the power play. It will be very interesting to see him on the ice at training camp and see how he fits in with the Sharks.

"I've played eight or nine minutes before," he said, "and I'll take whatever role they give me, but I'm going to play my ass off to try to make them give me as much as ice time as I can get."

Roenick is going to be 38 in January, and he's a little rough around the edges, but for $500K it's another good move by Doug Wilson, bringing in an experienced player who can inject the room with some energy and light a fire under people. If there's anything the Sharks need it's a little swagger. I think JR provides that and adds to the fun we're going to see in San Jose this season.

rgarner@thnewsnet.com