Rönik, Jeremy

A huge contribution to the formation of Roenik as a professional hockey player was made by his parents, who closely followed his every move on the ice in childhood. When Jeremy was 13, the Ryönikov family lived in Fairfax , and parents paid their son a plane ticket once a week so that he could play for one of the leading US children's teams New Jersey Rockets , and drove to New Jersey by car. As part of the Rockets, Jeremy twice won the United States Children's Championship ^[1] .

Ryönick made his debut in the NHL in the form of the Chicago Blackhawks club drafting it on October 6, 1988 in a match against the New York Rangers . He defended the colors of the Black Hawks for eight seasons, until in August 1996 he was exchanged at Phoenix Coyotes for Alexei Zhamnov and Craig Mills . Since the 27th number that Jeremy wore in Chicago was already occupied by Teppo Numminen (subsequently this number was forever assigned to the Finns), Renik chose number 97 for himself , thus becoming the first hockey player in the history of the NHL to play under that number.

In July 2001, after the contract with Phoenix expired, Ryönick entered into an agreement with the Philadelphia Flyers . According to the results of the first season, as part of the Pilots, he received the prestigious intra-club prize Bobby Clarke Trophy , awarded to the best player of the team of the season. With 67 points, Ryönik became the team's top scorer. January 30, 2002 Jeremy scored his 1000th point in the NHL.

On February 12, 2004, in a match against the New York Rangers, the puck after an accidental click of the New York defender Boris Mironov hit Ryonik in the face. The power of this throw broke Jeremy's jaw in 19 places, for several minutes he lost consciousness and lay on ice in a pool of his own blood. This was the ninth concussion received by Reunik during his performances in the NHL; information appeared in the press that he could end his career. However, the recovery process did not take so much time and shortly before the end of the regular season, the 34-year-old striker returned to duty. In the spring of 2004, Philadelphia made it to the playoffs quite successfully, losing only to the future Stanley Cup winner Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals. Rönik made a significant contribution to this campaign, gaining 13 points in 18 fights.

Throughout his career, Ryoникnik was revered by fans for his constant desire to maintain contact and friendship with them. Jeremy never refused fans autographs , and was even always ready to exchange a few words with strangers who recognized him as a famous hockey player and approached him on the street. Ryoникnik knew what it was like to be a hockey fan. In an interview, he recalled that as a child he often went to the Hartford Whalers matches, and once, during a break in one of the games, hockey legend Gordy Howe scooped up snow from the ice of the players ’skates on the stick of the club, drove up to the side and poured this snow right to him on the head. After that, Howe rode around the arena for a long time in circles, a couple of times glancing at young Jeremy and winking at him. The little insignificant action of the famous player made a lasting impression on the seven-year-old boy, and later becoming a professional hockey player he himself tried to do something like this as often as possible ^[2] .

• Silver medalist of the 2002 Olympic Games as part of the US team.
• Finalist of the Canada Cup 1991 in the US team.
• Member of the 1991 Canadian Cup National Team
• Top scorer of the 1989 World Youth Championship
• Nine times participated in the NHL All-Star Game.

Club career

• List of NHL hockey players who played 1000 or more matches
• List of NHL Hockey Players with 1000 or More Points

International Competitions

• Jeremy Rönik - profile on the NHL website
• Jeremy Rönik - statistics on Eliteprospects.com
• Profile on sports.ru