Roenick Cries for the Blackhawks: Fair or Foul?

NBC Broadcaster cries tears of joy for his former team

Former Flyer and current NBC announcer Jeremy Roenick raised some eyebrows after the Blackhawks clinched the Stanley Cup by shedding a tear for his other former team.

That’s right J.R. cried after seeing the Blackhawks raise Lord Stanley’s Cup.

“I didn’t get to do that -- it’s pretty unbelievable... I’m proud, I’m happy,” a crying J.R. said to his fellow NBC broadcasters after Game 6.

J.R.'s connection to Chicago runs deep. The Hawks drafted him in 1988 and later that season Roenick made his debut with the team. He would play eight total seasons in Chi-town making four All-Star games and helped carry Chicago to the 1992 Stanley Cup Final.

But, J.R. and his Hawks came up short. And he would never get that close again -- even during a three-year stint in Philly where the Fly Guys made the Eastern Conference Final -- to hoist the Stanley Cup.

“This is an emotional thing for me,” J.R. said postgame as he held back tears. “For the kid that was there in 1992 who was crying when I came off the ice after we lost Game 4... You waited 18 years. I hope you have a big smile on your face.”

So, the misty-eyed emotion was warranted -- a guy connected to his playing past. Or, was it.

J.R. might have spent more time during his 20-year career in Chicago than anywhere else but he toed the line all Finals of saying that he wouldn’t pick favorites.

"My heart is with NBC -- they teach me as an analyst you can’t root -- no rooting," Roenick told NBC Philadelphia's John Clark before Game 1 of the Finals. "I'm right down the middle."

"Right down the middle?" Was Roenick’s emotional outburst fair or foul?

J.R. tried to explain his outburst Thursday morning on the 610WIP Morning show.

"I would have been the same way for Philly," Roenick said. "How can people not expect being emotional either way? Do you think I'm not human?"

"If you don't like it that's too bad," he said. "I didn't root for anyone... I was totally neutral."

The Crossing Broad blog summed up why J.R. is missing the point in the eyes of many Flyers fans.

"No one is blaming him for being emotional, just don't do it in front of the faces of thousands of fans who just had their hearts ripped out."

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