Jeremy Roenick was getting a coffee when he got the call he once hoped for but some time ago stopped expecting when the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee meets typically in late June.
Tears welled up in his eyes and then down his face as he was rendered unable to pay, to hold the cup or to speak. It was to him an embarrassing but also a wonderful moment to get the word that he’ll be inducted into the hall this November.
“I still can’t believe it,” Roenick said. “I’m sitting here in shock. I’m shaking. I’m sweating. … This means the world to me.”
His lengthy wait is over after more than a decade, as Roenick was unveiled Tuesday as part of the seven-member class of 2024, the first to include two women’s players since 2010. It’s the first class with two U.S. women’s players in the hall’s history: Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl.
“Hopefully this is a regular occurrence from here on out,” Darwitz said. “There’s so many players of our generation and past generations that have paved the way to get women’s hockey to be where it is today, so hopefully we’re the starting line of that happening every single year, that two female hockey players can get into the Hall of Fame.”