Spunky Roenick mulls retirement

GLENDALE, Ariz. – He's a little older, his career is on the brink of ending, and when he's not a healthy scratch, he's a fourth-line center, but other than that Jeremy Roenick hasn't changed at all.

He's still upbeat, still smiling and still the life of his locker room.

"Yeah, I don't have the mirror ball here," Roenick said while chatting with Flyers equipment manager Harry Bricker. "But I still dance around and sing. The guys here, especially the young guys, they look at me like, 'That guy is nuts.' "

The impression is understandable, but they would be wrong. At 37, Roenick is one of the best American-born players still in the game.

He has played in Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles and, for 3 years, with the Flyers. He has been a lot of things, but nuts was never one of them.

He is at the point of his career when he could go either way. After the season, he will sit back and see if a team wants him, but he won't seek one out.

"I'm really tired right now, really tired, and my mind is scrambled," Roenick said. "I'm going to step back and evaluate what I want to do and where I want to go.

"If someone calls and it's the right situation for me and I get that desire over the summer, I would come back and play. But I'm not going looking for a job, for sure."

That's not surprising. Roenick has a flair for the dramatic, but his drive to play has always been there. He's played in a lot of big games, been to the finals, won an Olympic silver medal in 2002, and is close to scoring 500 goals.

"There are a few things that would pull me back," he said. "That would be one of them. I need only nine more. To do that this year I would need a really long stick, one that could reach the ice from the press box."

Roenick has not seen a lot of action lately. In fact, he only gets in the lineup when there is an injury. He really wanted to play last night against the Flyers and he got the chance. He entered with 20 points in 59 games.

"I'm excited because I get to play against Philly and be on TV back there," he said. "I still have a lot of friends back there that I still talk to, and playing tonight is special because it's probably the last time I'll play against them.

"This is a game I wanted to play coming down the stretch, but I'm tired and I'm waiting for the season to be over. It's been a long one, finishing a career, playing, not playing, and playing with a team where you can't better yourself, and it's tough to make a team better.

"It's a tough way to end a career."

Simon Gagne is expected back on the ice today, skating with the Phantoms in the hope of returning to the Flyers Thursday night against Atlanta at the Wachovia Center.

Gagne thought he suffered a left groin strain Saturday afternoon during the first period of the win over Boston. Gagne scored the first goal, felt a twinge and left the game.

Trainer Jim McCrossin said it was a left hip-flexor strain. That was confirmed yesterday when Gagne had an MRI exam that showed he does not have a groin tear.

Gagne said he felt better after having the MRI and hearing that nothing is wrong.

"That's the reason we took the MRI," he said. "Not just to see if something is wrong, but for my mind. When I go out there, I'm not going to be scared to push on it. Or if I feel something, it's nothing wrong with a torn muscle." *