Blackhawks center Jeremy Roenick has fans wherever he goes.
He has an uncle, his mom`s brother, who lives down the street from the Wembley Ice Rink. So this is by no means his initial trip to London.
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”I love it here,” he said.
A London radio station already has him doing short promotions Wednesday for the weekend preseason games with Montreal.
But Roenick wasn`t running around town Wednesday night. He was going slowly, proving that even a 22-year-old needs a little time to train into shape.
”That first skate Tuesday before we left Chicago,” he said with a shake of his head. ”We are all pretty sore right now.”
Coach Darryl Sutter will get them up bright and early Thursday for a two- hour session that starts at 8 a.m. That`s 2 a.m. Chicago time, so it will be intriguing to see how they respond.
– The Hawks and Canadiens aren`t staying at one of the more attractive hotels in town. They are a half-hour outside London and the hotel leaves a lot to be desired. Which explains why General Manager Mike Keenan, club owner Bill Wirtz and senior vice president Bob Pulford opted to stay in a better hotel in the heart of London.
– The biggest difficulty for Hawks so far has been to accept the exchange rate. They are getting only one pound back for every $2.22 they convert. A number of them left the breakfast room complaining the bills for them and their wives were the equivalent of $40 to $60.