NHL PLAYOFFS : Blackhawks’ Roenick Will Return Tonight

The wait is over for Jeremy Roenick. It’s time to play hockey.

Out since injuring his knee on April 2, the Chicago Blackhawks’ best player and emotional leader will return tonight against the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL’s Western Conference semifinals. Chicago won Sunday’s series opener, 2-1, in overtime.

“I expect my best,” Roenick said Monday. “God knows I’m not going to be the most dominant player. But I expect to make good plays.”

Roenick, an all-star center and the only player in Blackhawk history with three consecutive 100-point seasons, will be used mainly at left wing. His linemates will be center Denis Savard and right wing Tony Amonte.

“Playing wing will take some of the focus and pressure off him,” Amonte said. “It’s a big deal for me, playing with two of the top centers in the game.”

The big deal for Roenick is that he’ll be playing at all.

“The way I felt a month ago, it’s . . . a miracle that I’m playing now,” he said. “I’m fortunate and thrilled.”

After colliding with Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars, Roenick was told he might not even be back by the start of next season. But after undergoing tests, tests and more tests, it finally was determined that he had neither ligament nor cartilage damage to his left knee and that he might be able to return during the playoffs.

Then the soap opera began.

Roenick’s timetable kept getting pushed up and moved back. His agent, Neil Abbott, said he wouldn’t let Roenick play for fear of further injury. Team officials--and even some of Roenick’s teammates--thought Abbott was holding his client back in a bid for a renegotiated contract. Blackhawk General Manager Bob Pulford even fined Roenick for missing a few rehabilitation assignments.

Finally, Roenick felt ready and got clearance to play from a team doctor and his own physician.

He dismissed all the contract-related innuendo as “garbage.”

“I never worried about it because I knew in my mind that I wasn’t doing it,” said Roenick, who’ll wear a light brace on his knee. “I give my heart and soul to every guy on this team and I expect the same thing back.”

He certainly has the Canucks’ respect.

“Roenick has the heart of a lion,” said Gino Odjick, the rough Vancouver forward who is coming off a two-game suspension for trying to fight the entire St. Louis team in an opening-round game.

“He can play any style. He’s tough. He’ll hit you and you can hit him. He doesn’t shy away from contact. He’s the kind of player any team would want.”