It had been a long time coming since Hershey Bears forward Garrett Roe last lit the goal lamp in the American Hockey League.
3,898 days between goals, in fact.
That's not a criticism of Roe's offensive gifts, but merely the reality of him having spent the previous 10 seasons playing overseas in some of Europe's top professional leagues after last finding the net in North America as a member of the Adirondack Phantoms against the Binghamton Senators - two teams, we might add that no longer exist.
Feel old yet?
At 35 years old, one might confuse Roe for being the grizzled graybeard, but the journeyman with 555 professional games under his belt turned in an offensive performance one would ordinarily expect of his 25-year-old teammates on Saturday night, putting up three goals and an assist in Hershey's 7-1 romp over the Laval Rocket.
Perhaps this is just what the experienced forward has been capable of all along, if given the opportunity, after previously finding himself sitting in the press box at the start of the season, due to Hershey's abundance of veterans on the roster and an AHL limitation on the number of vets who are allowed to dress each game, with an emphasis on development of younger prospects.
"At the start of the year we had the veteran issue. NHL-contracted guys getting precedence over AHL-contracted guys. So Roesy was the odd-man out, but then [Washington] called [Nic] Aube-Kubel back up, and it opened up a slot for him," Bears head coach Todd Nelson said. "He's been a great pro and I'm happy for him, and it was nice to see him produce tonight."
But Roe's first goal - make that three goals, as in hat trick (the first of his pro career, by the way) - as a Bear, along with an assist for his first-ever four-point game in the AHL, was made all the more special by having his wife and children on hand at GIANT Center to witness the achievement. It's been well-documented by this point how important family is to the Vienna, Virginia native, who chose to return to North America this season following the loss of his mother Julie to cancer.
"It's just a heartwarming, full-circle thing. I remember when I was younger in my career, you'd see guys with the kids in the locker room and just those are kind of the best memories," Roe said after Saturday's win. "It's kind of a close space where once you're in there - it's a warm circle that's hard to replicate. So just to have my family around, be close to home, and kind of have my kids be able to share some of these things and see some of the guys and get fist-bumps and high-fives. It's a really hard way to describe it, but there's no better feeling."
Roe had come close before throughout his career, but never had managed to turn the trick. But the achievement will give him an opportunity to crack a few jokes with his father, Larry.
"That was my first one, actually. There had been a couple times in college, two goals a lot, a few times in pro, but never was able to get to the third one," Roe said. "It's been a kind of a running joke between me and my father for my whole career. I haven't checked my phone yet, but it'll be nice to stick it on the horn with him and kind of give it back to him though."
Nelson has liked what he's seen out of Roe's game.
"Right now he's getting an opportunity on the power play, that's the first thing. We all knew he could do things offensively, but in previous games we had him with some young players and his role has been to help them along and teach them to play a good 200-foot game," Nelson said. "We knew he had offense in him, but it was one of those nights where it was feeling good for him. The last goal, we threw out Limoges and Garrett because they both had two goals, and it worked out that Limoges set up Roesy for the hat trick.
"I think he was just feeling it, he's playing on a line with Lapierre and Trineyev, and they seem to complement each other quite well. Trineyev does a lot of heavy lifting, Lappy has speed and creativity. It's a combination of things - sometimes a person has a night where everything bounces their way."
Roe feels he's adjusted to his role here in Hershey.
"I have a pretty good energy for a guy my age, and I think if you ask most guys, they'll say the same thing. But obviously it is a developmental league and my job is to help those [younger] guys. That's my first job," he said. "I might have had a couple goals tonight, but I'm not going to lose sight of my main role and what the coaches are asking me to do. It's a great night. I can kind of have this one for me tonight, but I'm still working with these guys and still trying to just be another cog in the wheel."
Last night's win pushed the Bears to 21 wins through its first 27 games of the season - at this point, the most wins earned by the team through its first 27 games in the 86-year history of the club. But the coaching staff for the Bears was very clear in the locker room following Saturday's win against Laval of what awaits them Sunday evening, with a formidable division opponent in Springfield coming to town for the first time this season. Hershey is hoping to avoid a repeat of last weekend, when a 6-0 blowout win on Saturday against Cleveland was followed up by a 3-1 defeat on Sunday to Charlotte.
It's something Roe is cognizant of.
"We just have a lot of depth, a lot of guys that know each other, care for each other, care about winning, are competitive," Roe said. "We've got good coaches, they treat us very well. When you have all those things underneath the hood, it's gonna be a pretty fast car.
"There's still a lot of season left, so when you lose a game, it's how you bounce back and we try to string some games together and just keep it, keep it moving along. But last weekend we weren't really happy with the two losses, so to be able to just kind of jump back after coming back [against Providence on Wednesday], then tonight, we push forward [Sunday] and tomorrow's a new day."
Written by Jesse Liebman, Bears Media Specialist
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