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Ask Jeremy Roenick how he's doing these days, and you usually get an "are you kidding me?" type of response.
"I'm livin' in California, on a first-place team ... life is pretty good," he says.
Except yesterday. Roenick and the Sharks were a surly lot when they arrived in Ottawa to play the Senators. If the young Sharks forgot that, Roenick would have been none too shy about reminding them.
"I think everybody should be pissed off about the game (Wednesday) night," he said, referring to San Jose's 4-1 loss in Detroit. "You've got to have a little burr. Those games are really emotional. It was a real fast game and we came up on the short end of the stick.
"Means we still have a lot of work to do."
Roenick was up to the task last night, assisting on the winner to keep the Sharks on top of the league.
They have great goaltending in Evgeni Nabokov. They have an exceptional defence, led by veterans Dan Boyle and Rob Blake. And they have a wonderful collection of forwards, spearheaded by Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi, Ryan Clowe and Joe Pavelski.
They also have their very own Grumpy Old Men.
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were the originals, in 1993. Mike Keane, Kirk Muller and John MacLean of the Dallas Stars adopted the handle in 2001. Now Roenick, 39, and Claude Lemieux, 43, can be described as the modern-day Grumpy Old Men.
'SMACKED' BACK INTO IT
The list of what these guys wouldn't do to win is short.
Lemieux, who has played more than 1,200 NHL games and in January returned to the league for the first time since 2002-03, says it didn't take long for his fire to reignite.
"You get smacked in the head a few times and it comes back fairly quickly," said Lemieux, the owner of four Cup rings who began his comeback with the Shanghai Sharks. "My first game back playing any type hockey was in China. I got run from behind, head first into the wall, probably like I've never been hit in my whole career. So it didn't take me too long to want to chase someone around the ice."
In 15 NHL games this season, Lemieux has one assist, 19 penalty minutes and a minus-3 rating. He was a healthy scratch last night.
"He makes me feel younger, absolutely. I've never felt so fast in all my life," Roenick joked of Lemieux, with whom he was teammates eight seasons ago in Phoenix. "He's been a great addition to our team. He's worked really hard, and he's got that grit. You can't buy experience and he's got so much of it."
Roenick said Lemieux is slowly regaining his old form.
"As you get older, it's harder to get that spark, that edge about you during a game," said Roenick, a former Hull Olympique who has played 1,353 NHL games during a career that will lead to the Hall of Fame. "Sometimes something has to happen for you to get it. He showed a little bit of emotion (in Detroit). He started yelling and screaming.
HE'S A PAIN; ASK HIS WIFE
"Couple of games ago he kept giving guys shots in the head after whistles -- just little things that drive you up the wall. Claude Lemieux will always be Claude Lemieux ... He is going to be a pain in the ass no matter what. Ask his wife. I'm sure he is a pain in the ass at home, too."
Returning after a five-year absence was tough for Lemieux, in more ways than one.
"It's a big test and a new role for me, not just come back and play, but fill in the fourth-line role," said Lemieux. "With all the penalties nowadays we have in the game, it's a little bit difficult to stay in the game and be effective.
"Clubs are like recipes. It takes a little bit of everything to make it successful. I'm just one of the ingredients."
Roenick says this will definitely be his last season if San Jose wins the Cup.
Asked if he thinks it's the year of the Shark, he snorted: "We better do it. I'm running out of (bleepin') time."
Spoken like a true, grumpy old man.
DON.BRENNAN@SUNMEDIA.CA