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Roenick closing in on 500 goals as Sharks meet Avalanche

Oct 7, 2007 - 2:01 PM San Jose (1-0-1) at Colorado (1-1-0) 7:00 pm EDT

DENVER (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks seem pleased that Jeremy Roenick decided not to retire.

Roenick will look to move closer to the 500-goal milestone when the Sharks visit the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.

The 37-year-old Roenick scored two goals as the Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, on Friday night.

Roenick, who looked to be on his way to the broadcast booth three months ago, is now just three tallies shy of 500 for his career. The 18-year veteran is looking to join Mike Modano (507) and Joe Mullen (502) as the only American-born players to reach the plateau.

"Every goal is an exciting one now," Roenick said. "You do inch closer to the milestone, but more importantly, it's doing the things this team needs me to do. It's going out there and helping them win."

The nine-time All-Star has accumilated 1,172 points over 1,254 games in his career.

Roenick and the rest of San Jose's potent offensive attack will be going up against a Colorado team, which has question marks in the crease. Starting netminder Peter Budaj was pulled early in the third period of Thursday's 4-0 setback to the Nashville Predators.

Tyler Weiman is the backup until Jose Theodore comes back. Theodore is with Lake Erie of the American Hockey League, rehabing his surgically repaired knee.