Jeremy Roenick retired and then changed his mind this summer, agreeing to a one-year deal with San Jose to pursue his 500th goal and his first Stanley Cup championship. With the Sharks built to compete this season, winning the Cup might seem like a more realistic goal for the 37-year-old veteran.

Although Roenick began the season needing just five goals to become the 40th member of the 500-goal club, he managed to score just 11 times in 2006-07 and could spend much of the season in the press box as a healthy scratch for the talent-rich Sharks. Roenick may need the entire season to become only the third American after Mike Modano and Joe Mullen to reach the 500 plateau.

Roenick looked like the odd man out last week, at least until teammate Devon Setoguchi was unable to play with an ankle injury that kept him on the injured reserve list. The 18-year veteran didn’t put a shot on net in nearly 10 minutes of action in San Jose’s opener at Edmonton Thursday, but in Vancouver the next night, Roenick netted two goals in the first period of a 3-1 win over the Canucks.

Friday’s two tallies came exactly two years to the day after Roenick scored a pair of goals in Dallas for the Los Angeles Kings. Since that game, he had scored more than one goal in a game only once -- a hat trick he recorded on Dec. 30 against his current team as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes. If you take away those three multiple-goal games, Roenick has found the net in just 15 other games over a span of two years.

Roenick scored goals in three of his last four games last season before beating Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo twice in his second game with San Jose. He moved to within three goals of 500 for his career, but he will need to show a scoring touch to keep getting regular playing time.