The other 51 were commanded by Rick Jeanneret.
The man that Sabre fans simply referred to as “RJ” passed away at the age of 81 on Thursday, just a few months after having his name raised to the rafters at Keybank Center.
Jeanneret was the primary voice of Buffalo sports for a number of years, even with the recent resurgence of the Buffalo Bills. Despite the Sabres not having made the playoffs in a Big Four record-tying 12 seasons, fans always tuned into Sabre games to listen to RJ. The New York Jets have also been absent from postseason play since the 2010 AFC Championship game.
Since 2012, Buffalo fan favorite Rob Ray, dubbed “Rayzor” has been Jeanneret’s color commentator between the benches. Ray was right between head coaches Lindy Ruff and Bryan Murray during the infamous 2007 brawl between the Sabres and Ottawa Senators, in which Jeanneret could be heard advising the production team to cut Ray’s microphone for the language Ruff was using.
Over the past five seasons, Jeanneret began to reduce his seasonal workload. As his age progressed, his health naturally began to decline. Jeanneret missed the start of 2014 season, after being diagnosed in July with Stage Three throat cancer. By November, Rick Jeanneret was deemed cancer free, and back on the air.
Sabre Hall of Famer Danny Gare, who was the man that Ray replaced between the benches, told a story on Friday’s Beyond Blue and Gold podcast of describing a goal while on radio, but all Jeanneret could say was “They can’t see you,” in a childlike mocking tone. This is simply who RJ was. The hilarity was never malicious, and there are few with more hockey knowledge you would ever meet.
Longtime team equipment manager Rip Simonick stated on the same podcast Friday that “(Rick Jeanneret) notebook was right between his ears.” He knew every line and every player on every team, while everyone else had endless piles of game notes provided by the host arena’s media staff. I remember the feeling of getting game notes when I covered home games of the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Barons from 2001-05. The best feeling was only needing the notes for the opposition that night, as I knew everything I needed to know about our host club. Just imagine knowing that about thousands of players over half a century, and you still cannot fully appreciate how good Rick Jeanneret was.
RJ was originally supposed to return during the 2020-21 season, which was his silver anniversary. However, the decision was made to come back for one more campaign, albeit just 20 of Buffalo’s 82 games. Remember that this was the Covid year, where fans were finally let back into arenas at full capacity. Jeanneret knew the Sabres would not contend for a playoff spot, but he wanted to thank the fans for allowing him into our homes for one last trip around the sun.
RJ was originally supposed to return during the 2020-21 season, which was his silver anniversary. However, the decision was made to come back for one more campaign, albeit just 20 of Buffalo’s 82 games. Remember that this was the Covid year, where fans were finally let back into arenas at full capacity. Jeanneret knew the Sabres would not contend for a playoff spot, but he wanted to thank the fans for allowing him into our homes for one last trip around the sun.
Buffalo inducted Rick Jeanneret into their Hall of Fame in 2011, alongside Hockey Hall of Famer Dale “Ducky” Hawerchuk. The following year, Jeanneret was the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, which comes with automatic induction into the broadcasters section of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The same year, RJ was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was also honorably inducted into the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame, for his ability to call blow-by-blow action of in-game fights.
While not being able to call a Buffalo Stanley Cup Championship, Jeanneret was able to call the Sabres’ Finals appearances in 1975 and 1999, the latter most remembered for Brett Hull having his skate in the crease for the Cup-clinching goal of overtime in Game Six.
We cannot talk about Rick Jeanneret without remembering some of the legendary calls over the years. Whether it was Alexander Mogilny’s vapor trail, the population of (Jason) “Pomonville” going up, “May Day,” or getting the hidden cookies from the top shelf, there was always one call that any Sabre fan can point to as a favorite. Most of the time it was tough to narrow it down to three, let alone one.
For Sabres fans worldwide, we all remember the closing from his banner retirement speech.
“I only have three words…I love you.”
RJ, as a Sabres fan of more than 30 years, we thank you for everything. Rest in peace. We love you, too!
-JC24