Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - "Thanks for traveling around with me on this road for the last half-century. All of you, thank you very kindly. It's been a helluva ride."
That was the chilling send off legendary Buffalo Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret gave during his final broadcast on Friday, April 29, 2022 before exiting the Ted Darling Memorial Press Box at KeyBank Center one last time. It was the ending of a historic and memorable 51-year career calling Sabres hockey games, and best of all, it came with a memorable overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Nearly 16 months later, Jeanneret passed away at the age of 81.
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I first heard the news of Jeanneret's passing last Thursday when I noticed a missed phone call from WGR Sabres beat reporter Paul Hamilton at 10:30 p.m. ET. The call was intended to inform me he was all over the news of his passing, from a website perspective. Shortly thereafter, I saw the Sabres' official social media post announcing Jeanneret's death.
The news was certainly heartbreaking. You could feel that pit in your stomach churn as you start to scroll through social media and see a number of different hockey pundits, other NHL teams, players and alumni express their condolences to the Jeanneret family and the Sabres.
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I'll admit, the news of his passing, at first, didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would. It almost felt surreal, especially since the announcement came at a later time at night. Even waking up the next morning, I continued to try and process the news as I gathered myself after waking up.
Even after listening to the likes of Martin Biron, Lindy Ruff, Kyle Okposo, Alex Tuch, Marcus Foligno, Don Granato, Kevyn Adams and others talk about their memories of Jeanneret, his legacy, and the significance he has to the Sabres organization, it still didn't fully set in for me.
Heck, I even got the chance to chat with Derek Kramer during "Sports Talk Saturday" on WGR and share my thoughts on what Jeanneret meant to hockey in Buffalo and Western New York. Yet, his passing still did not fully take effect on me.
I had grown up watching Sabres games since as long as I can remember, and the one voice that always resonated in my mind with these games was that of Jeanneret's. Even if it wasn't a Sabres game I was watching, I always envisioned how "RJ" would call the play-by-play.
I knew at some point his passing was going to hit me, one way or another. It finally did on Wednesday.
Living out in the "Hinterlands", I have a 35-minute drive to-and-from our studios in Amherst. Sometimes I simply listen to WGR on my way to work, other times I'll listen to a podcast or music.
This day, though, I elected to listen to a compilation of the best play-by-play calls over Jeanneret's career. All the classic hits: "May Day!", Rene Robert's overtime winner in the 1975 Stanley Cup Final, "LaLaLaLaLa LaFontaine!", "We are not worthy!", "Are You Ready, Legion of Doom?!", "Top shelf where Momma hides the cookies!" "Roll the Highlight Film!" and too many more to realistically name here.
Then it got to the best play-by-play calls that stick with me a little more than most. The most memorable calls from the 2005-06 and 2006-07 Sabres seasons. This included:
- Game 1 - 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Round: Brian Campbell hitting R.J. Umberger, Daniel Briere's game-winning goal in double-overtime.
- 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinal Round: Chris Drury's Game 1 overtime winner, Ryan Miller's save on Jason Spezza in Game 2, Maxim Afinogenov's third period goal in Game 3, J.P. Dumont's overtime winner in Game 3, and Jason Pominville's overtime winner in Game 5.
- 2006 Eastern Conference Final: Ales Kotalik's goal in Game 3, Briere's Game 6 overtime winner to force Game 7.
Then the finishing blow came with the 2007 Eastern Conference Semifinal Round against the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center. Game 5 with the series even at 2-2, and the Rangers leading 1-0 in the dying seconds of the third period.
The sequence of events building up to Chris Drury's game-tying goal, and the pure jubilation of Jeanneret's call will always give me those spine-tingling feelings and raise the hair on my arms.
However, this time, his call drew me to tears. It brought about that "pit of your stomach" feeling, and amplified it by 100. All of this, mind you, while still driving on my way to the office.
Maybe it wasn't my smartest decision, in the end, but it was a moment I felt I finally needed to help process the passing of a childhood idol. An icon I looked up to as I decided to pursue a career in sports broadcasting.
Jeanneret is, truly, a one-of-a-kind voice not just in the hockey world, but the entire sports broadcasting profession. His play-by-play style was absolute poetry in motion.
Not only did Jeanneret bring the passion and excitement of hockey to your ears, but he brought energy, he brought flavor, he brought charisma. Not once did the action seem to overcome Jeanneret, despite how fast the game can often get.
He was also a breath of fresh air when it came to the overall quality of a broadcast. He was never ashamed to dress up in a silly costume, or crack a joke here or there about a colleague or himself. He enjoyed every moment of the job in the broadcast booth, even when the team on the ice wasn't playing its best.
It's hard to find anything like that anywhere in the sports world, nowadays, let alone in hockey.
I was extremely fortunate enough to have a chance to meet and speak with my childhood idol last season just before his "RJ" banner was raised to the rafters at KeyBank Center. While he was certainly exhausted with the media whirlwind that was taking place at that time, there was still that beaming energy that was there, especially when we started to discuss some of the golden days of Sabres hockey.
The one thing about Jeanneret that will always stick out to me, before and during that interview, was just how humble of a person he was. While he was larger than life for many Sabres and Buffalo hockey fans, he always kept that level head and went about his business like any other day.
That was especially the case when asking him about being widely known as the "Voice of the Sabres" after 51 years of broadcasting hockey in Buffalo.
"The 'Voice of the Sabres' was Ted Darling, and as far as I'm concerned, that moniker went to the grave with him when Ted passed away [in 1996]," Jeanneret said. "I'm the Sabres' announcer, and I'm quite comfortable with that. Ted deserved it. He was the first one, and should be the only one."
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Growing up, my dad talked about how much he loved listening to Rick Jeanneret, even when he was just a kid. He also talked about how great Ted Darling was on the TV side of things for Sabres games. Legends of Buffalo broadcasting that are incredibly hard to think about replacing.
Now as the younger generations grow and come to love the Sabres and the game of hockey, it will be people clamoring about how great Jeanneret was, and how much they loved listening to his call on the TV and radio. His voice will forever resonate for generations of Sabres fans past, present, and certainly future.
I will add, the Sabres picked another great voice and human being to fill the airwaves during broadcasts in Dan Dunleavy. The job might have been big shoes to fill, but Dunleavy has taken the job in stride and is thriving well.
Could Jeanneret have gone on to bigger and better places as a voice of the hockey world? No doubt about it. He easily could have become a Mike "Doc" Emrick or a Bob Cole, legends in their own right to many hockey fans in the U.S. and Canada.
However, as Jeanneret famously said during his induction into the Sabres Hall of Fame in 2011 - alongside the late Dale Hawerchuk - "This is the only job I ever wanted, and this is the only place I ever wanted to be."
Buffalo was extremely lucky to have a presence such as yours, Rick. Thank you for all the memories.
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