BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rick Jeanneret, the Buffalo Sabres' beloved play-by-play announcer for 51 seasons, died on Thursday night. He was 81.
"It is with extreme sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother, Rick Jeanneret, Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Buffalo Sabres. Rick died on August 17, 2023 with his family by his side after a two year battle with multi-organ failures.
"He will be loved forever."
Sabres owner Terry Pegula also issued a statement.
"Rick was indeed a very special and very loved man, to and by all, who knew him and listened to him, his magic, and his command," he said. "How glad I am to have known him. How lucky were we all to have been around him and to have listened to him.
"Rick Jeanneret's mark on Sabres history extends far beyond the broadcast booth and we will miss him dearly. I extend my deepest condolences to Sandra, Rick's family, friends, and all that were loved by him."
Jeanneret called his last game for the Sabres on April 29, 2022, when the Sabres rallied for a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at KeyBank Center.
Jeanneret was so unique and so special during a 51-year run calling Sabres games. He was the longest tenured broadcaster with a single team in the history of the National Hockey League.
“Anything that came out of these lips has been pretty natural. I very seldom think ahead of time … in terms of the number of calls that I’ve had that they call famous or infamous. That’s me. You take me as what I am,” Jeanneret said.
Genuine. Authentic.
It’s rare that you find a broadcaster whose voice and calls are associated with the great moments in the history of a franchise, as much if not more, than the players actually involved.
That has been the case from "La-la-la-la-LaFontaine," to "Mayday," to "Top shelf where momma hides the cookies," to "Scary Good" and so much more.
“I just went with the flow,” RJ said with a shrug.
It’s a career and an approach that started in 1963, when at the last moment, Jeanneret was asked to call a Niagara Falls Flyers junior game because the play-by-play man at the time had gone home sick. After a brief run with the AHL Bisons, he joined the Sabres in 1971, and he was with the team ever since.
In 2012, Jeanneret received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame, the highest honor for members of the media.
He did it all, and called it all, with the exception of the Sabres winning a Stanley Cup.
“You know what? An awful lot of players have never won a Stanley Cup either, a lot more than me, but there’s a void there. Yeah … and I wish that it had been filled … but it wasn’t,” he said.
Jeanneret called both of the Sabres’ trips to the finals, in 1975 and in 1999.
He’s first to point out that more than filling any void has been his relationship with Buffalo and its fans. He points to the support he received as he successfully fought throat cancer in 2014.
It’s a relationship that was celebrated on April 1, when the Sabres hung a banner in the rafters of KeyBank Center, along with other retired numbers in Jeanneret’s honor.
“I have three words … just three,” Jeanneret said during his speech to a sellout crowd that night. “I love you.”