This is a real tragedy for the NHL world. Hockey Hall of Famer and all-time great Sabres and NHL commentator Rick Jeanneret has sadly passed away at the age of 81 after just a single season of retirement.
The world of hockey will never be the same with his legendary voice now gone from it.
After a single season of retirement from his 51-year career with the Sabres and the NHL, former Buffalo Sabres play-by-play commentator Rick Jeanneret has very sadly passed away at the age of 81. And, being honest, I don’t think there’s every going to be a commentator like Rick Jeanneret again.
Now, when we talk about legendary contributors to the NHL in the commentating field, there’s a decent amount of all-time great legends most people usually think first. Mike “Doc” Emerick, Foster Hewitt, Gord Miller, Rene LeCavalier, Bob Cole, Gary Thorne, Danny Gallivan, Dan Kelly, Fred Cusick, Bill Clement, etc. are all names that come to mind when, yet one of the most legendary and recognized voices of all these names was Rick Jeanneret.
Having spent his entire 51-year career broadcasting Buffalo Sabres games from the team’s second ever season (1971-72) all the way up to the 2021-22 season, Jeanneret has made some of the most legendary, well-known calls in the 100+ year history of the NHL.
Calls like “May Day! May Day!” after Brad May’s OT and series-winning goal over the Boston Bruins in 1993, his “Call a cop he robbed Delmore BLIND!” call after Marty Biron made an incredible, last-ditch save against Andy Delmore, his “Afinogenov with a shot…SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRREEEEE” call when Maxim Afinogenov scored past Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers in overtime to give the Sabres a 3-2 series lead (which they won 4-2) in 2007, his “Where mama hides the cookies” call on every top shelf snip goal, and his most famous, “Pat La-La-La-La-La-La-LaFontaine” call whenever Sabres great Pat LaFontaine scored a goal in the 1990’s.
Though, what had to be Jeanneret’s most impressive accomplishment was how beloved and recognizable his voice became with all fans across the NHL world, not just Sabres fans and the Buffalo community.
It’s true that Jeanneret did do some national and international calls for other NHL franchises and international teams during important tournaments, such as the Stanley Cup playoffs, rivalry nights, and the Olympic games, but it is his legendary calls for the Sabres that made his raspy, energetic voice so famous from Boston to Vancouver.
Seriously, you could just play the sound of his voice to a crowd of hockey fans anywhere across North America (and probably the whole world), and I’d guarantee they’d be able to pick him out 10/10 as his voice is just that iconic.
It’s the reason why he was awarded with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, the highest honor any broadcaster in professional hockey can obtain for their work, back in 2012 (a full decade before he even retired), he was introduced into the Buffalo Sabres Ring of Honor/Hall of Fame in 2011, the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012 (that came with the Foster Hewitt award), and why he’s only one of three non-players/executives (the other two being Sabres founders Seymor Knox and Northrup Knox) to have a jersey retired in the Sabres rafters.
It’s a real shame that he never did win a Stanley Cup ring as the Sabres play-by-play man as he was able to see his beloved Sabres win 6 division titles (1975, 1980, 1981, 1997, 2007, 2010) reach five Conference Finals (1980, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007), 1 Stanley Cup Final (1999), yet they never were able to win it in the end.
And, what’s even more of a tragedy is the fact that his final 11 seasons as the play-by-play man saw the Sabres go on a torrid 11-year playoff drought that they still have yet to break.
Nevertheless, he’s simply a legend of the game and will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, Rick Jeanneret, you have more than earned it.
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