My first thought when hearing Thursday night about the death of the Buffalo Sabres legendary play-by-play voice Rick Jeanneret was what a shame it is that he won’t see the National Hockey League team finally end its playoff drought.
Jeanneret was the ultimate Sabres optimist. Before the first 11 years of the current 12-year drought, he predicted in preseason interviews that the team would be fighting for a playoff berth.
Rick Jeanneret, the legendary play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Sabres who became one of the franchise's biggest icons over his 51-year career behind the microphone, died Thursday night, the Sabres announced.
My second thought when hearing about his death: How will the Sabres organization honor the man who was behind the microphone for a record 51 seasons?
A patch on the team’s uniforms with the letters RJ would be a no-brainer. The Sabres need to do more than that. There probably would be no better way than to make the playoffs in his memory.
Jeanneret’s place in the hearts of Western New York was illustrated Thursday night when two of the three local news stations led their 11 p.m. newscasts with the “breaking news” that Jeanneret had died from what his family called multi-organ failure.
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Rick Jeanneret saw or called most of the biggest moments in Buffalo Sabres history, and in 2019, he shared some of his most memorable moments with The Buffalo News.
It was more like heartbreaking news for those who loved Jeanneret, 81.
Only WKBW-TV (Channel 7) failed to lead with news of Jeanneret’s death. That was either because its 11 p.m. newscast was prerecorded or because of bad news judgment. Since WKBW generally has good news judgment, I’m assuming it was prerecorded.
WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) sports director Adam Benigni found the perfect words in his commentary, saying “so many of (Jeanneret’s) words will echo for generations.”
WIVB-TV’s (Channel 4) cold open of the newscast was Jeanneret’s memorable April 24, 1993, call of “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” after Brad May scored the overtime goal that gave the Sabres a four-game playoff series sweep of the Boston Bruins. Then, Channel 4 anchor Don Postles said the station would have more about Jeanneret’s death Friday, which illustrated that Jeanneret’s death caught everyone by surprise.
Every Sabres fan undoubtedly has their own favorite Jeanneret call .
Jeanneret once told me he didn’t have a favorite because if he did, it would “sway the voting.”
The “Mayday!” call was my favorite of his signature lines for a personal reason. I was in the hospital waiting for the birth of my now 30-year-old son, Max, when I heard someone in the maternity ward scream at the exact time May scored. I assumed it was because of the excitement in Jeanneret’s call, but was later told the woman just had delivered her baby.
Jeanneret didn’t make every big goal as exciting as the birth of a child, but, at times, he came close.
He had a style all of his own. And he went out of the booth in style.
There was a series of first and “lasts” for Jeanneret in the 2021-22 season.
The Western New York community and the hockey world took to social media late Thursday night to mourn the passing of iconic Buffalo Sabres announcer Rick Jeanneret. Here is a sampling of early reaction.
For me, there was a last interview. I had done several interviews with Jeanneret over a half century.
One moved me to tears. It was during the conversation in which he announced in 2014 that he was battling stage 3 throat cancer. I don’t cry often during interviews. I was honored that he trusted me with the story.
My last interview with Jeanneret was more of a celebration at Chef’s restaurant as he was winding down his career at the end of the 2022 season.
It took him some time to exit Chef’s. Patrons congratulated him and asked him to pose for cell phone pictures. A woman asking for a picture said she tried to see him at one of the Wegmans recent meet and greets, but the line and wait was too long. She told him that things will never be the same without him at the microphone. He heard that a lot, and modestly dismissed the idea.
In the interview, he also modestly called a widespread premise that the night his banner was raised to the rafters of KeyBank Center that ended with a Sabres’ 4-3 victory over a strong Nashville team might go down in history as the start of the team’s revival as “a little too complimentary.”
Former Buffalo Sabres play-by-play announcer calls out Ryan Miller's name one more time at the No. 30 retirement ceremony.
Although he didn’t have a favorite call, he did have a most memorable game.
It was the Sabres’ Game 7 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals of the NHL playoffs in 2006 when Buffalo’s defense was depleted by injury and illness. After that loss, Jeanneret did something he never does – he went into the locker room.
“I went to the dressing room and shook hands with every player,” recalled Jeanneret. “I got to the end of the line and Ryan Miller was there. And I looked at him and he looked at me, and we both started crying.”
A few days after that last interview and three weeks after Banner Night, the Sabres honored Jeanneret with a “RJ’s Last Call” promotion that led to a sold-out crowd and terrific TV ratings.
At the end of that final telecast, Jeanneret told viewers he didn’t want his last call “to sound like a eulogy. It's more of a celebration really … 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.”
The eulogies and tributes from players, coaches, owners, the media and fans started Thursday night and will continue for days.
But as heartbreaking as his death is, Jeanneret left the world with something as priceless as his “MayDay!” call.
From Banner Night to the Last Call and every interaction at a restaurant or grocery store, Rick Jeanneret knew how much Western New York loved him.
