The Rick Jeanneret celebration was a banner night for the Buffalo Sabres’ television ratings as well.
The 20-minute portion of the pregame show honoring Jeanneret and raising his banner to the rafters of KeyBank Center Friday night had a rating of 5.9.
That is much higher than the 3.8 rating Sabres games have averaged so far this season. And Sabres pregame shows generally receive ratings of between less than 1 and high 1s.
A rating point in Buffalo represents 5,285 households.
The high pregame rating Friday clearly shows that armchair fans got the message that those in KeyBank Center received to be in their seats by 6:40 p.m.
The roar when Rick Jeanneret walked that blue carpet from the Zamboni entrance to take his place for Friday night's pregame ceremony was epic. And it didn't stop. We haven't heard any sort of ovation like that in KeyBank Center in ages.
The Sabres’ exciting 4-3 victory over Nashville following the ceremony averaged a 6.5 rating, which made it the highest-rated game of the season carried on MSG.
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However, it was the season’s second highest-rated Sabres game. The Sabres’ 5-2 win over Toronto in the outdoor Heritage Classic averaged an 8.1 rating locally on TNT.
(Note: The ratings are unofficial and may change to a very minor degree depending on the end times.)
The Sabres’ recent hot streak hasn’t translated into a huge viewing surge for the young and promising team featuring Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch that has made fans finally have hope for the future.
The Sabres’ 4-3 shootout win over Pittsburgh on March 23 averaged a 4.5 rating. The Sabres’ 4-3 shootout loss to Washington on March 25 had a 4.4 rating. The 6-5 comeback victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on March 28 only received a 2.9 rating.
There is no rating for the March 13 game that featured Jack Eichel’s return to Buffalo in the Sabres’ 3-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights because that game was streamed on ESPN+ and Hulu. Ratings for the streaming services aren’t available locally.
Hulu’s coverage of NHL games can be aggravating for out-of-town Sabres fans.
While I was out of town on vacation, I was watching the Sabres 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Hulu that went into overtime and then to a shootout. After the overtime and before the shootout, Hulu put up a message advising me that my event had ended. I immediately went to my iPhone to watch the shootout on ESPN+, which was carrying it.
I didn’t expect Hulu or ESPN+ to carry the Jeanneret pregame ceremony since it doesn’t carry pregame shows. But it was still disappointing that an exception wasn’t made for this event.
Fortunately, the entire moving pregame ceremony was posted on YouTube.
It is time to throw a little credit around for those involved in a top shelf production put together by people who work for the Sabres and Pegula Sports and Entertainment and deserve an Emmy Award.
The video piece about what Jeanneret has meant to the Sabres and their fans narrated by Danny Gare, the former Sabres star and broadcaster, was written by Michelle Girardi-Zumwalt.
It featured former Sabres, broadcasters and fans talking about Jeanneret’s appeal and concluded with Gare saying this memorable line about RJ. “Your name will hang on the rafters, but your voice will echo forever.”
Drew Boeing and Kelsey Barrick wrote the flow of the overall ceremony. Chrisanne Bellas worked closely on the ceremony and the timing.
Scott Balzer shot most of the video footage that was edited by Andy Quinn. Rich Jureller coordinated with most of the alumni.
Jourdon LaBarber wrote several parts of the ceremony script. The cinematographers were Nina Lindberg and Marc Davies.
Bravo to all.
