In a career full of memorable calls and phrases, one of Rick Jeanneret's favorite recurring expressions following Sabres goals was “Top shelf, where Mama hides the cookies.”
But Jeanneret gives former analyst and longtime defenseman Larry Playfair an assist for creating the signature phrase.
Jeanneret said Playfair once said a player who shot up high to score went top shelf.
“I thought about a bit more about how to make it into something else, so I added the cookies,” Jeanneret said in 2018.
Playfair was the Sabres' first-round pick at No. 13 overall in 1978. He played 577 games with the Sabres before being traded with Ken Baumgartner and Sean McKenne to the Los Angeles Kings for Brian Engblom and Doug Smith in January 1986.
He played 111 games for the Kings and was traded back to the Sabres in October 1988 for a ninth-round draft pick and Robert Logan.
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Chronic back problems led to his retirement in 1990. He joined the Sabres' radio broadcast crew from 1992 to '94.
