Remembering RJ
In the early hours of Friday morning. At one AM to be exact, I checked the notifications on my phone. There was a news update from The Athletic that said legendary Buffalo Sabres announcer Rick Jeanneret, RJ as the fans knew him, had passed away.
My heart sank. Rick Jeanneret was practically my hero growing up. I loved sports as a kid but I was a nerd back before nerds started also being ripped and athletic. I honestly grew up wanting to do what he did. The ability to call the games of my favorite hockey team and be the voice that made moments live in history sounded like the epitome of the phrase “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I grew up dreaming that one day RJ would pass down the headset to me.
The Sabres joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1970. RJ began working for the organization the next year and would spend the next five decades with them until his retirement in 2022. He started as an announcer on their radio broadcast, and in ‘95 he made the move to television. In ‘97 the Sabres went to a simulcast with Jeanneret essentially calling both. His voice was unique, just like some of the iconic phrases and calls he’ll be remembered for. It was high pitched, almost shaky but not unsteady, in a way that made his calls reverberate. His energy was steady when calling the typical back-and-forth beats of a hockey game and then he would spring to life with a burst of energy to call a big moment. He had that ability to give you goosebumps and get you so hyped up you were ready to run through a wall. Being with the same team and in the same city for so long, Jeanneret had a genuine connection that came through the broadcast.
In RJ’s final season, the 2021-2022 season, the Sabres held “RJ Night” on April 4th during a home game against the Nashville Predators. Prior to puck drop a ceremony was held on the ice to honor Jeanneret’s career as his name was put up into the rafters at KeyBank Center. Buffalo would hang on to win the game 4-3. After the final horn sounded, longtime fan and Sabres forward, Alex Tuch, would escort RJ onto the ice in an emotional scene. The fans stayed in the arena to cheer as the team saluted the longest-tenured member of the Sabres organization. However, this was not RJ’s final game on the headset. Buffalo would finish their season on April 29th at home against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. After three periods the game was tied 2-2 and headed to OT. Two minutes and seven seconds into overtime Casey Middlestat would score the game-winner for the Sabres. It almost seemed like it had to have been scripted that RJ’s final call would be an overtime winner. To add to the emotions of the moment, after the game, Jeanneret would give a heartfelt goodbye as he signed off a Buffalo Sabres game broadcast for the final time. It was something that makes me emotional when I hear it to this day. There are many things you could look back on in that ‘21-’22 season, the end of the Eichel drama, the arrival of Tuch, Dahlin getting his groove back, or Tage Thompson having his breakout season, but, the most important thing will always be RJ’s retirement and those two games.
It’s no secret that life as a Buffalo Sabres fan has not been easy for the last decade. We’ve been through poor GMs, bad coaches (or the worst coaches ever in the case of Ralph Krueger), a tank for a superstar that blew up in our face, and maintaining the league’s longest active playoff drought. These tough times had an effect on the fan base. Many became overly cynical and pessimistic. A city once known as one of the greatest hockey towns in the world was filled with discontent. However, the cloud over this city’s hockey fans has been lifted in the past couple of years. Obviously, there are the reasons that show up on paper, Kevyn Adams has done well as GM, Donnie Meatballs is the best coach we’ve probably had since Lindy Ruff, and the infusion of young talent is starting to pay off. An important thing though, for me at least, will always be Jeanneret’s last season with the team. Those two games in April of 2022 especially. The building was finally full again, and as we walked down memory lane to honor RJ, fans once again became nostalgic and proud to be fans of this franchise. The love the players and the fans showed RJ had a profound impact. For the first time in a long time, there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel. There was a swell of positivity. There was hope, and I just hope Rick Jeanneret knows how much of that he was responsible for. The man who narrated Buffalo Sabres fans through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The man who made us all get emotional, whether it was a call during a game or hearing his speech on RJ night. Jeanneret helped us do something that he never stopped doing in 51 years. He helped us all believe again.
A few months ago Rick Jeanneret was doing an autograph signing at a store down the road from me. I had planned on going but got busy that day. I wish I had, not as much for the autograph, but to get the chance to tell him something. He will never know this, but it was his voice that often got me through tough times. There have been many instances in my life where I would find myself in a bad place. However, I can’t even begin to count the number of times that I would somehow end up down a Youtube rabbit hole, listening to RJ’s greatest calls and reliving my favorite memories as a Sabres fan that he was the soundtrack to. It gave me the dopamine hit I needed, and more importantly, it reminded me that no matter how tough life can get, there will always be better days. The last thing I want to say is,
Thank You, RJ.
During his 51 years as an announcer, RJ had seen it all from the broadcast booth. He called goalie fights, he called saves that left our jaws dropped, and he even got to call that time Brian Campbell attempted manslaughter. He forever changed how Sabres fans will say players’ names or sports terms. It’s not Stu Barnes, it’s STUUUUUU BARNES! His name isn’t Pat LaFontaine, it’s LALALALA-LAFONTAINE! Buffalo Sabres players don’t score by going top-shelf. They go top shelf where mama hides the cookies. I could go on and on all day talking about the many great RJ-isms though, let’s get into some of my favorite calls of his career.
Now do you believe
I will look for any reason during a hockey conversation to talk about the 2005-06 Buffalo Sabres and how special that team was. Literally, every second of their playoff run to the East finals is forever burned into my brain. Following the lockout season the Buffalo Sabres came out of nowhere to end up only three points behind the Ottawa Senators who won their division and were the number-one team in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres would enter the playoffs as the four seed, due to how the playoff format worked at the time, and would eventually meet the Senators in the second round. The series in total went five games, three of which went to overtime, including a ridiculous back-and-forth 7-6 game one. The call that will forever be remembered from this series, however, came in game five. With the game in OT and the chance to clinch the series on the line Buffalo’s Jason Pomville would take the puck up the left before using a burst of speed and power to get around the Ottawa defense, cut in on goal and score the winner. The team that finished dead last in their division last season is headed to the Easter Conference finals. Oh, now do you believe?
May Day
In 1993 the Buffalo Sabres went into their first-round playoff matchup against the Boston Bruins as massive underdogs. The Sabres finished fourth in their division with 86 points. Meanwhile, the Bruins won the division and had an NHL second-best 109 points on the season. The series would only last four games. After falling behind 5-2 at home Buffalo scored three unanswered to force overtime. An unlikely hero would arise in OT. That hero was Brad May, who had only 26 points all season. Exiting their defensive zone, Sabres superstar and leading point scorer, Pat Lafontaine, would get tripped while carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Laying on the ice Lafontaine passes the puck up to Brad May. May cuts into the Bruins zone and proceeds to go between the legs of future hall of famer Ray Borque. Alone in front of the net he fakes a slap shot, the goalie bites hard and May buries it for the goal. It was not only the game-winner, but the series-sweeping goal. It’s here that Jeanneret would make what is considered by many to be his most famous call.
Legion of Doom
The Sabres had a familiar enemy in the first round of the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs as they faced off against the Ottawa Senators. The series was back and forth going the full seven games. As with many of the moments I’ve mentioned this one also made its way into overtime. Not just any kind of overtime though, we’re talking about a game seven overtime. Roughly five and a half minutes into the extra frame, following a turnover in the neutral zone, Derek Plante ripped a clapper from outside the circles that beat the Ottawa goalie to win the series. Make sure to peep the goalie’s name when you watch the clip for a good laugh. RJ’s call on this one has such a great boisterous vibe that made you think the Sabres were a freight train that couldn’t be stopped.
Dave Hannan‘s OT Winner
During the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Buffalo Sabres went into game six of their round-one match-up against the New Jersey Devils in a win-or-go-home scenario. The real story of the game was the goaltending battle. In net for the Sabres was “The Dominator” Dominik Hasek and on the other end of the ice for New Jersey was some kid named Martin Brodeur. The game was scoreless after sixty minutes and went to overtime. Then it went to another one, and another one……and another one. Finally, in the fourth overtime, Dave Hannan buried the game-winner to force a game seven and send that series, as RJ would say, “Back to where Jimmy Hoffa’s buried!”. Hasek’s legend grew as he put up a 70-save shutout. That’s not a typo. 70 shots faced, ZERO goals allowed.
Sabres vs Senators DonnyBrook
As long-time division rivals, there’s no love lost between the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. As a lifelong Sabres fan, I can unbiasedly say that the Senators are, and always have been, a bunch of cheap-shotting Jabronis. Or are they, not the team that named Brady Tkachuk captain in 2021? One night they took it too far though and all hell broke loose. The game took place on February 22nd, 2007 at the then-HSBC Arena in Buffalo. Ottawa jumped out to a two-nothing lead until Buffalo scored three unanswered to take the lead back. At this point Ottawa got desperate and things went off the rails. Partway through the second, Ottawa goon and habitual shit disturber, Chris Neil, blindsided Sabres captain Chris Drury with a cheap elbow shot that left Drury down on the ice bleeding and in need of help off the ice. Next face-off, Buffalo sent out the line of Andrew Peters, Adam Mair, and Buffalo native Patrick Kaleta. Are you a non-Sabres fan who isn’t familiar with those names? That’s because it was our fourth line. Their mission was simple. Kick some ass. Puck drops and the boys pair off as the brawl begins. Goalie Ray Emery and Sabres netminder Martin Biron leave their crease to face off. It didn’t go well for Marty as he picked a fight with the one goalie you don’t want to mess with. Peters had Birons back though as he flew in and started throwing haymakers at Emery. A funny story is that Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff told Peters afterward that he didn’t condone him going after a goalie until Peters reminded him that Ruff himself went after a goalie during his playing days in Buffalo. To take it to another level, Lindy Ruff and Sens coach Ryan Murray started verbally going at it, with broadcaster Rob Ray caught in the middle, just trying to cover his mic so all the f-bombs didn’t go out over the air. All this chaos is just enhanced by RJs call of the action. Buffalo went on to win the game 6-5. I know opinions on fighting in hockey have changed in the years since this, but I don’t care. As a fan, when you watch one of your players get busted open and leave the game after a clear cheap shot, there’s no better feeling than watching the boys stick up for one of their own and handle business themselves. Plus, to quote Lindy Ruffy, “Don’t go after my fucking captain!”
As a final note, on behalf of Talent Alone, we would like to extend our thoughts and best wishes to Rick Jeanneret’s family during this hard time. RJ will forever be remembered and talked about among the Buffalo community. What he meant to the Sabres and the sport of hockey is something that will live on for future generations.
