He has been our voice of winter on ice, just like baseball announcers direct the rhythm of our summers. Rick Jeanneret's final month with the Buffalo Sabres after 51 years starts Friday night. That statement alone is hard to process.
The man everyone calls "RJ" won't be behind the microphone once the game against Nashville starts, but he'll have his turn before any pucks are dropped because this night will be for him.
A full house in the stands – something we haven't seen since before the pandemic – will be there to greet him. So will many prominent Sabres alumni.
We haven't had too many memorable moments downtown over the last decade, but RJ Night figures to be one of them. The Sabres will host a pregame ceremony in honor of their retiring legend and will unveil a banner in the KeyBank Center rafters that will stand forever as a testament to his amazing career.
He will stand with the other franchise Rafters Club members. The French Connection, Hasek and Horton, Gare and LaFontaine, and with the only other two non-players so honored, original owners Seymour and Northrup Knox.
Talk about becoming top shelf.
Like that one, we can all rattle off some great RJ-isms. Scary good. Call a cop. Roll the highlight film. Who else? Bring on Tyson. The land where Jimmy Hoffa lives. So many more.
A few weeks ago at a Sabres Road Crew event in Las Vegas, I checked in with the man who scored the most memorable RJ goal of all. Brad May can't wait for this night. His overtime goal that won the 1993 playoff series against Boston is the signature moment of his career, and probably of Jeanneret's as well.
When the Sabres had May tape a greeting for Jeanneret just before faceoff of the Jan. 22 game against Philadelphia, the announcer thought Brian Duff was routinely throwing the broadcast up to him for the opening faceoff. Instead, he heard May.
"It's absolutely the greatest moment of my professional career, no doubt about it," May said of the goal that day. "And with no further ado, I'd like to throw the broadcast up to the booth to the one and only Rick Jeanneret."
"Wow. I have a feeling, Maysie, forever we will walk together," Jeanneret said, a clear catch in his throat. "I didn't know that was coming, folks."
May loved the reaction it brought from Jeanneret.
"That made me feel so good," May said. "We all love talking about RJ and all the platitudes, but 51 years is amazing. There's no question he and I are linked in that one moment. When he got inducted in the Hall of Fame (in 2012), that's the call they played. The day I die, they're gonna play that call, too. It's neat for me. To hear he was moved means a lot."
We should not take for granted what we've heard over the air in these 52 years of Sabres hockey. First of all, don't ever refer to Jeanneret as the "Voice of the Sabres." To RJ, that's fellow Sabres legend Ted Darling and always will be.
Jeanneret nearly broke down at the mic on the final night at the Aud in 1996 when he said he wished Darling, who was seriously ill and died a few months later, was there by his side. The bet here is he'll mention his longtime partner again Friday night and again struggle to get through the moment.
In Jeanneret's later years, after his bout with throat cancer and as he approaches 80, he has cut back his schedule. It hasn't cut his enthusiasm for the game one ounce. Sure, he's told me a few times he wishes he could still "hit the high notes" like he used to -- as in Steve Shields vs. Garth Snow on a May night 25 years ago – but I bet most of you still look up goal highlights on social media whenever you can find them.
That night with May in Vegas, I asked former Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk a simple question: What makes Jeanneret iconic compared to all the other broadcasters out there? He answered in the way tons of you have acted since you were little kids: By doing an RJ impression.
"La-La-La-La-La-La-La-La-LaFontaine!!" Malarchuk roared with perfect inflection as people at nearby tables in the Vegas beer hall turned and smiled. "'May Day! May Day! May Day!'
"That's it. That's what it is," Malarchuk gushed. "He completely threw a personality out there. We loved it as players. He was one of us and we gave him fluff. He was not a typical media guy. He completely became part of the team."
When you're in the Sabres traveling media corps, there was nothing like having a pregame meal with Jeanneret in some far-off arena dining room. He was a pied piper, holding court with the opposing broadcasters who inevitably would stop by the table to say hello and sometimes take a zinger or two from RJ.
An aside here: While it's an affront to viewers and listeners that the Sabres aren't sending their radio/TV crews on the road these days, it's a personal loss as well. There was nothing like sitting at a table with the likes of RJ, Rob Ray, Dan Dunleavy, Harry Neale, Brian Duff, Marty Biron and longtime producer Joe Pinter. I miss it terribly.
You should have seen and heard the hockey talk. But the banter and the jabs that went on at those tables were priceless. I should have been paying admission for my chair on some of those nights. Fun fact: It didn't matter if it was the dead of winter, or whether we were in Florida or Edmonton, RJ loved his ice cream. The sundae bar in Carolina, in particular, was no match for him.
It will be great to see how the Sabres' players respond to the big night. They've played in front of more empty seats than people most of the year, but have responded well to big houses on the road in places such as Toronto, Nashville, Chicago, Calgary, Minnesota and outdoors at the Heritage Classic. This is not a night for them to lay an April Fool's egg after a wonderful March.
A lot of fans might be venturing downtown for the first time in two or three years because of RJ. Some advice for you: Be in your seat for the start of the ceremony at 6:40. The gates open at 5. Don't get stuck in traffic or dilly-dally in the beer lines (you can have a few after 7 p.m., right?). The legend deserves it. The food and beverage can wait.
Jeanneret's voice is everywhere in this town when it comes to hockey. Even on the bubble hockey game the kids play at ice level in LECOM Harborcenter. We have five games left to enjoy it, starting Sunday vs. Florida and wrapping up here April 29 vs. Chicago.
"I knew his voice. I think everyone kind of knows RJ's voice," Chicago defenseman, Wisconsin native and longtime former Sabre Jake McCabe told me Monday in United Center. "The May Day call obviously sticks in your mind, because that was one of his bigger ones. But just watching the highlights of our own games over the last 6-7 years, he's always bringing it all the time. He's one of the all-time greats, so I'll be happy to be there for his last game."
McCabe is living a similar season in Chicago, where legendary Blackhawks voice Pat Foley is also in his final season.
"You know the longevity of these guys and you know how good they are at their craft for so long, so it's quite impressive," McCabe said. "No matter what you do, when you do it for that long at the top of the game it's pretty amazing."
It sure is. So given the way Sabres games have gone the last couple of weeks and given the guest of honor for the night, what kind of spin do the hockey gods have to put on Friday's game? It's obvious.
If you've paid attention the last few decades, you know the answer. The Sabres and Predators have to go to ohhhhhhhhhhvertime.
