Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-23-2018
A little over two minutes into the third period of Buffalo's 3-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks last night, there was silence emanating from the Ted Darling Memorial Press Box at KeyBank Center. It wasn't a full broadcast malfunction as audio from the ice was still coming over the airwaves and analyst Rob Ray would still interject with his insight.
There was no Rick Jeanneret.
The legendary Sabres play-by-play has been putting his listeners smack-dab in the middle of the on-ice action dating back to Buffalo's second season in 1971-72 and it was strange when things went silent. Come to find out that the 76 yr. old was wheeled off from the press box on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
Prior to being felled Jeanneret everything was quite normal save for the Santa outfit he had on while doling out treats to the fans directly below the box prior to the game. But in those few minutes when there was dead-air from his mike, we Sabres fans realized just how much he's woven into the Buffalo hockey experience. Kudos to studio host Brian Duff for coming in cold and calling the last 15 minutes or so as he did a standup job, but for a brief moment life without Jeanneret left us with an empty feeling.
However, there is good news, according to The Athletic's John Vogl, Jeanneret tweeted, "still kicking" this morning.
Long may you run, Rick.
Showing posts with label rick jeanneret. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rick jeanneret. Show all posts
Monday, December 24, 2018
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Rick Jenneret on the call. Ted Nolan looking for the "want" in players
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Legendary Buffalo Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret will be calling the first period of tonight's game against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Jeanneret has been battling throat cancer all summer and has said that he is now "cancer free."
Back in July when he announced he had stage III cancer--where the cancer is within the general region where it first began--Jeanrette said he'd be back. 'I would like to stress I have every intention of coming back,' he told Alan Pergament of the Buffalo news back in July. 'I have probably three months ahead of me that aren’t going to be fun. I know they aren’t going to be.'
After three months of radiation and chemo therapy, doctors declared him cancer free and Jeanneret is now easing his way back into the broadcast booth. "The time seems right to slowly begin transitioning back to work,” Jeanneret said in a statement released yesterday. “My doctors have told me I’m cancer free and I’m feeling well enough to get back in the booth, even if it’s only on a limited basis for the time being."
Legendary Buffalo Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret will be calling the first period of tonight's game against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Jeanneret has been battling throat cancer all summer and has said that he is now "cancer free."
Back in July when he announced he had stage III cancer--where the cancer is within the general region where it first began--Jeanrette said he'd be back. 'I would like to stress I have every intention of coming back,' he told Alan Pergament of the Buffalo news back in July. 'I have probably three months ahead of me that aren’t going to be fun. I know they aren’t going to be.'
After three months of radiation and chemo therapy, doctors declared him cancer free and Jeanneret is now easing his way back into the broadcast booth. "The time seems right to slowly begin transitioning back to work,” Jeanneret said in a statement released yesterday. “My doctors have told me I’m cancer free and I’m feeling well enough to get back in the booth, even if it’s only on a limited basis for the time being."
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Thoughts on Rick Jeanneret
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
This past week long-time Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret was diagnosed with throat cancer. The 71 yr. old Jeanneret will need about two months of radiation treatment and possible chemotherapy to treat the Stage III cancer.
Doctors say that there's about an 85% recovery rate.
Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery, RJ.,
The Hockey Hall of Famer is the longest tenured announcer in hockey, and was beginning to wind down his legendary career in the broadcast booth. Although Jeanneret says he has "every intention of coming back this season," treatment of the golf-ball sized malignant tumor may end up altering those plans.
This past week long-time Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret was diagnosed with throat cancer. The 71 yr. old Jeanneret will need about two months of radiation treatment and possible chemotherapy to treat the Stage III cancer.
Doctors say that there's about an 85% recovery rate.
Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery, RJ.,
The Hockey Hall of Famer is the longest tenured announcer in hockey, and was beginning to wind down his legendary career in the broadcast booth. Although Jeanneret says he has "every intention of coming back this season," treatment of the golf-ball sized malignant tumor may end up altering those plans.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Let the 2012 off-season begin
The LA Kings won their first ever Stanley Cup as the 8th seed in the Western Conference. Darcy Regier had said around the trade deadline that a low seed has a good chance of winning it, and sure enough he was right. In fact he'd have been right in either case as the runner-up New Jersey Devils were the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Some notes from the Stanley Cup Final:
The Kings started every series on the road and won both games each time, something that was unprecedented. They beat the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeds in the conference with only one series going six games (New Jersey.)
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick had a 1.41 gaa and a .946 save percentage.
GM Dean Lombardi built the Kings through the draft (Dustin Brown-2003, Anze Kopitar and Quick-2005, Thomas Hickey-2007, Drew Doughty #2 overall-2008. He augmented the team--Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene-2008, Willie Mitchell-2010.
In 2009 he began bringing in Stanley Cup winners with the trade for winger Justin Williams CAR, 2006.) Lombardi also signed unrestricted free agent Rob Scuderi (PIT, 2009) that same season. He also picked up Colin Fraser (CHI, 2010) in 2011.
Last off-season Lombardi went all-in up-front by trading two talented youngsters to Philadelphia for Mike Richards on June 23. On July 2 he augmented his scoring by signing Philadelphia UFA Simon Gagne. He completed the Flyers triumvirate by acquiring Jeff Carter. Three top-six forwards added to the line-up.
A masterful job by Lombardi.
There are no former Sabres on the Kings roster, but there were three on the Devils--defenseman Henrik Tallinder, winger Dainius Zubrus and Steve Bernier.
Tallinder was out of the line up until Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. He played well on the second-pairing but was vicimtimized by a strong forecheck throughout Game 6.
Zubrus was a non-factor in the last two rounds of the playoffs with no goals and three assists in 12 games to go along with a minus-four plus/minus rating.
As for Bernier, former Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's name is being frequently used with Bernier's.
Bernier was a part of the Brian Campbell trade at the deadline back in 2008. He came from San Jose' along with a 1st round pick (Tyler Ennis, #26 overall) for Campbell and a 7th rounder. After a ruckus first game with the Sabres he disappeared and eventually was traded to Vancouver in the 2008 off season for a 3rd rounder in 2009 (Brayden McNabb #66 overall) and a 2nd-rounder in 2010 (traded along with Nathan Paetsch to Columbus for Raffi Torres.)
Known more as an energy player than anything else, Bernier had a severe brain-cramp when he leveled Kings d-man Rob Scuderi from behind. He got a five minute major and a game misconduct.
“From my point of view, I don’t,” Bernier said when asked if the hit deserved a five-minute penalty. “I know he stayed down. It’s a fast game. There are hard hits all over the ice. You want to help your team win.”
The quote came from nj.com, in an article written to defend the player and direct the fans attention from rage to sympathy.
Rage may be a little strong. It's not like Boston in 1986 World Series when an 83 year Championship drought was on the line. The Devils having won three Cups in the last 18 years, took it all in stride as the champions they are.
No matter what anyone might say, though, it was a bone-headed move that cost the Devils the game and the ultimately the series. The Kings scored three goals on the power play which meant that the Devils needed four goals vs. Quick to win the game. They had scored seven goals total through the first five games.
And so it goes.
The Sabres are heading into the off season with four of the first 44 picks in the draft next weekend.
Director of Amateur Scouting, Kevin Devine, was on WGR yesterday saying that this is the most challenging draft he's had since becoming director.
Among the things he mentioned: injuries to the top prospects, the "Russian factor," and no player breaking from the pack.
Devine considers it a deep, balanced draft going as far to say that there's not much of a difference between their #12 and #21 picks. He also labeled the top five picks as "risky" and used that "risky" when describing the Russian players in the top-five.
The draft is deep with defensemen, an area of strength for the organization, but Devine goes on to say that the team should get two really good players with their first round picks. He mentions that there are some centers up their that look good to the team.
There will be a ton of mock drafts coming out in the next ten days, but Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com had his draft preview up last week. Among the players he has the Sabres looking at with the 12th pick are LW Teuvo Teravainen, D Cody Ceci and LW Pontus Aberg.
It's a good Sabres-centric read and some outstanding work by Baker.
The Sabres shook up the broadcast booth yesterday as well.
Rob Ray will be paired with play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret this season.
Make that Hall of Fame broadcaster, Rick Jeanneret . The long-time Sabres play-by-play man was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for Broadcasting and will be recognized at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto this November.
Ray will be Jeanneret's partner on the road from the booth and at home from his customary spot between the benches for home games.
He'll be replacing Harry Neale who moves to the studio to join Mike Robitaille for pregame and intermission reports.
Brian Duff will join the Sabres full-time as host for Sabres broadcasts and Kevin Sylvester heads to the WGR studios for a two-hour segment from 10AM to 12 noon called Sabres Hockey Hotline.
Ted Black on the Howard Simon Show this morning discussed the moves also saying that Jeanneret mentioning that he may have taken a little too much time off last season. So it would seem as if there will be more "RJ" this season. Which is good for Sabres fans.
Black also touched upon the needs for the organization mentioning that "they want to be a tougher team to play against," that they want to find "a top forward or top defenseman either through a trade, free agency, development within [the] system or perhaps some of the guys that didn't have the years that they had last year."
No mention of the draft in that statement, specifically no mention of landing a top-three/five impact player to help immediately. Couple that with Devine's "risk" aversion with the top prospects in the draft and it may be safe to say the the Sabres won't be trading into the top-five next week.
On other thing worth mentioning, Black had high praise for what GM Darcy Regier did in the trade with Nashville. He mentioned (without verification, he says) that in the past 30 years there were only 20 trade deadline deals that netted a team a first round pick and Regier got a first-rounder for Paul Gaustad, a "third/fourth line center."
The principals of the Sabres organization, according to Devine, will be meeting at Terry Pegula's place on Wednesday to discuss their plan of attack for this off-season which officially began with the Kings win last night.
Should be an interesting off-season.
Some notes from the Stanley Cup Final:
The Kings started every series on the road and won both games each time, something that was unprecedented. They beat the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeds in the conference with only one series going six games (New Jersey.)
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick had a 1.41 gaa and a .946 save percentage.
GM Dean Lombardi built the Kings through the draft (Dustin Brown-2003, Anze Kopitar and Quick-2005, Thomas Hickey-2007, Drew Doughty #2 overall-2008. He augmented the team--Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene-2008, Willie Mitchell-2010.
In 2009 he began bringing in Stanley Cup winners with the trade for winger Justin Williams CAR, 2006.) Lombardi also signed unrestricted free agent Rob Scuderi (PIT, 2009) that same season. He also picked up Colin Fraser (CHI, 2010) in 2011.
Last off-season Lombardi went all-in up-front by trading two talented youngsters to Philadelphia for Mike Richards on June 23. On July 2 he augmented his scoring by signing Philadelphia UFA Simon Gagne. He completed the Flyers triumvirate by acquiring Jeff Carter. Three top-six forwards added to the line-up.
A masterful job by Lombardi.
**********
There are no former Sabres on the Kings roster, but there were three on the Devils--defenseman Henrik Tallinder, winger Dainius Zubrus and Steve Bernier.
Tallinder was out of the line up until Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. He played well on the second-pairing but was vicimtimized by a strong forecheck throughout Game 6.
Zubrus was a non-factor in the last two rounds of the playoffs with no goals and three assists in 12 games to go along with a minus-four plus/minus rating.
As for Bernier, former Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's name is being frequently used with Bernier's.
Bernier was a part of the Brian Campbell trade at the deadline back in 2008. He came from San Jose' along with a 1st round pick (Tyler Ennis, #26 overall) for Campbell and a 7th rounder. After a ruckus first game with the Sabres he disappeared and eventually was traded to Vancouver in the 2008 off season for a 3rd rounder in 2009 (Brayden McNabb #66 overall) and a 2nd-rounder in 2010 (traded along with Nathan Paetsch to Columbus for Raffi Torres.)
Known more as an energy player than anything else, Bernier had a severe brain-cramp when he leveled Kings d-man Rob Scuderi from behind. He got a five minute major and a game misconduct.
“From my point of view, I don’t,” Bernier said when asked if the hit deserved a five-minute penalty. “I know he stayed down. It’s a fast game. There are hard hits all over the ice. You want to help your team win.”
The quote came from nj.com, in an article written to defend the player and direct the fans attention from rage to sympathy.
Rage may be a little strong. It's not like Boston in 1986 World Series when an 83 year Championship drought was on the line. The Devils having won three Cups in the last 18 years, took it all in stride as the champions they are.
No matter what anyone might say, though, it was a bone-headed move that cost the Devils the game and the ultimately the series. The Kings scored three goals on the power play which meant that the Devils needed four goals vs. Quick to win the game. They had scored seven goals total through the first five games.
And so it goes.
**********
The Sabres are heading into the off season with four of the first 44 picks in the draft next weekend.
Director of Amateur Scouting, Kevin Devine, was on WGR yesterday saying that this is the most challenging draft he's had since becoming director.
Among the things he mentioned: injuries to the top prospects, the "Russian factor," and no player breaking from the pack.
Devine considers it a deep, balanced draft going as far to say that there's not much of a difference between their #12 and #21 picks. He also labeled the top five picks as "risky" and used that "risky" when describing the Russian players in the top-five.
The draft is deep with defensemen, an area of strength for the organization, but Devine goes on to say that the team should get two really good players with their first round picks. He mentions that there are some centers up their that look good to the team.
There will be a ton of mock drafts coming out in the next ten days, but Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com had his draft preview up last week. Among the players he has the Sabres looking at with the 12th pick are LW Teuvo Teravainen, D Cody Ceci and LW Pontus Aberg.
It's a good Sabres-centric read and some outstanding work by Baker.
**********
The Sabres shook up the broadcast booth yesterday as well.
Rob Ray will be paired with play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret this season.
Make that Hall of Fame broadcaster, Rick Jeanneret . The long-time Sabres play-by-play man was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for Broadcasting and will be recognized at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto this November.
Ray will be Jeanneret's partner on the road from the booth and at home from his customary spot between the benches for home games.
He'll be replacing Harry Neale who moves to the studio to join Mike Robitaille for pregame and intermission reports.
Brian Duff will join the Sabres full-time as host for Sabres broadcasts and Kevin Sylvester heads to the WGR studios for a two-hour segment from 10AM to 12 noon called Sabres Hockey Hotline.
Ted Black on the Howard Simon Show this morning discussed the moves also saying that Jeanneret mentioning that he may have taken a little too much time off last season. So it would seem as if there will be more "RJ" this season. Which is good for Sabres fans.
Black also touched upon the needs for the organization mentioning that "they want to be a tougher team to play against," that they want to find "a top forward or top defenseman either through a trade, free agency, development within [the] system or perhaps some of the guys that didn't have the years that they had last year."
No mention of the draft in that statement, specifically no mention of landing a top-three/five impact player to help immediately. Couple that with Devine's "risk" aversion with the top prospects in the draft and it may be safe to say the the Sabres won't be trading into the top-five next week.
On other thing worth mentioning, Black had high praise for what GM Darcy Regier did in the trade with Nashville. He mentioned (without verification, he says) that in the past 30 years there were only 20 trade deadline deals that netted a team a first round pick and Regier got a first-rounder for Paul Gaustad, a "third/fourth line center."
The principals of the Sabres organization, according to Devine, will be meeting at Terry Pegula's place on Wednesday to discuss their plan of attack for this off-season which officially began with the Kings win last night.
Should be an interesting off-season.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Radio Voice Of the Buffalo Sabres
 |
| Rick Jeanneret |
Not to get too sentimental, but when I was a kid I had this little train radio. When the Sabres weren't on TV, I would listen to games on it.
It was orange and blue, AM-only, with the volume and tuning control-wheels on the back. The monotone pitch was very high coming out of a very small speaker.
 |
| 1971/72 Topps |
When Rick Jeanneret began his announcing career on WGR back in 1971, this is how I was listening to the games. It was a season that featured Sabres like Gil Perreault, Rick Martin, Roger "the Dodger" Crozier, Eddie Shack and Gerry Meehan.
We had a single black-and-white TV in our home (dad controlled it.) It had three channels, which was standard throughout the U.S., but we were lucky living in Buffalo, we could get channels from Canada, most notably, CBC's Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday nights.
It had dials on the front and clicked when you turned them to get to a channel. When the knob broke off, you'd use a fork to turn it. And the cool things about using knobs, if you couldn't get the channel clearly when you clicked it into place, you could ease it in between to get a better picture.
All of this was done to go from a "polar bear in a snowstorm" picture to a semblance of one.
But, radio was always solid when it came to following the Buffalo Sabres.
The difference between radio and TV is as simple as the difference between audio and video. When it came to radio, the announcer had to put the fan on the scene with nothing more than his play-by-play call.
Rick Jeanneret's foundation was in radio before he came to TV, and he brought those radio announcer sensibilities with him.
On a national level, Jeanneret is known for some memorable calls--"May Day," "Lalalalalafontaine," "Wow, Double-Wow" and "Now Do You Believe" amongst them.
On a local level, Sabres-nation knows him for "top-shelf where mama hides the cookies," "MIlllllllerrrrrrrrrrrrr" and "we're going to ooooooverrrrrrrtime."
These are all "highlight" moments and even though some of his "shtick" like "The Population of Pomminville..." does wear on you, one thing you cannot take away from him is how he calls the game.
While announcers today rely on video to help them along as they call the game, Jeanneret calls the game like he did when he was doing radio-only--verbally putting every move on the ice into the microphone.
 |
| The Buffalo Sabres announced that Rick Jeanneret will be working a reduced schedule, in this 40th season with the club. |
He also has a full grasp of rosters which is a far cry from a lot of today's play-by-play men.
Once again, go catch other announcers via live stream and you'll hear full mention of the home teams players, along with mentions of the opposition's stars or better known players, but fringe players--those third or fourth-liners--are not mentioned because the announcer has no idea who they are.
Jeanneret does know these players. He knows their numbers and he knows their names and he uses that to put his audience on the scene with his voice.
By no means is Jeanneret perfect. His voice isn't perfect nor is his style perfect. Nor is his look. He's anything but ESPN, Syracuse-alum perfect.
But that, to me, is a very endearing quality in vanilla sports-nation.
So...
For those fans outside of Buffalo who can't stand Jeanneret, sorry. If you were a fan growing up in Buffalo listening to him, he's woven into the fabric of our sports experience.
For those Buffalo fans who nit-pick by calling him out for his libation-infused exuberance or claim that he rode the "May Day" gravy-train for years; I guess you don't hear it the way I do--through 40 years of listening to him call Sabres games
To me, all the little nuances of him--both good and bad--make him human. His humanity allows him to love the game as a fan with all the joys and frustrations that come along with it.
That's how he calls the games. That's who he is on-air. That's it.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
the journey of a thousand miles...
begins with derek roy driving to the net...twice for goals in a 2-1 win for the sabres...
methinks that this is a good sign for roy...mehopes that it'll continue the entire length of the buffalo sabres hockey season...metakes the role of "doubting thomas"...for now...
roy is not really known for this type of play, which makes me think that he caught the sens d and goalie a bit off-guard...am pretty sure the rest of the teams take notice and will be ready for him in the future...could derek "dipsy-doodle" roy become derek "drive-to-the-net" roy?...not really sure...
i do remember a guy named maxim afinogenov who was highly skilled and flashy...whenever he drove to the net great things would happen...but those instances were too few and far between...
congrats to roy and the sabres for beating their nemesis, ottawa, in their season opener...a great way to start their 40th anniversary season...
some interesting articles:
robert "rip" simonick has been with the buffalo sabres for 40 years...buffalo news columnist bucky gleason culls some very interesting info from the equipment manager including this, "People don't believe me when I tell them these guys had their own ashtrays on the road with their numbers on them. Gilbert, Jerry Korab, Rene [Robert], Rico [Rick Martin], all of them. Now, they have six beers [for the entire team] after a game. Back then, it was more like six cases."
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article212886.ece
"holy mackerel," the buffalo news chats with rick jeanneret who says that after 39 years behind the microphone, "he's closer to the end than the beginning."
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/article215153.ece
methinks that this is a good sign for roy...mehopes that it'll continue the entire length of the buffalo sabres hockey season...metakes the role of "doubting thomas"...for now...
roy is not really known for this type of play, which makes me think that he caught the sens d and goalie a bit off-guard...am pretty sure the rest of the teams take notice and will be ready for him in the future...could derek "dipsy-doodle" roy become derek "drive-to-the-net" roy?...not really sure...
i do remember a guy named maxim afinogenov who was highly skilled and flashy...whenever he drove to the net great things would happen...but those instances were too few and far between...
congrats to roy and the sabres for beating their nemesis, ottawa, in their season opener...a great way to start their 40th anniversary season...
some interesting articles:
robert "rip" simonick has been with the buffalo sabres for 40 years...buffalo news columnist bucky gleason culls some very interesting info from the equipment manager including this, "People don't believe me when I tell them these guys had their own ashtrays on the road with their numbers on them. Gilbert, Jerry Korab, Rene [Robert], Rico [Rick Martin], all of them. Now, they have six beers [for the entire team] after a game. Back then, it was more like six cases."
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article212886.ece
"holy mackerel," the buffalo news chats with rick jeanneret who says that after 39 years behind the microphone, "he's closer to the end than the beginning."
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/article215153.ece
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