BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rick Jeanneret, who will all the time be thought to be the voice of the Buffalo Sabres after a 51-year broadcasting profession and the Hockey Hall of Fame’s 2012 Foster Hewitt Award recipient, died on Thursday. He was 81.

The Sabres launched a press release from Jeanneret’s household saying he died together with his household by his aspect following a two-year battle with multi-organ failure. “He will be loved forever,” the household’s assertion mentioned.

And it’s truthful to say he can be liked perpetually by many who grew to listen to his name of Sabres video games.

Jeanneret - or RJ as he grew to become affectionately identified - was part of Sabres broadcasts on both radio or TV because the 1971-72 season, the franchise’s second, till he retired following the 2021-22 season. He had the longest play-by-play asserting profession in NHL historical past.

“Rick was indeed a very special and very loved man, to and by all, who knew him and listened to him, his magic, and his command,” Sabres proprietor Terry Pegula mentioned. “How glad I'm to have identified him. How fortunate have been all of us to have been round him and to have listened to him.

It was partly via Jeanneret how Pegula grew to become a fan of the Sabres and their famed French Connection line of the Nineteen Seventies by listening to the crew’s video games on radio whereas dwelling in Pittsburgh. Pegula and his spouse purchased the franchise in February 2011.

“Growing up in Buffalo, Rick Jeanneret was not just the voice of the Sabres, he was the voice of our city. He helped foster my love of hockey,” added Sabres GM Kevyn Adams.

“Rick was an incredible man that was loved by all,” Adams added. “His wit and humor was unmatched, and we are all lucky to have known him.”

In retirement, Jeanneret nonetheless attended Sabres video games final season in making the journey from his dwelling in close by Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Jeanneret was identified for having numerous signature calls together with, “Top shelf, where mama hides the cookies,” at any time when a Sabres participant scored by roofing a shot excessive into the web.

One of his most memorable calls was “May Day! May Day!” after Brad May scored the decisive purpose in a 6-5 additional time win to clinch a four-game sequence sweep of Boston within the first spherical of the 1993 playoffs. It was additionally Buffalo’s first playoff sequence win in 10 years.

His different notable calls included “La-la-la-la-Fontaine!” which adopted at any time when former Sabres captain Pat LaFontaine scored within the Nineties. And there was his, “Now do you believe?” name in the course of the 2006 playoffs, in the course of the Sabres’ run to the Eastern Conference ultimate.

He achieved the NHL’s highest broadcasting honor in 2012, upon incomes the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.

The Sabres honored Jeanneret throughout his ultimate season by elevating a banner bearing his title to the world rafters. He is certainly one of 11 folks to have been honored by the crew, and third non-player, becoming a member of crew founders, brothers Seymour and Northrup Knox.

Jeanneret did his finest to maintain his feelings in verify in the course of the ceremony, and amidst a sold-out crowd chanting “RJ! RJ! RJ!”

“I stood down here 10 years ago upon my induction into the Sabres hall of fame, and I remember saying that night, this is the only job I ever wanted. This is the only place I wanted to be,” Jeanneret mentioned throughout a 15-minute ceremony. “I meant every word on that particular night. And boy, do I mean it now.”

He grew up in close by St. Catharines, Ontario, and spent a lot of his life within the Niagara area. He referred to as his first Sabres recreation on the radio on Oct. 10, 1971, after which joined the crew’s TV broadcast in 1995.

Jeanneret had a number of well being scares, which led to him decreasing his journey schedule

In 2014, he was identified with throat most cancers, however missed only a few video games in the course of the 2014-15 season after receiving therapy. In 2016, he was fitted with a pacemaker on account of a sluggish pulse.

He is survived by his spouse, Sandra, his youngsters, Mark, Chris and Shelly, and quite a few grandchildren. Funeral preparations weren't out there.

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