The hockey world lost one of its most colorful characters Thursday as the Buffalo Sabres announced longtime voice Rick Jeanneret died on Thursday.
Jenneret, who started broadcasting Sabres games on the radio in 1971 before moving to television, was 81.
“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 owner Terry Pegula said in a press release.
“How glad I am to have known him. How lucky were we all to have been around him and to have listened to him. Rick Jeanneret’s mark on Sabres history extends far beyond the broadcast booth and we will miss him dearly. I extend my deepest condolences to Sandra, Rick’s family, friends, and all that were loved by him.”
Jeanneret was the voice of the Sabres for nearly all of the franchise’s history before retiring in 2022.
The recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Award in 2012, Jeanneret was a member of the Sabres Hall of Fame.
On Friday, many memorialized the legendary broadcaster with a memorial sprouting up around his monument at the team’s arena outside downtown Buffalo.
“We’re going to celebrate RJ every day,” Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams told reporters per the Buffalo News. “You walk into KeyBank Center and he’s part of the fabric of this organization. He’s part of the history, the legendary calls, the relationships.
“I don’t think there’s a hockey fan in the world that doesn’t know that voice. You can close your eyes and that’s just the voice and that’ll be with us all forever.”
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FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK
