Buffalo Sabres Broadcaster Rick Jeanneret Dead at 81 After Multi-Organ Failures: ‘He Will Be Loved Forever’

The Buffalo Sabres hockey team’s play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret has died at the age of 81. 

The team released a statement on social media from his family announcing the news on Thursday night. Jeanneret’s family said the Hall of Fame broadcaster died earlier that day with his family by his side “after a two-year battle with multi-organ failures.” 

The family concluded its statement writing that Jeanneret “will be loved forever.”

The Buffalo Sabres’ team shared its own post remembering Jeanneret following the news. It said the Sabres “mourn the life of our legendary broadcaster and a member of our family, Rick Jeanneret, who passed away today. We send all of our love to his family and friends, and the entire Sabres community.”

Buffalo Sabres’ post sharing a statement from the Jeanneret family on social media.

Buffalo Sabres/Instagram

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Jeanneret — also known as RJ — had been calling Sabres games since 1971 on the radio until his retirement last year, according to the Buffalo Sabres’ website. This made him the longest play-by-play broadcaster in National Hockey League history, per ESPN. 

In 1995, he joined the team’s TV broadcast and went on to receive several Hall of Fame awards, including receiving the Foster Hewitt Award — hockey broadcasters’ highest award — in 2012. In addition to becoming a member of the Sabres Hall of Fame, he joined the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the Township of Terrace Bay, Ontario’s Sports Wall of Fame, per the team’s website.

Sabres owner Terry Pegula described Jeanneret as a “very special and a very loved man” to all who knew him in his own statement on his passing. He added that Jeanneret’s mark on Sabres’ history “extends far beyond the broadcast booth and we will miss him dearly.”

Broadcaster Rick Jeanneret of the Buffalo Sabres speaks to the crowd before their game against the Montreal Canadiens at HSBC Arena on October 15, 2010 in Buffalo, New York.

Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images

Jeanneret, a native of St. Catharines, Ontario, was known for having several memorable calls throughout the years.

One of his top sayings included, “Top shelf, where mama hides the cookies,” which happened whenever a Sabres player would score a puck high into the net, per ESPN. He also infamously called out “May Day! May Day!” after Brad May scored a goal against the Boston Bruins in the 1993 playoffs leading to a 6-5 overtime win, per the outlet.

The team’s general manager Kevyn Adams, wrote that Jeanneret wasn’t just the “voice of the Sabres,” but “the voice for our city,” and that he had not only fostered Adams’ own love for hockey but so many others as well.

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“Beyond that booth, Rick was an incredible man that was loved by all. His wit and humor was unmatched and we are all lucky to have known him,” Adams wrote. “I am heartbroken by his passing and send my condolences to his wife Sandra, and all of his family and friends. May he rest in peace.”

However, Jeanneret’s success didn’t come without trials, as he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, which led him to miss a few games during that season. He had also been fitted with a pacemaker in 2016 due to having a slow pulse, ESPN reported.

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Despite this, he kept coming back, and even attended Sabres games after his retirement last season, per the outlet. 

The Buffalo Sabres honored him during his final season by raising a banner with his name, joining the banners of several other previous team owners in the arena rafters. The Sabres said on its website that the team even presented him with the team sword, awarded to the player of the game following each win at the end of the night.

During the ceremony, Jeanneret said, per ESPN, “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. I meant every word on that particular night. And boy, do I mean it now.”

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