Sabres' players give Rick Jeanneret an extra special closing tribute.
One more moment for the legendary voice of the Sabres.
There are sports broadcasters who can come and go but every once in a while there are those whose voices become synonymous with a specific sport or a specific sports franchise and there's no question legendary National Hockey League broadcaster Rick Jeanneret is one those special voices. For more than half a century Jeanneret has been the voice of the Buffalo Sabres and along that journey he has created some of the most memorable calls in the history of the sport.
On Friday night the Sabres paid tribute to Jeanneret's incredible body of work by raising a banner to the rafters with his name on it. Prior to the ceremony Jeanneret was asked what the honor would mean to him, and he admitted that he wouldn't be quite sure until he experienced the moment itself.
Well on Friday night he got to experience the moment and judging by how he reacted to the roar of the crowd I feel safe in assuming that this was one of the most special moments of Mr. Jeanneret's illustrious career. You can see the reaction of the crowd when he is announced, as well as his reaction to the outpouring of love from fans in Buffalo.
Jeanneret would give his speech and his banner would be raised up to the rafters and it could have very well ended there. The Sabres however continued to pay tribute to Jeanneret throughout the night eventually prevailing in a hard fought 4 - 3 win over the Nashville Predators, and before leaving the ice they gave Jeanneret one more closing tribute in front of the home crowd in Buffalo.
Acting very much like you would expect an NHL captain to, Sabres veteran forward Alex Tuch skated over to the Sabres bench and prompted Jeanneret to step out onto the ice. Tuch and his fellow teammates proceeded to escort Jeanneret out onto the ice and gave him a stick tap salute in front of a crowd that roared in appreciation for both the gesture and for Jeanneret himself.
If you're not immediately familiar with Jeanneret the Sabres also did an incredible job of highlighting his career in this video package. You can see the awesome tribute to Jeanneret and hear some of his most iconic calls just below:
