The Voice of the Sabres is Back!

Good news for any Buffalo Sabre fans: Hockey Hall of Fame announcer Rick Jeanneret will call all 82 games this season after taking several breaks these past few years due to illness and age.

Jeanneret has had quite the career. From 1984 until 1992, he did the Sabres play-by-play, in addition to being a popular early-morning disc jockey at CJRN-AM in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1992, he chose to retire from CJRN and concentrate solely on the Sabres.

Jeanneret also helped close the Aud on the final night of the regular season in 1996 with an emotional tribute to his colleague Ted Darling, who was the voice of the Sabres from 1970 until worsening of his Pick's Disease forced him to retire in the midst of the 1991–92 season.

"I wish that standing next to me right now would be Ted Darling," said Jeanneret from the ice surface in a postgame ceremony. "See you in September, one block in that direction," said Jeanneret, pointing toward the new arena, then dubbed the Crossroads Arena and now called First Niagara Center.

Having Jeanneret return is very liberating, not just for the fans, but for the entire Sabres organization as well.

“Having RJ return to call a full schedule of games next season is great news for our organization and even better news for our fans,” team President Ted Black said today. “We are so lucky to have a Hall-of-Fame talent around on a full-time basis again and, after his new contract extension, for years to come on our broadcasts."