News Article: Sabres Change Plans - Jeanneret To Return For 2016-2017 Season

[LaxSabre]

Alan Pergament @StillTalkinTV - Hold those retirement plans! Rick Jeanneret isn't going anywhere!

Jeanneret To Return For 2016-2017 Season As Sabres Change Retirement Plans - Alan Pergament - Buffalo News.

Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret, who was scheduled to retire after this season, instead is going into oooooovvertimmme. The National Hockey League team announced today that the 73-year-old Jeanneret will continue to do play-by-play after this season and in the foreseeable future.

Jeanneret is scheduled to call 41 games this season in his final year of what was supposed to be his final contract. However, he has agreed to come back for the 2016-2017 season. It is unclear how many games he will work, but Jeanneret said this morning he anticipates it will be in the same range as this season if he feels as healthy as he feels today.

The Sabres announced the plans for Jeanneret’s future before the regular season, partly because it didn’t want teams around the league to honor him for retiring when there were no plans to do so. Jeanneret, who has called Sabres games for 43 years, will now work on a year-to-year basis in much the same way as Los Angeles Dodgers legend Vin Scully operates.

Jeanneret said the discussions about returning have been going on for a few months. “Most if it was predicated on how I felt,” said Jeanneret, a cancer survivor who worked all 47 games he was contacted to do last season after being treated for months for throat cancer. “I feel great. This never would have happened if I didn’t feel so good. When they offered me an opportunity to come back, I said, ‘well, sure. Why not? What else am I going to do?’”

http://talkintv.buffalonews.com/201...-17-season-as-sabres-change-retirement-plans/

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[Myllz]

Eh. I love ya Rick, but it's time to move on.

 

[Clock]

Eh. I love ya Rick, but it's time to move on.

That's about it. I wouldn't mind some new blood at this point and would prefer RJ walk into the sunset prior to the play-by-play getting painful.

 

[Husko]

Until there's someone else good to do it, Im fine with RJ.

 

[Sabres Dynasty]

Sweet, another season of him calling our best D-man Rasmussen.

 

[Dingo44]

RJ's the best ever and we're blessed to have him call Sabres games as long as he's able.

I couldn't be more excited by the news. When the Sabres win the Stanley Cup I want Rick's call to be a part of it!

 

[aceface33]

RJ's the best ever and we're blessed to have him call Sabres games as long as he's able.

I couldn't be more excited by the news. When the Sabres win the Stanley Cup I want Rick's call to be a part of it!

They could always invite him back to call the last few seconds of the Stanley Cup winning game like Pittsburgh did with their guy.

I'm fine with this for TV but they should really hire a dedicated radio announcer so radio only people will know what's going on.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[Djp]

Rick will be around until he hits 50 years.....

 

[old kummelweck]

Until there's someone else good to do it, Im fine with RJ.

Ditto. They need to go outside the org to find someone. The fill-ins have been bad to average.

 

[Ghills23]

RJ is Sabres hockey, to me. I will never willingly call for his retirement. Even in his 70's he still does a better job than most. The problem really is a lack of a true color man. Pair RJ with Duff and Ray in between the boards and it would work fine. I'm still not solid on Dunleavy to be the full-time replacement. He's quite boring to me as a broadcaster.

 

[Myllz]

RJ is Sabres hockey, to me. I will never willingly call for his retirement. Even in his 70's he still does a better job than most. The problem really is a lack of a true color man. Pair RJ with Duff and Ray in between the boards and it would work fine. I'm still not solid on Dunleavy to be the full-time replacement. He's quite boring to me as a broadcaster.

He doesn't, though. Try listening to him on the radio when you don't have the game on in front of you, you'll never know what's going on because he doesn't call the game well anymore. That plus him regularly getting names wrong is enough for me to move onto someone new.

 

[couture23]

It's time to move on Rick.

 

[Djp]

He doesn't, though. Try listening to him on the radio when you don't have the game on in front of you, you'll never know what's going on because he doesn't call the game well anymore. That plus him regularly getting names wrong is enough for me to move onto someone new.

Do you think part of the reason may be because he is broadcasting toward a TV watching audience thus he doesn't need to be as verbally descriptive.

 

[Havok89]

Awful.

 

[Myllz]

Do you think part of the reason may be because he is broadcasting toward a TV watching audience thus he doesn't need to be as verbally descriptive.

That's always been the case. He's gotten progressively worse.

 

[Strexvale]

Nope, I still love RJ. The games that he called last year were heads and tails more enjoyable than any of the other broadcasts. Might be nostalgia, might be how he just sounds like he's having the time of his life, but other than getting a few names wrong here and there (and that's really all it is, he's not missing even 10% of the play) he's still sharp up there.

It would be awesome if he could get a good color man though, as great as it is to hear him chirp Ray all night, having a quality color-man in the booth would improve the broadcast a lot.

 

[Ron C.]

I have no problem with RJ continuing to call games.

 

[Oakstream]

Awesome news. Now get rid of Rob Ray .

.

 

[Ness]

I'm ok with this. Love RJ. I've actually grown fond of Rob Ray as an announcer. He butchers names and the English language in general, and gives no *****. It's hilarious.

 

[Sabre the Win]

I'm happy for RJ but Im really starting to like Dunleavy and would prefer to hear him call the games.

 

[VaporTrail]

I really don't care if he screws up....He can screw up all he wants....RJ is the PBP man for Buffalo, and will never be matched...

 

[Havok89]

I really don't care if he screws up....He can screw up all he wants....RJ is the PBP man for Buffalo, and will never be matched...

Rasmus Rasmussen !

 

[Rhett4]

Well, Dunleavy puts me to sleep, so at least RJ's wacky calls will be entertaining. I hope they use this extra time to find a more viable option for when RJ finally does retire (like for real, real).

 

[ZZamboni]

Yea!!! Hating on a 73 yr old legend. Fun wow.

I hope he calls games for 10 more years, just to aggravate you.