TERRACE BAY— Homegrown heroes don’t come along that often, but the Township of Terrace Bay can certainly claim bragging rights for this homegrown, talent.
Recently, on NHL.com, the Buffalo Sabres Hockey organization, announced that they honoured Rick Jeanneret, with a banner raising event. According to the Sabres, they hosted a “RJ night during the team’s home game against the Nashville Predators, on Friday, April 1.”
Long-time Canadian broadcaster, Rick Jeanneret, Terrace Bay native, who will be retiring at the end of this hockey season, has been calling the hockey action during Sabres’ hockey games for the past 51 years. The 79-year-old, Jeanneret, who was born in St. Catherine’s Ontario and raised in Terrace Bay, had his career celebrated, as a banner in his honour was raised at the KeyBank Center, on Friday, April 1, 2022.
As shared by the Buffalo Sabres, “The legendary career of Sabres play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret will be honoured when a banner bearing his name will join the banners of other Sabres legends in the rafters of KeyBank Center before the game.”
The Sabres spoke about how, “Jeanneret joined the Sabres broadcast team in 1971 as the radio play-by-play announcer and is now the longest-tenured announcer in the NHL. He joined Sabres television broadcasts in 1995, following in the footsteps of Ted Darling, whom the press box at KeyBank Center is named after.”
The NHL franchise shared a video in which Jeanneret spoke about how there was no other place he would rather be or any other job he would rather have had. “This is the only place I had ever wanted to be, from my mouth to your ears thanks for listening.” said the greatly loved broadcaster.
The tributes throughout RJ’s memorable night echoed the many accomplishments he was able to achieve during his career. Of those mentioned by the Sabres was that, “He is a member of the Sabres Hall of Fame, the Hockey Hall of Fame (as the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Award in 2012), the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Township of Terrace Bay, Ontario's Sports Wall of Fame, and is even an honorary member of the Bare Knuckle Boxing, Hall of Fame.” According to the Sabres, the first 10,000 fans received a replica, RJ Banner.
The township of Terrace Bay demonstrated their pride for Rick Jeanneret, as they sent out heart-felt congratulations to Canadian Broadcaster, Rick Jeanneret. Jeanneret will finish out the season by calling the Sabres’ final regular season game against the Chicago Blackhawks, on April 29, 2022.