Buffalo Sabres: A deeper dive into RJ’s best calls Part I

In this new series, we are looking at the greatest calls from the career of longtime Buffalo Sabres announcer, Rick Jeanneret.

With the unfortunate passing of Rick Jeanneret last week, I thought it would be cool to pay some tributes to him. In this brand new series, I’m going to take a trip down memory lane with my favorite Rick Jeanneret calls and what I remember from them.

These moments will only be from my lifetime going back to 2005-06, and how they stuck with me. So without further ado, let’s get started with the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators brawl back in February of 2007.

I remember like it was yesterday. My dad and I were sitting in section 220 with someone from my soccer team and his dad. Even as a little kid, it was always fun sitting in the 200 level. Little did I know it was going to be a night I would never forget.

That night was also the NHL debut of Patrick Kaleta. The Buffalo native was playing in his first ever NHL game in front of his family and friends. It did not start out well for the Sabres as they found themselves trailing 2-0 in the first period.

With just a couple of minutes remaining, Chris Drury got Buffalo on the board. In the second period, the Sabres gave themselves the lead and that’s when everything went off the wall. With 15 minutes remaining, Chris Neil layed a cheap shot on Drury.

Drew Stafford went after Neil while Drury was down on the ice bleeding from his head. Lindy Ruff and the Sabres were furious as Neil wasn’t assessed a penalty on the hit, only a five-minute major for fighting along with Stafford.

Buffalo Sabres-Ottawa Senators Brawl is still an unforgettable RJ call

After a few minutes, it was time to pick the game back up again. That’s when Ruff sent out Kaleta, Adam Mair and Andrew Peters against Ottawa’s best line. That’s when all heck broke loose. You can watch in the video below but there was a full out line brawl, with the two goaltenders getting involved.

Even the coaches got into it! It was an all out melee and the only thing that I remember to this day was my Dad had me on his shoulders and I kept on hitting my head on the ceiling. After all of the madness, Buffalo and Ottawa found themselves in a 5-5 game that would be decided in a shootout.

Ryan Miller made a glove save to seal the win for the Sabres as he hit the puck into the stands with his stick. Obviously being at the game I couldn’t hear RJ’s calls but as the years went by, he made this game even better than it was.