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His voice has been synonymous with Buffalo Sabres hockey since almost the inception of the team and he'll honored in November with his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Broadcaster Rick Jeannert has done Sabres play by play since the 1971-72 season, the team's second year in the league and is the longest-tenured broadcaster in the NHL.  It's an honor long overdue.

Jeanneret is already a member of the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame and earlier this week he was named to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.  On November 12th in Toronto he will be recognized as this year's winner of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstandstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. And who could argue against that?

It'll be a sad day when Jeanneret retires.  He's around 70 years old and with concern about his health he's cut back on his schedule a little bit over the past few years, especially opting out of long road trips.  In my opinion the Sabres haven't come close to finding his replacement when that day comes.  It'll be a very tall order to step into the shoes of such a legend and the various broadcasters who've given it a shot have come up well short.

Jeanneret will join another Buffalo hockey play-by-play legend in the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Ted Darling was inducted in 1994.  From the start of the franchise in 1970 Darling was the Voice of the Sabres until the onset of Picks disease in 1991.  Darling died in 1996.

Could anybody ever come up with a list of the top Rick Jeanneret calls?  You'd have to argue that one a long time to come to a consensus but I thought this video comes pretty close -

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