Jeanneret to retire following 2021-22 season

Rick Jeanneret will return to the Ted Darling Memorial Press Box for one final season as the play-by-play announcer of the Buffalo Sabres.
Jeanneret announced through the team's social media platforms Friday that he will call a limited number of games during the 2021-22 campaign to close out an illustrious career. Jeanneret, the NHL's longest-tenured announcer, sat behind the Sabres microphone for the first time on the radio on October 10, 1971. He joined the team's TV broadcasts in 1995.
"To my Sabres family," Jeanneret said in a statement, "To spend 50 years doing any one job is more than a person can ask for, let alone one as special as mine. My interactions with the fans at KeyBank Center have been one of the thrills of my career, one that was sorely missing over the past year.
"So, let's make it 51. I look forward to seeing you at the rink for one last run."

Buffalo opens the new season on October 14 at home against the Montreal Canadiens.
Fans have enjoyed RJ narrating some of the biggest plays in team history for over 50 years. Those moments have been immortalized by his words.

"I can't imagine that I would've done anything else with my life. I can't think of another occupation. I can't think of another city. I can't think of another sport," he said. "I think that the Buffalo Sabres and RJ were meant for each other."
Jeanneret 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, and, believe it or not, an honorary member of the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame.