Rick Jeanneret has surpassed Buffalo royalty, after holding the title as the play-by-play announcer for the Buffalo Sabres for over 51 years.

One thing you have to really respect about RJ is that he embraced the Buffalo culture and assimilated himself with the city, all while living in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. That already requires an immense amount of respect for making that trip for home games for 51 years.

Jeanneret has announced every season for the Buffalo Sabres with the exception of the first one, and even though the man is 79 years old, he definitely doesn’t sound like it.

Rick Jeanneret has one of those voices that are simply timeless. They trick you into thinking that he has not aged at all, mostly because he still has the same amount of passion (if not more) for the team and the sport that he spent a majority of his life announcing for.

You may think that RJ could keep going and announcing for years to come, and while he could and is very much able, he deserves to see his retirement.

Rick Jeanneret’s last game will be at the end of April, but he has achieved so much in the years leading up to this moment. Back in 2011, Jeanneret was inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame. It only took a few more months after that to find his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Jeanneret’s mom was still around then, and she was able to see him get inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Rick Jeanneret is a guy that Buffalo and Western New York has grown to love over the years, as an announcer but also as a person.

And if you want to say your thanks in person before Jeanneret officially retires, you have the chance to do so on Tuesday.

The official Facebook page of the Buffalo Sabres teased an event called “RJ’s Last Call,” where you can meet Rick Jeanneret at a local Wegman’s location on Tuesday, April 5!

Rick Jeanneret will be signing autographs and giving hugs at Wegmans, located at 675 Alberta Drive, Amherst, NY 14226.

But remember: the Sabres game last week where we honored RJ’s legacy was sold out and chaotic, so if you want to get something signed by Jeanneret, you may want to arrive to the Wegmans hours before the 6 pm start time for the greeting session.

Jeanneret will officially hang up the headphones on April 29 after calling his last Sabres game in KeyBank Center. The Sabres will be going up against the Chicago Blackhawks, who they defeated in their last matchup 6-5.

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