Friday night marks the end of an era.
The game against the Chicago Blackhawks will be Rick Jeanneret’s last call as the play-by-play man for the Buffalo Sabres in a career that has spanned 50+ years.
Much has been said about RJ this year, and at this point, there isn’t much more to say. The guy is an absolute legend and his presence will be greatly missed. Kudos should be given to the Sabres organization that has masterfully handled the final days of RJ calling games, and specifically with their handling of his banner raising. This organization tends to constistently get in its own way with those types of events, but they did a bang-up job and honored him in a terrific way.
Friday is sort of a weird celebration in one sense: Maybe you want to be in the building, but at the same time, if you’re at home then you can enjoy the last time you’ll hear Jeanneret live on TV. It’s likely that the atmosphere in KeyBank Center will be RJ-centric so you’ll probably get the best of both worlds.
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Get your popcorn ready.
The Dallas Stars are set to face off against the Vegas Golden Knights tomorrow in a contest that could determine the outcome of the Western Conference playoffs and by extension – the placement of the Vegas 1st round pick that is potentially owned by the Sabres (but more on that later). If Dallas wins, it’s over and the Knights are out of the playoffs. If Dallas loses, they still control their own destiny with games against the soon-to-be ASU Coyotes and the Anaheim Ducks. Dallas will be in the playoffs if they win those two games, regardless of the outcome on Tuesday.
It’s fair to say that the faithful in Buffalo aren’t heartbroken at the thought of the Knights missing the postseason dance. Some would even say that it’s…
The Knights’ draft pick isn’t the only motivation Sabres fans have to root for Dallas tomorrow night. There’s also the matter of former captain Jack Eichel and his parting shot at Sabres fans following his team’s loss in Buffalo earlier this year. He is firmly persona non grata in Western New York after metaphorically tossing a lighter onto the Peace Bridge, and more than a few thousand fans would be happy to see Eichel and the Knights flame out as a result.
Don’t feel guilty about rooting against Eichel and the Knights. #9 decided to take the shot he did, and he got it off cleanly. None of the other former Sabres in recent memory like Reinhart, O’Reilly, Kane and Ristolainen opted to take that route. Well, there is one guy who decided to flame the Sabres fans after leaving and he happens to be in the news as well.
In case you missed it, there’s a little bit of drama circulating with Robin Lehner.
Lehner and coach Peter DeBoer had been going back and forth in a weird cold war about Lehner’s injury status and it appears that he’s now officially done for the year. That can’t be good for business, unless you’re the Buffalo Sabres and then it’s potentially very good for business as the Knights will rely on Logan Thompson to carry the load between the pipes. Behind him is Jiri Patera who has split time this season between the AHL and the ECHL. Rock, meet hard place.
Way back when, Lehner also had some choice words about Buffalo on his way out the door:
“(Buffalo) was so bad there sometimes,” Lehner said back in 2019. “You would walk out to games and the game hadn’t started and people are already booing. It’s an incredibly passionate fan base and they’re filling that building, but it can be miserable in that rink.”
People already booing before games started is utter nonsense of course, but Lehner surely heard some boos during the 2016-17 season when he went an incredibly bad 0-8 in shootout attempts. Lehner and Eichel both got what they wanted with a one-way ticket out of Buffalo where everyone made them miserable and they got a fresh start, or in Lehner’s case, three fresh starts after stops in New York and Chicago. Based on the way things are going in Vegas, he might need another fresh start next year.
Anyhoo…
Should Dallas win tomorrow’s contest, and thus eliminate the Knights, the draft lottery will determine whether the Sabres will make a selection with the Knights’ pick due to its top-10 protected status. Because of changes to the NHL Draft Lottery rules, teams are only allowed to move up 10 slots, which would still be far enough for the Knights to pick in the top-10 this year if they were to win the top draw spot. The Sabres would receive their first next year in such a case.
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