"When you think of Rick, you can’t be unhappy."
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THEY SAID IT
Don Granato: "He was a walking inspiration. He really had a great feel for the room, the mood, and he inspired our group and our players that they could do more. You could see him deliver that message as he walked through underneath or he jumped on a plane with us or bus with us. It was very powerful to watch it with our team. ... The history he brought to our team, it definitely made our group and myself want to be a Buffalo Sabre."
Lindy Ruff: "One of my biggest disappointments was not being able to give RJ that Stanley Cup call, the Sabres are Stanley Cup champions. I can't imagine what that call would have been like or what that goal would have been like or how Rick would have portrayed the whole event, but I think you're looking at something that would have been spectacular."
Kevyn Adams on staying up past his bedtime as a kid to listen to RJ on the radio: "How do you fall asleep to Rick Jeanneret calling a game? He could make a dump-in from the red line sound just as exciting as a scoring chance in overtime. That really sums up RJ."
James Patrick recalls RJ keeping things light on the team bus after a tough loss: "You could hear a pin drop on the bus. About five minutes into the drive to the airport, you hear this click, swoosh, and I turned my head and RJ was opening his beer. I was terrified that Lindy was going to hear this. He would look at me and he would cheers me and had this big, youthful grin on his face."
Jim Lorentz: "When you look at all the great players who played in this league like the superstars, the Gretzkys, the Lemieuxs, the Dominik Haseks, I put Rick in that category because those players made everybody around them better. Rick did the same thing."
Brad May: "When you think of Rick, you can’t be unhappy. I mean, this guy had a full life and brought so much joy to all of us. I think that he would be up there clapping for everybody else and say, 'Move along. It’s great to think of me, but let’s have a great time and have a great night.'"
Rob Ray on RJ's ability to keep an eye on several other sports on TV while calling ca: "He'd be in the booth, he'd have the horse race here, he'd have a basketball game there, he'd have the golf there, and baseball down here - and calling the game. He would never make a mistake and then he'd all of a sudden hit you and point at something that just happened on the TV. I was like, 'How the hell are you doing that?' He was a master at it."
Martin Biron on a message he got from RJ late last season: "He texted me, 'Wow, you're getting pretty good at this.' But then the next text was, 'You're also looking very old.'"