PASabreFan

And if you need a cucumber just let me know.

Yes. And that's what I should have used as the half and half is too thick/fatty. I think you want a somewhat lighter and looser sauce. Give it a try, my friend.

Rick at ground level doesn't feel right. He has to be perched somewhere. Maybe looking down at the foot traffic from the face of the arena. Or incorporated into the press box somehow.

Stop thinking outside the box. It's annoying.

Erik Brady of USA Today (and Buffalo) talked about a statue for Rick. I'd sculpt him as a player. He was, after all, the greatest Sabre in history.

I think the nicest tribute that could be paid to Rick on opening night is to simply have his family and friends come out and Cupcake can drop the puck. No more blaring NOW DO YOU BELIEVEs. We've done it enough. He was more than that. The patch is a nice idea. Maybe something on the ice. I also like the idea of a moment of noise. Certainly not silence!

I was given a homegrown cucumber (you stop it, @inkman). I sliced it as thin as possible (I have no knife skills or decent knives so it is what it is). Left the skin on. Added half and half, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. This is my interpretation of a cuke salad my mom made. She got the cukes very thin and did peel them. Just regular vinegar I think and certainly no EVOO. Whole milk instead of half and half. She added thinly sliced onions. Not much to write home about but then you found it in the back of the fridge five days later and it was heaven. Just tasted the sauce. I'm no gourmand, but it's really good.

Maybe Bettman. I don't think the owner is involved. How about this. Bettman walks out the thunderous boos. He starts and stops and starts and stops. Finally he says fine, you do it, Rick. And Rick comes on the video screen. Again I pray someone thought to ask Rick to record the magic words.

I gotta say that my elderly residents at work last night were all about this game. Honestly it could have been the Super Bowl to them. One fella was beyond himself at the Bills play. I rolled my eyes a few times. It's like they found a way to use their flip phones to register on here. Chillax, Bills broskis.

Suspenders? Goal song is clip of Rodney Dangerfield insulting a cocktail waitress he met in Jersey? Stop teasing us with that 11 of yours!

Not sure why this of all comments brought tears: Jason Woolley said that Rick's was the voice heard round the hockey world. Perfect. His calls stuck to players. Twenty four years later it came back to Jason.

Yes. Maybe it was all meant to be. I fervently believe in Hockey Gods and what if RJ buys them all a beer?

I'm sure it's been personal and nasty at times. Only bc of what they did to MY team. Mainly it's been an objective criticism. Most have come around to my way of looking at it. I'm over it. I'm just sitting here hoping for better times. And of course that the team gets sold.

Someone said Rick didn't want any tears upon his passing. He certainly wouldn't want the end of spirited Sabres talk. I don't even think Radar's post is a good example of bad vibes. It was fine.

Do you honestly not get tired of being bitch to 31 other teams?

I've always sung it. The franchise is awesome. It's my country. I sure as hell can say the government sucks. You're right about the last sentence tho. I honestly don't understand how a fan could not agree. Jay McKee's shin guard says hello. I get it tho. That fifth round pick is gonna be a stud.

Doing right for the player is what losing franchises do. We continue to be sad sack.

Is there any info on services? Will anything be streamed? In a way it feels like we had our proper public goodbye last April and now he belongs to the family. I wouldn't blame them for keeping things private. It still feels like there's something we need to do for closure.

Nice trade. Kev knows what he's doing. Can't believe the questioning here.

Now I'm gonna cry and not over Rick. It's a family reunion.

Like I said, Rick brings out (and back) our best.

Upon his passing from this mortal coil last night, Rick Jeanneret learned two things. The first thing he learned is that you don't either drop like a stone into the abyss of hell or float like a butterfly through fluffy clouds into heaven. There's an elevator. So he got in, with some trepidation. When he turned to face the front of the car, he saw three buttons on the panel to his left. The bottom button was red with a white H. The middle button was green with a white H. The top button was blue with a gold R. "Well, I have no idea!" Grumpy Rick had made it to the afterlife. He always suspected he was headed south of the border, given the number of beers he drank on the air and those thoughts he had as a teenage boy in Terrace Bay, Ontario. "But partner, there's no way in h-e- double hockey sticks I'm signing my own death warrant!" he exclaimed in his earthly stentorian style. Rick also couldn't bring himself to press the Green H, in case this was some kind of humility test. So he pressed the R. In the passing of no cosmic time a'tall, the elevator door opened upon the Pearly Gates. Rick smiled, his teeth suddenly absolutely perfect. The second thing he learned is that Saint Peter has a sense of humor. "You?! Brother, you are not worthy!" With that, the door slammed shut, and the tiny elevator turned into the enormous freight elevator at KeyBank Center. Now seemingly in real time, it clanked and shuddered and shucked and jived and slowly made its way upward. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, and Rick sighed. He knew exactly where to go, exactly how many steps to take. Entering into his little cubbyhole over center ice, he recognized his chair, his long-lost pillow, and, sitting on the counter, the old stick mic he used for years at the Aud. He approached the precipice, picked up the mic and peered over the edge. He took one quick panoramic look at his new home, put the mic to his lips and repeated something he'd said on the air so many times. "Hoooooo-lyyyyyyy mackerellllllll!"

I'm out on my limb... His greatest call?

Honestly this is our community at its best. It took Rick, and his passing, to bring it out. That kind of says it all. Thanks, everyone.