PASabreFan

Subban crushed it. Did not see that coming. The reaction of the Hawks bench at the end is something this fan has never seen and it was so cool. I won't forget the beautiful noise when they replayed Rick's OT call: dead quiet. That's the greatest tribute he will ever receive. Work in the AM. It's another Sabres night when sleep will be tough.

What else? What else?

Shown on the video board. A still image anyway.

He plays such a smart game.

Mixhalo to the rescue. In sync with arena so far.

No AM reception!

"Sweet dreams, Sabres fans. And good night from downtown Buffalo!" He'll have a hard time topping I Love You.

If Rick ever said left post or right post, I'd be shocked. It was post. Or pipe. Did it matter which post? No, but I saw it.

He has it in him. He also has a lot of Darling's style in him.

Nobody... nobody!... circles the forearm like Cody James Eakin! @Doohickie will field any questions.

Is tonight Rick's last call?

I can't put my finger on where my head is. I keep coming back to denial. It feels a little like when my mom and dad were dying. They had hours to days left. I was close by, but the full impact of it wasn't hitting me. It didn't make sense. How can this be? They both came back for a very brief moment to give me one final gift. I think that's how it'll be tonight. Down the tunnel, Rick will see the light. It'll probably be flashing red. (All that said, see the poll I'm about to create. I'm really curious what y'all feel about life after death.)

I've always bristled a bit when the praise heaped on Rick focuses on his wild goal calls and fight calls. His passion. His energy. You know what everyone says. All valid, of course. But the top line praise should be his ability to bring a game to life during the mundane moments, the 99.9% of what comprises a hockey game. Rick's baseline temperature was always high, sure, say about 99.8. We got used to icings and offsides sounding exciting (which, of course, to a real fan, they were, and are). What we all really learned, of course, was to listen for the feverish spikes. 100.5 vs. flat out 105.1. You listened and you had the same command of the flow of the game as those in the arena or watching on TV. Remarkable. Jim told Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald: “What always amazed me was he could turn an ordinary game and turn it into a very exciting game, and to me, that’s a real gift of a broadcaster.... People tend to gravitate toward all the great calls, and there’s so many of them, but for me, I look at the full body of work, and it was just superb, night after night of excellence." I hope tonight they play two and a half minutes of the back and forth of a Sabres-Bruins playoff game from 1993. No goals, no fights. Just the to and fro and pushes and pulls and, yes, the dump ins and still not outs.

Boy — Ret. Girl — Jeanne. Do it. (I'll allow Rhett, of course, or Jenna.)

Is that Mixhalo techie thing going to be reliable? Are they ready for heavier traffic? How is there no delay? I'm bringing the boom box and big padded headphones as a backup.

" I didn't graduate from high school for Christ's sake." Good old Rick.

There aren't any good Hot Take gif thingies.

Rick instinctively looked up from his phone as the faceoff took place. Decades of experience!

They remain mysteries...

Dan did the little segment at the start of the pregame show. That's your PBP guy I'd say. Kind of like first goalie off.

Thanks @thewookie1!

Springtime distraction Young girls on Boston Common Turn your head, Ramsey

You can't be

If my theory is right about Rick's first game, it would have been apropos.