Your Favorite RJ Line

[Stoner]

I blame the ice for obscuring Umberger's number!

[Kruppstahl]

I remember hearing a story about a call like that -- from RJ himself (in an interview). As memory serves, he got a memo from one of the Knox brothers asking him to keep things more family-friendly. I recall him dating it to his very early years, though.

On that special DVD they released some years ago, RJ mentioned that the commissioner once told him to "calm down" during fight calls.  Like he got too excited and it promoted violence in the game that the league was trying to eliminate.  Or something like that.

RJ's response was like "Hey, I don't tell the guys to fight!  If they are going to throw 'em I'm going to call the action!" Or something like that.

 

On a related note, I used to love how Harry Neale would always point out, during fights on HNIC, that the entire building was standing and going nuts.  As if to suggest "Who are these people who want to remove fighting from the game exactly?  They aren't hockey fans."

 

[WildCard]

The excitement in RJ's voice during the Campbell/RJ Umberger incident is what defines RJ as great in my mind.

 

If you were only listening to that call on the radio, you would have thought all hell was breaking loose and there was a riot going on.  The anticipation, the sense of urgency, the excitement he painted in your mind....

 

RJ actually made the incident better than it really was.  If you recall, after the hit, the crowd ended up in the corner at the opposite end of the ice, but nothing much really developed.

 

RJ made it sound like a war was breaking out!  Just fantastic!

 

Also of note: for such a great call, RJ kind of blew it.  You can tell he didn't catch who got drilled (Umberger) so RJ just kept referring to him as "his check"...which shows what a pro he is.  He pulled it off seamlessly and he never stammered around to find the player's name.

 

Good lesson for budding play by play guys there.  It doesn't necessarily matter if you can't identify a name quickly, if you handle it the right way.  Identifying the player as a "check" rather than a name worked fine.  We all knew what he was talking about, and exactly who got knocked into next week wasn't the critical aspect of the play in any event. 

John Murphy doing Bills games could learn quite a few lessons from RJ.

Coming home from a southern baseball tournament, it was the first Sabres playoff game I'd ever experienced and my mom had one of those mini-vans with the headphones you could plug into the back radio so that's how I listened to the game. That call is my best memory of the Sabres; we eventually came home just in time to hear "Danny Brier! Danny Brier!"

[Kruppstahl]

I blame the ice for obscuring Umberger's number!

:w00t:

 

That hit was probably the best (and clean) hit in the entire NHL that season, and it surely must remain one of the top 5 hits in Sabre history.

 

Campbell is a good skater with great balance and he is the type of player who is very solid on his skates.  He converted himself into telephone pole for a moment and let Umberger's own energy do all the damage.

 

It was like watching a car drive into a brick wall.

Coming home from a southern baseball tournament, it was the first Sabres playoff game I'd ever experienced and my mom had one of those mini-vans with the headphones you could plug into the back radio so that's how I listened to the game. That call is my best memory of the Sabres; we eventually came home just in time to hear "Danny Brier! Danny Brier!"

Hey, cool!

 

:beer:

[Stoner]

"So through the eyes of a nine-year-old, papa is lucky. Well, papa is lucky. But for two huge reasons. Number one, you see, this is the only job I ever wanted. And number two, THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE I EVER WANTED TO BE!"

 

Gives me chills. The perfect sentiment, perfectly delivered.

[That Aud Smell]

"So through the eyes of a nine-year-old, papa is lucky. Well, papa is lucky. But for two huge reasons. Number one, you see, this is the only job I ever wanted. And number two, THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE I EVER WANTED TO BE!"

 

Gives me chills. The perfect sentiment, perfectly delivered.

 

He's so clearly such a fundamentally good dude. One who happened to have (and then developed) a unique talent for calling hockey games.

[woods-racer]

"Now do you believe? NOW DO YOU BELIEVE? These guys are good! Scary good!"

 

I remember that like it was yesterday, sent chills down my spine, long for him to say that again.... soon I hope.... very soon.

[Cereal]

I think my favorite was when Pominville line when he was on a particular hot streak. He always did the population part, but I remember him saying something along the lines of "They are gonna have to open up a new Planned Parenthood Center in Buffalo because the population in exploding in Pominville" or something like that.

Nice one!  finally found video:

[Doohicksie]

I remember hearing a story about a call like that -- from RJ himself (in an interview). As memory serves, he got a memo from one of the Knox brothers asking him to keep things more family-friendly. I recall him dating it to his very early years, though.

The jockstrap comment was used routinely by Mickey Redmond when I lived in Detroit. But that was a little later, and there was always the sense that Redmond's comments were already cleaned up compared to what was going on in his head.