The Sabres have announced that play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret will call all 82 games for the Sabres during the upcoming 2012-2013 season.
This comes after a year in which Jeanneret requested to call fewer games. Even he admitted that he didn’t call enough, so this year he is back, and will travel with the team, for every game.
“But last year I think I took too many games off, and I recognized that. I really didn’t intend to say that I was going to do them all, but as I looked at the schedule, it started to look a little bit better each time I looked at it. I’ve gotta give Ted Black and company all the credit in the world for coming up with a schedule like this. And I think it’s going to translate into more victories too.”
Jeanneret will enter his 41st season behind the microphone, which is good news for Sabres fans. A big reason why Jeanneret is willing to call every game may be the fact that the Sabres only play 11 sets of back-to-back games, the fewest in franchise history.
“There were several factors that entered the equation. I guess one is that I feel pretty good. That was number one. Number two – I looked at the schedule and it was the best one I’ve seen in years as far as I’m concerned. You’re still traveling as many miles, and you’re still going to as many games obviously. But by cutting back on the back-to-backers, that’s going to make a huge difference. It certainly played an enormous part in my decision.