Greater Buffalo Sports HOF: Mike Robitaille struck a chord on Sabres games | Buffalo Sabres News

Robitaille is considered one of 12 inductees to the Class of 2021, which will likely be honored on the annual induction dinner Oct. 13 within the Buffalo Niagara Conference Middle. Tickets are available at Buffalosportshallfame.com and are discounted to $95 (or $850 for a desk of 10) by way of Sept. 24.

Robitaille, who performed seven seasons as an NHL defenseman with the Sabres and three different groups, joined the Sabres broadcast crew in 1989 and stayed for the subsequent 25 years. He is most remembered for his position on Empire’s “Hockey Hotline,” the vastly standard postgame present on the community throughout the Sabres’ heyday within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, and for his weekly radio appearances on “The Sharpshooters” with Jim Kelley, the late Corridor of Fame columnist from The Buffalo Information.

“The man that taught me some stability on my work was Jim Kelley. We talked quite a bit about that,” Robitaille mentioned. “And I balanced my work out just a little bit due to him. He mentioned one thing to me I am going to always remember: ‘In God’s identify, do not promote out to anybody. Simply be trustworthy and be truthful.’ “

Robitaille’s evaluation was sharp-tongued, insightful and entertaining all on the similar time. And lots of phrases or phrases weren’t in your common dictionary.

“I have not obtained a fantastic formal schooling, so I needed to do an terrible lot of labor in preparation and I might have little set off phrases I might put down earlier than,” he mentioned. “Forechecking, backchecking, hitting, plenty of fundamental stuff. And I might be capable to look down about sure issues I need to speak about. I simply pieced it off the pregame work.”