Edgar Lee "Ted" Darling (June 9, 1935 – December 19, 1996) was a Canadian sports announcer best known as the original "Voice of the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team for twenty-two seasons, calling the team's games on television from the team's inaugural season in 1970 to 1991. Prior to his work with the Sabres, he hosted ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'' telecasts from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. In October 1991, Darling was diagnosed with

Pick's disease Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or frontotemporal degeneration disease, or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes. FTDs broadly present as ...

, an Alzheimer's-like degenerative illness, and thus, was on medical leave from October 16 to November 20. He returned to call 6 more games before being relieved of his duties by the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

of Sabres broadcasts, Paul Wieland, on December 12, 1991. Darling called a total of 11 games during the 1991–92 season. He was brought back, however, as a studio analyst for games on

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in the 1992–93 season before announcing his retirement. After a five-year battle with the illness, he died on December 19, 1996 at the age of 61.

Awards and accolades

*Inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

in 1994. *Inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. *Inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2002. *The press box at

KeyBank Center KeyBank Center is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Buffalo, New York. Originally known as Marine Midland Arena, the venue has since been named HSBC Arena and First Niagara Center. Home to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey Leagu ...

is named the "Ted Darling Memorial Press Box" in his honor.

Memorable calls

When the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 hit the city of Buffalo, Darling called a game between the

Sabres A sabre is a type of sword. Sabre, Sabres, saber, or SABRE may also refer to: Weapons and weapon systems * Sabre (fencing), a sporting sword * Sabre (tank), a modern British armoured reconnaissance vehicle * Chinese sabre or ''dao'', a variety ...

and

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

at the

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from his apartment—phoning in his commentary while watching the action on his television.

References

1935 births 1996 deaths Buffalo Sabres announcers New York Giants announcers Canadian people of British descent Canadian sports announcers Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Deaths from Pick's disease Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winners Ice hockey people from Ontario National Hockey League broadcasters People from Kingston, Ontario Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States {{Canada-icehockey-bio-stub