John Gurtler II is an American sportscaster. He is most noted for having succeeded

Ted Darling Edgar Lee "Ted" Darling (June 9, 1935 – December 19, 1996) was a Canadian-American sports announcer. He is best known as the original "Voice of the Buffalo Sabres" ice hockey team for twenty-two seasons, calling the team's games on television ...

as television play-by-play announcer for 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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

, a position he held from 1992 until 1995. Previously, he served as the intermission host from 1989 to 1991. He currently serves as the radio play-by-play announcer for the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

and has served as the public address announcer for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Early life

A native of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Gurtler earned a football scholarship to Western State College. He quit football after three days to pursue other campus activities, including acting.

Early career

Gurtler's early work includes serving as the radio play-by-play announcer for the Colorado Flames of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

and working as a sports director for KJCT in

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United St ...

and weekend sports anchor

KRDO-TV KRDO-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) alongside low-power broadcasting#Telemundo, low- ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. In 1984, he moved to New York to become the play-by-play announcer for the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

Buffalo Sabres

In 1986, Gurtler became the public relations director for the Sabres. In 1989, he became the host of Sabres' television coverage. In December 1991, Gurtler became the team's television announcer after

went on medical leave. He became the team's full time play-by-play announcer the following season when Darling could not return. In 1995, the Sabres opted to replaced Gurtler with popular radio announcer

Rick Jeanneret John Richard Jeanneret (July 23, 1942 – August 17, 2023) was a Canadian television and radio personality best known as the play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres and its broadcast network, the Sabres Hockey Ne ...

Post-Sabres career

In 1997, Gurtler was hired as co-public address announcer for the Buffalo Bills (Gurtler took over in-game announcements while Stan Roberts' duties were reduced to pregame, halftime and postgame announcements). In 2008 he was replaced by Marc Honan of

WGRF WGRF (96.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Buffalo, New York, branded as "97 Rock". The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format, mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. WGRF ...

, the Bills' flagship radio station. In 2004 he became the play-by-play announcer for the Buffalo Bandits of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

. In 2016 he began teaching the new Play-By-Play Announcements course at

Canisius College Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...

Personal life

Gurtler and his family reside in Orchard Park. The family made headlines when a 2008 post-prom party held on the premises was raided by local police and it was discovered that copious amounts of alcohol were being served to the mostly underage patrons, totaling at least seventy in all. Gurtler and his son pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and were granted conditional discharges.

References

External links

Gurtler's blog
at Bandits.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurtler, John Living people American sports announcers Buffalo Bandits Buffalo Bills Buffalo Sabres announcers Canisius University faculty NFL public address announcers National Lacrosse League announcers National Hockey League broadcasters People from Orchard Park, New York Radio personalities from Denver Western Colorado University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)