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 h ...

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 second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. 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 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

WUTV WUTV (channel 29) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYO-TV (channel 49). Both stations share studios on Hertel ...

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 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 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

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum (french: Le Forum de Montréal) is a historic building located facing Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by '' Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as the ...

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