Michael James David Robitaille (born February 12, 1948) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

and commentator. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

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 ...

and

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

in a career that lasted from 1968 to 1977.

Playing career

Robitaille played in 382 regular season NHL games, scoring 23 goals and adding 105 assists. He was most well known for his punishing hip checks. He also appeared in 13 playoff games, six with Buffalo and seven for Vancouver, tallying one assist. His career ended pre-maturely in 1977 when he was blind-sided by Dennis Owchar of the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

, which caused nerve damage in his neck. He later won a lawsuit against the Canucks for mistreating his injuries.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Robitaille joined the Sabres' broadcasting arm in 1985. He was one of the founders of ''Hockey Hotline'', the Buffalo Sabres' postgame show on

Empire Sports Network Empire Sports Network was an American regional sports network that was owned by the Adelphia Communications Corporation. The network was available on cable providers in much of upstate New York (stretching from Buffalo to Albany), as well as ...

, in 1991 and worked for the Sabres and various sister outlets until his retirement from television in 2014. He is known for his colorful analogies and exaggerations. During the 2000s, Robitaille was the fill-in commentator whenever play-by-play 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 ...

and former color commentators

Jim Lorentz James Peter Lorentz, Jr. (born May 1, 1947) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey centre who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres between 1969 and 1978 ...

Harry Neale Harold Watson Neale (born March 9, 1937) is a Canadian retired NCAA, NHL and WHA coach and general manager, and ice hockey broadcaster. Coaching career Following his playing career, Neale got his head coaching start at Hill Park Secondary Sch ...

couldn't fulfill their duties on a game day broadcast. In February 2010, Robitaille was injured in a car accident suffering a spinal cord injury with neurological damage. Robitaille’s injuries from the accident resulted in him missing broadcast duties for the remainder of the 2009-2010 NHL season. Through months of rehabilitation from the time of accident through September of that year, doctors and Robitaille said that he was not at 100% yet. He said he felt ready and returned to his broadcast duties in time for the start of the

2010-11 NHL season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

with the Sabres. On October 3, 2013, it was announced that Robitaille would be partially retiring after the season and that former Sabres forward

Brad May Bradley Scott May (born November 29, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). In the 2006–07 season he won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Anaheim Ducks. He currently ...

would join the crew on a limited basis before moving into Robitaille's slot in a full-time role the following year. Robitaille continued his radio work and some limited television work during his retirement.

Personal life

Robitaille was born in

Midland, Ontario Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Huronia/Wendat region of Central Ontario. Located at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region ...

. He lives with his wife, Isabel, in the Buffalo area; the couple also has a second home in Mexico. When not working with the Sabres, Robitaille is the vice president of development and community affairs for his wife's company, Robitaille Real Estate. He has two daughters—Sarah, a salesperson with her mother's company, and Anique, a recording artist in Toronto. Mike Robitaille is distantly related to former NHLer

Luc Robitaille Luc Jean-Marie Robitaille (born February 17, 1966) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey executive and former player who serves as president of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). During his 19-season NHL career, ...

. Mike's 6th great-grandfather and Luc's 8th great-grandfather were brothers.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robitaille, Mike 1948 births Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Buffalo Sabres announcers Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Cincinnati Swords players Detroit Red Wings players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Ice hockey people from Ontario Kitchener Rangers players Living people New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players Sportspeople from Midland, Ontario Vancouver Canucks players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen