height_ft played_for weight_lb shoots birth_place career_end position height_in birth_date article_title career_start
5 new canucks york rangers detroit red wings buffalo sabres vancouver 195 right midland , on , can 1977 defence 11 12 february 1948 mike robitaille
 1968
mike robitaille

michael james david robitaille -lrb- born february 12 , 1948 -rrb- is a retired canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and commentator .
he played in the national hockey league with the new york rangers , detroit red wings , buffalo sabres and vancouver canucks .
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 , which caused nerve damage in his neck .
he would later win a lawsuit against the canucks for mistreating his injuries .
robitaille was born in midland , ontario , and joined the sabres ' broadcasting arm in 1989 .
he was one of the founders of `` hockey hotline '' , the buffalo sabres ' postgame show on empire sports network , 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 and former color commentators jim lorentz or harry neale could n'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 .
however he felt ready and returned to his broadcast duties in time for the start of the 2010-11 nhl season with the sabres.on october 3 , 2013 , it was announced that mike robitaille will be partially retiring after the season and former sabres forward brad may will join the crew this year on a limited basis before moving into robitaille 's slot in a full-time role next year .
robitaille will continue his radio work and some limited television work during his retirement .
-lsb- http://blogs.buffalonews.com/talkintv/2014/04/robitaille-really-isnt-retiring.html
