Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – In an honor long overdue, Rob Ray will be inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame on Friday night.
Ray was a beloved member of the team when he spent 889 games as the enforcer for the Sabres. Having Ray on the team made the skill players feel comfortable knowing they were protected, but it goes much further than that.
In the years since his playing days, Ray grew into a very good broadcaster for the Sabres, and some fans may only know him as that.
For me, it’s the work he does in the community, totally behind the scenes, because he doesn’t want recognition. He just wants to help others.
Ray was taken in the fifth-round of the 1988 NHL Draft, and joined Keith Carney and Alex Mogilny as three players from that draft class that played 900 NHL games.
While Ray never played on the Sabres with Lindy Ruff, the current Sabres head coach was still in Buffalo during Ray’s first training camp.
“I just think of Rob as the ultimate Buffalo Sabre that has been involved in this organization for a long time,” said Ruff of Ray on Thursday. “I think he optimizes blue collar hockey, and the day where there were a lot of tough guys on every team. He created a lot of comfort for your team.
“He’s a great teammate, and I think post-career, probably an even better representation of what it’s like to be a Buffalo Sabre, being involved as a do-all guy to help the team out. From his broadcasting, you’ve seen him take the odd puck there between the glass, doesn’t miss any time and then tells you how tough he is. He even claimed one puck to the face knocked me out, but one to the face to him, he kept broadcasting.
“But I don’t think there’s enough you can say about what he’s done since he got here and his post career for the team and in the community.”
For years, Ray joined “Schopp and the Bulldog” on WGR Sports Radio 550, and it was always informative and entertaining.
He came on Wednesday with Chris “Bulldog” Parker and Nate Geary, and he’s not comfortable being the center of attention.
“The last thing I like doing is talking about myself, so that’s why I try to make fun of myself as much as possible,” Ray joked during his appearance.
Ray will get a chance to address the fans on Friday, and admits he’s already jittery about it.
“I only have five minutes to speak, and I’m crapping my pants about that,” he said. “I’ll stand in front of a camera and talk to a million people, but if I have to talk in front of 10 people, I get a little nervous.
“I’ll screw it up, I know I will,” Ray added, tongue in cheek.
Many friends and former teammates will be on hand Friday night to honor Ray, and the 56-year-old is humbled.
“The biggest thing is people you hear from, not only guys you played with but guys you played against and met along the way, they take the time to reach out, and that’s pretty cool,” Ray said. “It’s been nice, and brings back a lot of the memories. And then hearing the different guys that will be around, it’s nice that maybe you left a good enough impression that guys would be willing to take time out of their lives to come and spend a few hours with you on a special day.”
Ray is from a small town in Ontario called Stirling, and had only seen one NHL game before playing in one.
Ray’s career ended in 2004 with the Ottawa Senators, so there are many fans that are in the arena now that have never seen Ray play. But many certainly know of the burly winger.
“It’s the time, the years you were a player and then the years you were doing this, you touched a lot of generations. I help coach the kids here at Junior Sabres and the kids, 15-to-16 years-old, they never saw me play. So they know me as the guy on TV, not Rob the player,” Ray said.
“It wasn’t something I looked to do or wanted to do, or had aspirations to do it. Larry Quinn gave me the opportunity and I said, ‘I’ll try it.’ I was only going to do it for a few years to have something to do, and now it’s ‘Wow, I’m starting to think when’s the time to get out of it?’”
Ray wasn’t an enforcer before he came to professional hockey. It was his coach in Rochester that told him what he needed to do if he wanted to be an NHL player. Ray said, though, the decision was easy.
“It wasn’t hard at all, because I didn’t know John Van Boxmeer that well when I got there. But just the way he approached it and the respect he had, willing to make that offer to me and make me aware of it. And he said at the time, ‘This is what they’re looking for, and they think you might be able to do it. So are you willing to try it?’ And I’m like, ‘Heck yeah! Show me, teach me, tell me,’” Ray recalled. “That was the greatest advice I ever got. Had he not taken the time to give me that advice or open up to me in that way, I might not ever had made it.”
Rob was always professional to me as a player. He knew I had a job to do, and we had a mutual respect for each other.
After he retired, we became very good friends. He definitely has a way to let you know he cares. I’ll never forgot when I started my weight loss journey, he grabbed me by the shirt collar and said, “If you don’t do this, you aren’t going to be around too much longer.”
But it wasn’t just talk. He was worried that my body couldn’t take the abuse I was giving it. He also said to me that as soon as we got to a city during the season, we were immediately changing and heading to the gym. And he said if I wasn’t there, he’d come to my room and drag me there.
When I needed surgery, he asked me what time I needed him to pick me up to go. I told him that wasn’t necessary, and he told me it wasn’t a discussion. He wanted to know what time to be there, and he took me to the hospital and picked me up the next day.
Now, of course, I needed to hear about how I didn’t invite him in, but that’s the Rob Ray experience.
I mentioned to him once that I was looking for someone to power wash my house. Some guy who was recommended to me tried to rip me off by charging me double what he charged a friend of mine, so I told Rob and asked if he knew someone. Four months later at 9 a.m., he was banging on the roof of my car with his power washer to do my house.
He will do anything for you.
The biggest thing I admire about Rob is how much he does for the community, and he doesn’t want people to know because he just does it. Whether it’s collecting turkeys and food for Thanksgiving, or collecting toys and distributing them with the Buffalo Police Department on Christmas Eve, he just does it and doesn’t want thanks.
For me, it’s Rob Ray, the man. That’s why he’s joining the Sabres Hall of Fame.
The Sabres are telling everyone to be in their seats by 6 p.m. on Friday for the ceremony. Brian Koziol will be bringing you the full ceremony on WGR.
During his time with the Sabres, Ray recorded over 3,200 penalty minutes, the most in franchise history. He was also a fan favorite for his gritty style of play and his dedication to the team.
Ray will join a prestigious list of former Sabres players in the team’s Hall of Fame, including legends like Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and Dominik Hasek.
The induction ceremony is set to take place later this season, and fans are sure to come out in full force to honor one of the toughest players to ever wear a Sabres jersey. Congratulations to Rob Ray on this well-deserved honor!
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