Rob Ray To Be Inducted to Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame

With his family in attendance and a surprise message delivered by two of his most famous teammates, Buffalo Sabres tough guy Rob Ray learned he will be inducted this year into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame. 

A video during a first period stoppage in play, featuring goalies Ryan Miller and Dominik Hasek, announced the news, a surprise to Ray, who held back on showing too much emotion with the cameras turned on him from his usual place between benches during the team’s game against the Florida Panthers. 

Ray, who played for the Sabres from 1990 through 2003 (including a short stint with the team during the 1989-1990 season before going to the Rochester Americans), before joining the broadcast team with fellow Hall of Famer Rick Jeanneret later, holds the team record for penalty minutes with 3,189; his total career penalty minutes, 3,207, has him in sixth place for the entire NHL. 

“It’s a complete honor,” Ray said to host Brian Duff and fellow former Sabre Marty Biron during an intermission Saturday before the Sabres beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers 5-2. “This has been my life for the last 35 years, and I know nothing else. I’ve never had another job. I know I don’t show it sometimes, but I’m trying not to cry in front of everybody because I’ve got to kind of act tough. It’s the greatest thing that could happen.” 

Ray is the 44th member of the Sabres Hall of Fame, which also includes Miller, Hasek, Jeanneret, and other beloved players like Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny from the era in which Ray went toe-to-toe with some of the toughest guys in the league, including his infamous bouts with Toronto Maple Leaf tough guy Tie Domi. 

Ray also has a reputation for being a good guy, serving as a longtime supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the first Buffalo Sabre to win the NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy for exemplifying leadership on and off the ice. 

He will be inducted during a pre-game ceremony later this season, the date for which has yet to be announced.