BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Rob Ray the feared NHL enforcer gave way to Rob Ray the son, father and beloved teammate on Friday night, showing his softer side upon induction into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.
It took the mere sight of his parents sitting to his left, and a standing ovation from the thousands of Sabres fans on hand for Ray to nearly give in to his emotions before even beginning his acceptance speech.
“OK, you got to stop or I’m going to cry,” said Ray, who spent 14 of his 16 NHL seasons in Buffalo, where he inspired an NHL rule change, excited crowds with his fights, accumulated 3,207 penalty minutes, and remains a fan favorite in making a near seamless shift into broadcasting Sabres games.
“I came to this town, I didn’t need glasses, I was in shape, I had hair, I left it all here for you guys,” Ray said to open his speech.
“It’s hard to believe I’ve been in this organization for 37 years,” he said in closing. “And on those nights that I was coming off the ice, and there was blood coming out of your face somewhere, that wasn’t red. That was blue and gold,” he said, referring to the Sabres colors.
Now 56, Ray was selected by Buffalo in the fifth round of the 1988 draft, and played for the Sabres from 1990 to 2002, before closing his career playing parts of two seasons in Ottawa. He became the 44th person inducted into the team hall of fame on Friday night before a game against the Nashville Predators.
Ray’s penalty minutes are a franchise record and rank sixth on the NHL career list. He finished with 41 goals and 91 points in 900 career games.
Memorable as his many fights were, Ray had a few notable offensive moments.
He scored a goal on his first career shift, beating Tom Barrasso with a slap shot from the left circle, and added an assist in a 4-2 win at Pittsburgh on Oct. 21, 1989. He scored three career playoff goals, including the winner in a 5-2 victory over Toronto in Game 4 of the 1999 Eastern Conference finals — a series Buffalo would go on to win in Game 5.
As an enforcer, Ray was noted for wearing tear-away jerseys, which gave him an advantage over an opponent. It freed up Ray’s arms to keep punching, while his opponent was caught flat-footed with Ray’s jersey in his hands.
This led to the NHL introducing a rule in which players who fought without their jerseys got game misconducts.
“He played the game with fire. He wasn’t just a tough guy, but he was the toughest,” former teammate Brad May said. “There’s no better feeling knowing Rob Ray has your back.”
From Stirling, Ontario, Ray adopted Buffalo as his hometown and is known for heading the Sabres alumni association and for his many charitable works, including distributing toys to underprivileged children each Christmas Eve.
Ray was celebrated on the ice with many of his teammates on hand, along with his wife and two children. Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula also attended, making her first appearance at the arena since experiencing a debilitating cardiac arrest in June 2022. Pegula watched from a suite along with her husband, Terry.
Ray paid tribute to each of his coaches, and to late NHL Hall of Fame broadcaster Rick Jeanneret, by saying, “I miss you, buddy. We all do.” Jeanneret, who died in August 2023, provided Ray his broadcasting start following his retirement.
Tie Domi, who squared off with Ray on numerous occasions, sent a video tribute.
“They changed the rules because of you. The streaker, the fighting streaker,” Domi said. “I’m proud of you man. Our friendship goes way beyond hockey.”
Ray lamented how the NHL eventually phased out the enforcer role by introducing a series of rule changes to limit fighting over the past two decades.
“I think that sometimes what we lose in our game is it’s all about winning and losing and it’s all about stats, you forget it’s an entertainment business,” said Ray, a member of the late-90s Sabres squads that were dubbed the hardest working team in hockey.
“We didn’t win a lot of games back then. But we played hard and people respected it. They liked it,” Ray said. “They knew that we might not win, but you know what, ‘I may see a fight tonight. I might see two.’ And that was kind of the draw that lured them.”