BUFFALO, N.Y. — Early on in his tenure as the Sabres’ coach, Ted Nolan wanted to make Rob Ray a healthy scratch. Typically, an assistant coach would share that news with a player. But when Nolan asked Don Lever, he tried to pass the task along to Terry Martin. When Nolan asked Martin, he tried to pass it off on Lever.

Too often this season, this edition of the Sabres has been the antithesis of teams from the Rob Ray era, Harrington says. So it was important to see them get tougher, especially mentally, and pull out a 4-3 win over Nashville.

The gritty power forward who played 889 of his 900 NHL games with the Sabres was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame on Friday at KeyBank Center. He is the 42nd inductee into the team's Hall of Fame and the first to be granted the honor since former forward Dale Hawerchuk and legendary announcer Rick Jeanneret were back in 2012.

Rob Ray, who spent 14 seasons in Buffalo, where he inspired an NHL rule change, excited crowds, accumulated 3,207 penalty minutes, and remains a fan favorite while shifting to broadcasting, was inducted into the Sabres' Hall of Fame on Friday.

In an honor long overdue, Rob Ray will be inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame on Friday night. He will be honored not only and a player and broadcaster, but a man that goes to extraordinary lengths to help others.