“Loved To Score Goals” | Remembering Rick Martin | Buffalo Sabres Memories

“Loved To Score Goals” | Remembering Rick Martin | Buffalo Sabres Memories

He just loved to play the game, Rick Martin. He just loved to score a goal. He was one of the best goal scorers I’ve ever seen. He broke Gilbert’s scoring record his rookie year. But he could shoot the puck, man. Rico, he was amazing. Great teammate, great guy, great competitor. But he just loved to have fun. You know, Rico was he was a like, court jester. Oh, he was a great prankster. He loved to cause trouble. Rico would always try to find something to do to someone. Well, it just happened that one day that it was going to be Rick Dudley. Rico always would work on his sticks. You know, he’d shave them down, try and put a little more curve in it or whatever. He got a hold of Rick Dudley’s stick. He sawed the shaft in half. Not all the way through. When he’d go out and warm up it would break, right? Well, we through warm up it didn’t break because he hadn’t sawed it through enough. So he got in the game… he had a semi-breakaway and he came in to shoot the puck and it snapped. Rico looked at me and I, we started laughing. He had a great chance to score but he sawed that stick. At the airport we had a trick where we had a fishing line. We put a $20 bill attached to it He’d walk out to the concourse and Rico would put the $20 bill and he would hide. So then all these people would start getting off gates and walking along, and they’d see this $20 bill. You know, they’d go to grab it and he’d pull it, pull it, pull it, and they’d be like fools chasing this $20 bill. As everybody got fooled more people would gather around and it was a laugh for everybody. Not just the team but everybody would just sort of join in and they’re waiting for the next person. He was a card. He loved to have fun. Making sure everybody was laughing you know, keep everybody happy. Rick Martin never said no to anybody. He was great with the fans. Never missed an autograph session. I had a lot of respect for Rick Martin. He went to the max and everything he did. I know he he loved to play the game and we miss him a lot. Just not the same sometimes. So, you know. I got a phone call at 7 or 8:00 in the morning that Rico had just died of a heart attack. So, after that, I just I shut my phone off because I knew that it would be buzzing all day, and I just… I just had to comprehend what just happened to Rico, and I just… I couldn’t figure out why he was gone. You know, he had so much left to offer. It was very devastating. I remember it. I had to make the announcement to the crowd that night. You want to talk about silence? Oh, boy. Yeah, he he loved the game, loved to play. Whenever someone needed Rico he was always there and would help whoever he can, whenever he could. And, that’s… that’s what I miss about the man.

From the archives, watch Sabres Memories: Rick Martin. Rick Jeanneret, Rene Robert, Paul Wieland, Danny Gare, Don Luce, and more recall memories of Buffalo Sabre Rick Martin.

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