BUFFALO, N.Y. — One the nicest knuckle sandwich artisans you'll ever meet, Buffalo Sabres legend Rob Ray reflects on decades with the organization ahead of his induction into the team's Hall of Fame.

"Well, nobody else in our company has a personality, so they got to use somebody that's got a little bit of a personality," joked Ray. "[I've] been here since [I was] 20, 21 years old. I've been here longer and working for this team longer and I lived in my own town — this is home."

Drafted in 1988, Ray spent a few years on and off with the nearby Rochester Americans, the Sabres' AHL affiliate, but he turned into a solid NHL-er for the next decade and a half. He credits a cast of characters for his development. 

"Coming to training camp, my first linemates were Clark Gillies and Larry Playfair. And I'm like, well, you're fortunate enough to be surrounded by those guys that taught you the way to play the game and the way to be away from the game," Ray said.

It wasn't too long before he was filling that mentor role himself.

"The two children that I had before my actual kids, you know, like [Matthew] Barnaby and [Brad] May and these guys, I tell them both that I failed as a father twice," he joked. "So I was successful the second two times."

After hanging up his skates in 2004, the Sabres came calling to see if he'd like to join the broadcast team where he'd be alongside some of the best for nearly two decades.

"When Harry [Neale] decided to retire, [Rick Jeanneret] came to me and he said, 'hey, look, I'll keep doing this if you do it with me,' and year after year the team delivered," Ray said.

All these years later, the man affectionately known as 'Rayzor' loves reporting from the rink.

"You can be too critical up top and down below your part of the game. Between the benches you can see all the little things that are happening and what guys are doing, and you can pick it out and you can talk about it," he said. "And it's just it's just so much better for me."

There was that time he got nailed by a puck and through that old school grit and professionalism, he kept going.

"It happens. Pay attention," Ray remarked. "I blame that all on my guy in my ear telling me to write something down instead of paying attention to the game."

All those years of service to the team and the community, it's something 'Rayzor' will keep in his heart as the Sabres honor his name.

"I think it's pretty cool when you can have that interaction with people that, you know, what stuck in their mind," said Ray. "I want to be a good dad. I want to be a good husband. And that's my life now."