Rick Dudley has never been one to shy away from taking chances, and because of his aggressive nature, he has been rewarded time after time. Born in the Township of Toronto (later Mississauga) , Dudley grew up as a three-sport man. During the summer, the hard working, team oriented Dudley would trade in his hockey stick for a lacrosse stick to lead the Mississauga Junior ”A” PCO’s. In between, he also found the time for few rounds in the boxing ring.

     Regardless of the sport, fans, teammates and coaches all could count one thing: Dudley’s dedication and 100 per cent effort. From the Township’s minor hockey rinks, Dudley graduated to the Major Junior Hockey League’s St. Catharines Black Hawks before turning professional with Iowa in the Central Hockey League. He toiled almost four seasons in the lower leagues with Iowa, Cleveland, Flint and Cincinnati, Dudley before breaking into the National hockey League with Buffalo Sabres. His 40 goals, 44 assists and 159 penalty minutes in 64 games for the American Hockey League’s Cincinnati served as a passport to the NHL. Combining hard work with an offensive flair, Dudley became an instant favourite of the Buffalo Sabres fans. He had a remarkable season in 1974-’75 when he scored a 31 goals and 39 assists helping the Sabres reach the Stanley Cup finals.

     After two and a half seasons in Buffalo, Dudley returned to Cincinnati to play in the rival World Hockey Association with the Stingers alongside players like Mike Liut, Mark Messier and Mike Gartner. In his first season in the WHA, Dudley led the Stringers in scoring with 43 goals and 38 assists. Following four high scoring seasons (43,41, 30 and 17 goals) with Cincinnati, he was back in Buffalo for another two-and-a-half seasons before wrapping up his NHL career with the Winnipeg Jets.

     During the 1981-’82 seasons, Dudley was player/coach in Fredericton. He took up coaching full time and guided  Carolina to three Atlantic Hockey League championships in four seasons. Two fine years in the International League with the Flint Spirit provided further coaching education. Guiding the American Hockey League’s New Haven Nighthawks to the 1988-’89 Calder Cup finals opened the door to the NHL and he was back to coach Buffalo in 1989. During the first of his three seasons behind the bench the rookie big league coach guided Sabres to the third best record in the NHL (445-27-8) and was one of the finalists for the Coach of the Year award.

 

     During the summer months when he wasn’t on the ice, Dudley turned his attention to his other sporting interest and helped Brantford Warriors win the 1971 Mann Cup and the Canadian championships. He also played pro lacrosse in the National League with the Rochester Griffins.