by Frank Orr _ The Toronto Star - 12/18/1974
RICK DUDLEY IS AN athlete who has had a unique opportunity to view professional sports from two distinctly different vantage points. Dudley, in fact, is a rare specimen in these days of long, over-lapping seasons because he plays two contact sports for pay.
This winter, Dudley is a winger with Buffalo Sabres, the National Hockey League’s best team. He works on a Sabres line called the “Kamikaze Kids” with Brian Spencer and Jim Lorentz. Their main duty is creating havoc in the attacking zone.
Last summer, Dudley was a member of Rochester Griffins, the first champions of the National Lacrosse League. In 26 games, Dudley scored 51 goals and 88 assists for 139 points. He topped the NLL in penalties with 181 minutes and twice scored 7 goals in a game. In hockey, Dudley is a missing one at 25 years of fringe player, albeit a pro-age.
In lacrosse, he’s a super-star, one of the best in the game, a fast runner and explosive scorer. “My situation is completely different in the two sports,” Dudley said. “In lacrosse, I’m a name player and I can perform with a much more relaxed approach and more confidence than I can in hockey. I know that when I go to a practice, the manager isn’t going to call me aside and tell me I’ve been traded.
“In hockey, I’m no-name player. Instead, I’m a guy who’s struggling to hold a big league spot and master the game. My mental attitude is not nearly as relaxed in hockey as it is in lacrosse; I never know when they’re going to say ‘Dudley, you’ve been traded.’ “I feel I have a chance to look at pro sports in a way few athletes are given these days. Very few guys can play two contract sports. The way I approach them is completely different; in one, I have confidence; in the other, I’m not very sure of myself yet.”
Dudley’s insecurity about his hockey career is unfounded, according to Sabres’ general manager, Punch Imlach. He views the bellicose winger as a valuable employee who can only improve as he gains experience. He made it as a goon.
DUDLEY’S HOCKEY CAREER is a fluke, practically an accident. In his teens, lacrosse was his No. 1 game. He starred with the junior team in Mississauga and was 19 before he tried hockey seriously. “Al Gordaneer and I were mates on the Mississauga lacrosse team in 1968 and boarded at the same house,” Dudley recalled.
“When lacrosse ended, Gardaneer was trying out for the Dixie Beehives Junior B hockey team. He talked me into going to their training camp. “I had no experience in hockey at all. I’d played a couple of seasons in house leagues when I was a kid and the year before, I’d played an 11-game schedule in an industrial league in Brighton, Ont., where my family lived. I was a brutal skater but figured working out would be a good way to stay in condition for lacrosse.”
Although Dudley couldn’t skate well, his fighting ability was high calibre. Early in the camp, he was involved in several bouts, which impressed Beehive management. They needed muscle and signed Dudley for the 1968–69 season.
Dudley built a Junior B reputation for scrapping, if not for scoring. At mid-season, when St. Catharines Black Hawks of the Ontario Major Junior group needed muscle to round out a fine club, they promoted Dudley from Dixie.
“I had no false ideas of why they called me up,” Dudley said. “They wanted a goon, a guy to be their toughie. I didn’t really care. I had a half-season in Junior B as background and there I was with an A team. “I think Brian Shaw, the St. Catharines coach, wanted me to play a few games, then he would trade me to complete an earlier deal.
But I got into a few fights and the fans liked that. When I became a hometown favorite, they couldn’t trade me.” Dudley wasn’t claimed in the ’69 amateur draft but was placed on Minnesota North Stars’ negotiation list. He wrecked his knee in training camp when Leo Boivin belted him and played only 26 games in the miners. A broken foot chopped him down in ’70–71, and Stars lost interest.
Dudley led Brantford Mohawks to the Canadian senior lacrosse title in ’71. Mohawks coach Morley Kells recommended him to Imlach and Dudley became Sabres property, assigned to their American League farm at Cincinnati. Shooters have high salariesAT CINCINNATI, Dudley discovered the facts of hockey life: Shooters drive Mercedes, goons drive compacts. He had 272 penalty minutes but only 6 goals.
“I knew I put people in the rink by getting into all sorts of scraps but when I talked contract with the team for a second season, they offered me a $1,500 raise,” Dudley said. “That was the year the World Hockey Association was starting and salaries had shot up.
“Management said I only had scored 6 goals; I countered by saying I had sold tickets. They won. At that point I decided I’d played the goon role long enough. I had to concentrate on scoring if I wanted to go anywhere in hockey, especially the place where the good money was located.”
Dudley was one bad guy who went straight successfully. He had 40 goals and 44 assists for the AHL champion Cincinnati Swords and built a 7-15-22 playoff point total in 15 games. His 159 regular season and 56 playoff penalty minutes showed that he hardly had turned into a cream-puff. Last season, he earned a spot with Sabres and produced 13 goals. He upgraded his defensive ability and now is well-established in Buffalo.
When Morley Kells was hired to coach Rochester Griffins in lacrosse, he drafted Dudley, then approached Imlach for clearance on using him. “I had nothing to do with that; it was between Kells and Punch,” Dudley said. “I missed a dozen games at the start and finish. I dropped out in early August so I would not be worn out for training camp. Kells tried again for permission to use me in the playoffs but Imlach turned him down.
Rochester won the title anyway because they had good pressure players.” Injuries are the big risk but Imlach says Dudley can play lacrosse in ’75 if he quits early enough to be ready for hockey camp.
