“Rico’s Way.”
That’s what I’d call it, especially after listening to the stories about Rick Martin in the ceremony eulogizing him – stories capturing his love of life, his support of the community – things that were a part of “Rico’s way.”
From WGRZ:
“Retired attorney Fred Leyland has another idea to put the name Martin on the map, literally. He would like to see one of the streets near HSBC Arena renamed in honor of the left winger.”
Maybe change “Martin” to “Rico’s,” and substitute “St.” with “Way” and we’re good to go!
“It’s been done before for sports figures, the section of Main Street in front of the Arena is now known as Seymour Knox III Plaza, and a section of South Park is named for boxing great Jimmy Slattery.”
Other ideas cited by WGRZ included:
- Building a statue of Martin – though there is already a fan effort to erect a statue of the entire French Connection, and these things come at a hefty price.
- A fan drive to get Martin into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Great idea, but his lack of Cup rings and a career shortened by injury are major hurdles (just ask Cam Neeley about that).
- The NHL should ceremoniously grant Martin a 50 goal season for the 1975-76 campaign. He had 49 goals going into the final game, and actually did score – but the puck went through the mesh of the net and the refs missed it. There was no video review back then, but it’s likely impossible the NHL would change its record books for this, as it would then welcome hundreds more like requests.
Naming a street after him is a nice idea. It wouldn’t cost a pretty penny, and would certainly warm the hearts of fans year-round. If you like the idea, head on over to Sabres.com and enter it into their “suggestion box.”
Go Sabres.
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