Bruce Ridpath

Bruce Ridpath
Position	Forward
Shoots	right
Nickname(s)	Riddy
Height Weight	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg)
Teams	Ottawa Senators Toronto Professionals
Nationality	Canada
Born	January 2, 1884, Lakefield, Ontario
Died	June 4,1925 (age = 41), Toronto, Ontario
Pro Career	1906 – 1911

David Bruce Ridpath (January 2,1884– June 4,1925) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and general manager. He was a member of the 1911 Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Senators before an automobile accident ended his playing career.

Ridpath, born in Lakefield, Ontario, as well as playing ice hockey, also was a member of the Toronto Canoe Club and became known as a canoe racer and stunt paddler, performing in shows throughout the world. Ridpath never married and died in 1925 at the age of 40 at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. He suffered a stroke on May 18 and never regained consciousness.

Playing career

Ridpath played junior hockey in 1904 with the Toronto Western Athletic Club in the Ontario Hockey Association(OHA). He then joined the senior Toronto Marlboros of the OHA in 1905. He turned professional in 1906 with the Toronto team, playing in eight games, scoring 17 goals in their exhibition schedule. He played three seasons for the Torontos, helping the team to win the 1908 league title and scored a goal in a 6-4 loss to the Montreal Wanderers in a one-game Stanley Cup challenge.

On January 30, 1909, he scored seven goals in one game as Toronto defeated Brantford 15-10. Later that season, he played for Cobalt in the Temiskaming League that would form the foundation of the new National Hockey Association later that year.

Bruce Ridpath in 1910

Ridpath signed with the Ottawa Senators in 1909-10, playing in the NHA. He played on a forward line with Gordon Roberts and Marty Walsh and rover Bruce Stuart and later with the line of Walsh, Dubbie Kerr and Jack Darragh. In 1910–11, his most productive season, he scored 23 goals in 16 games and help Ottawa win the NHA final and the Stanley Cup.

He suffered a fractured skull when he was hit by a car on Yonge Street in Toronto on November 2,1911 and missed the entire 1911-12 season. The new Toronto Blueshirts wanted him to play for them, and Ottawa demanded $500 for his rights, but he never fully recovered from his injuries, which were initially life-threatening, ending his playing career. Benefits were held in Ottawa and Toronto for Ridpath who was a popular player.

Ridpath was appointed the first manager of the Blueshirts and assembled the Toronto Blueshirts for their first season of play in the NHA. He resigned as manager in October 1913.

References

• (1998) Total Hockey, 1808.