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Dit Clapper
Ditclapper
Position Defenceman
Shot Right
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Teams Boston Bruins
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born February 9, 1907(1907-02-09),
Newmarket, ON, CA
Died January 20, 1978(1978-01-20) (aged 70),
Newmarket, ON, CA
Pro Career 19271947
Hall of Fame, 1947

Aubrey Victor "Dit” Clapper (February 9, 1907 in Newmarket, Ontario – January 20, 1978 in Newmarket, Ontario) was a Canadian Hall of Fame player.

Clapper was given the nickname "Dit" at an early age when he would lisp his name "Vic." It came out "Dit." The name stuck.

Career[]

As a member of the Boston Bruins, he became the first player to play in the National Hockey League for twenty seasons. He was a great player both as a forward and defenceman, being named to All-Star squads at both right wing and defenceman.

A lifelong member of the Bruins, in 1947 the team retired his number 5 sweater and the Hall of Fame selection committee waived the customary three-year waiting period, and immediately inducted him into the Hockey Hall of Fame upon the night of his retirement. His used jersey from that night's game was donated to the Hall of Fame by Clapper himself during an on-ice presentation that night announcing his retirement and induction into the Hall. The jersey is currently on display in the International Hockey Hall of Fame's museum in Kingston, Ontario. Until he was named as coach, he had served as captain for longer than any NHL player until Ray Bourque and Steve Yzerman.

Cowleygoal-21Mar1939

Bill Cowley scores assisted by Clapper, Game 1 of the 1939 Semi-finals, March 21, 1939.

Coaching[]

Clapper coached the Bruins for two seasons as a player-coach and for two more seasons after his retirement. He became the first player in NHL history to play for 20 seasons, and the last active player that played during the 1920s.

Trivia[]

Awards[]

  • Stanley Cup Champion (1929, 1939, 1941)
  • First All-Star Team: (1939, 1940, 1941)
  • Second All-Star Team: (1944) as a defenceman
  • Second All-Star Team: (1931, 1935) as a right wing

Gallery[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
George Owen
Boston Bruins Captains
1932-33
Succeeded by
Marty Barry
Preceded by
Cooney Weiland
Boston Bruins Captains
1939-44
Succeeded by
Bill Cowley
Preceded by
Art Ross
Head Coaches of the Boston Bruins
1945-49
Succeeded by
George Boucher
Boston Bruins Head Coaches
RossDennenyF. Patrick • Ross • Weiland • Ross • ClapperBoucherL. PatrickSchmidtWatson • Schmidt • SindenJohnsonGuidolinCherryCreighton • Sinden • Cheevers • Sinden • GoringO'ReillyMilburyBownessSutterKasperBurnsKeenanFtorekO'ConnellSullivanLewisJulienCassidyMontgomery



Boston Bruins Captains
Cleghorn | Hitchman | Owen | Clapper | Barry | Stewart | Shore | Weiland | Clapper | Cowley | Crawford | Bauer | Schmidt | Sandford | Flaman | McKenney | Boivin | Bucyk | Cashman | O'Reilly | Middleton | Bourque | Allison | Thornton | Chára | Bergeron


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Dit Clapper. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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