Bruce Ridpath
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Bruce Ridpath was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada in 1885 and was the 5th son of Samuel Redpath (1834-1895) of Northumberland, UK and Jane Isbister (1846-1927) of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland who had emigrated to Canada in 1861. Bruce was one of twelve siblings, brother to James William Ridpath of Lakefield, Ontario, Canada who was the father of James Clayton Ridpath and grandfather of Joseph Ian Ridpath of Milton, Ontario - author of this article.
From the Official Encyclopeadia of the National Hockey League, (Dinger, Duplace et al, ISBN 0-8362-7114-9, pp1808/9), Bruce Ridpath was a scoring star who may well have become a member of Canada's Hockey Hall of Fame had an automobile accident not curtailed his career. He played alongside Newsy Lalonde in the Ontario Professional Hockey League (1907-08) helping his team to win the league title and scoring 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 a single league game.
Bruce signed with the original Ottawa Senators in 1909-10 and followed the team into the National Hockey Association. He played on a powerful forward line with Gordon Roberts and Marty Walsh and rover Bruce Stuart and later with the line of Walsh, Dubbie Kerr and Jack Darragh. His most productive season saw him score 23 goals in 16 games and help Ottawa win the NHA final and the Stanley Cup
Bruce was hit by a car in Toronto on November 2, 1911 and missed the entire 1911-12 season. He never played again. He coached the Toronto Blueshirts briefly that year before giving way to Jack Marshall.
Famous Canadian hockey commentator Foster Hewitt described Ridpath in his book Hello Canada as "banty legged Bruce Ridpath" because of his gangly stride on the ice. Conn Smythe once called Bruce "the best defenseman of his day".
Bruce never married and died at the age of forty at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto on May 4, 1925 from the effects of an earlier stroke.
