Babe Pratt
Encyclopedia
Walter "Babe" Pratt was a Canadian
professional ice hockey
defenceman
/left winger
who played for the New York Rangers
, Toronto Maple Leafs
and the Boston Bruins
in the National Hockey League
.
Babe was an important member of two Stanley Cup
winning teams, the 1940 Rangers and 1945 Maple Leafs. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy
in 1944. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
in 1966.
In January, 1946 Pratt was caught betting on hockey games and was subsequently suspended from the NHL. Pratt admitted to gambling but denied ever placing a bet against his own team. After promising to quit betting he was reinstated to the Toronto Maple Leafs
. His last NHL season was with the Boston Bruins in 1946–47 and he played in the minors after that.
He subsequently worked as an analyst for CBC Television
's Hockey Night In Canada
telecasts from Vancouver in the 1970s and served as a goodwill ambassador of the Vancouver Canucks
. Pratt collapsed and died of a heart attack in the media lounge of the Pacific Coliseum
in Vancouver during the first intermission of a Canucks game on December 16, 1988. The Canucks honored Pratt's memory by stitching "BABE" on their sweaters for the remainder of the hockey season.
Despite the brevity of his career, the time passed since it ended, and a reputation for rough play, in 1998, he was ranked number 96 on The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
defenceman
Defenceman (ice hockey)
Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...
/left winger
Winger (ice hockey)
Winger, in the game of hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink...
who played for the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
, Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
in the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
.
Babe was an important member of two Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
winning teams, the 1940 Rangers and 1945 Maple Leafs. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy
Hart Memorial Trophy
The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
in 1944. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in 1966.
In January, 1946 Pratt was caught betting on hockey games and was subsequently suspended from the NHL. Pratt admitted to gambling but denied ever placing a bet against his own team. After promising to quit betting he was reinstated to the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. His last NHL season was with the Boston Bruins in 1946–47 and he played in the minors after that.
He subsequently worked as an analyst for CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
's Hockey Night In Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
telecasts from Vancouver in the 1970s and served as a goodwill ambassador of the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
. Pratt collapsed and died of a heart attack in the media lounge of the Pacific Coliseum
Pacific Coliseum
Pacific Coliseum is an indoor arena, at Hastings Park, in Vancouver, British Columbia.Completed in 1968, at the former site of the Pacific National Exhibition, the arena currently holds 16,281, for ice hockey, though capacity at its opening was 15,713....
in Vancouver during the first intermission of a Canucks game on December 16, 1988. The Canucks honored Pratt's memory by stitching "BABE" on their sweaters for the remainder of the hockey season.
Despite the brevity of his career, the time passed since it ended, and a reputation for rough play, in 1998, he was ranked number 96 on The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Awards and achievements
- MJHL Scoring Champion (1934 and 1935)
- Turnbull Cup MJHL Championship (1934)
- Stanley CupStanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
championship (19401940 Stanley Cup FinalsThe 1940 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York would win the series 4–2 to win their third Stanley Cup. The Rangers would not win another for 54 years.-Paths to the Final:...
and 19451945 Stanley Cup Finals-References and notes:* Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame . Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7...
) - NHLNational Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
First All-Star TeamNHL All-Star TeamThe NHL All-Star Teams were first named at the end of the 1930–31 NHL season, to honor the best performers over the season at each position.Representatives of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote for the All-Star Team at the end of the regular season.The career leaders in citations are...
Defence (1944) - Hart Memorial TrophyHart Memorial TrophyThe Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
winner (1944) - NHLNational Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
Second All-Star Team Defence (1945) - Inducted into the Hockey Hall of FameHockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in 1966 - Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and MuseumManitoba Sports Hall of Fame and MuseumThe Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, dedicated to the history of sport in Manitoba and honouring the best in sport. The organization began in 1980 and in 1993, a museum was opened in The Forks...
in 1990 - Selected to ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
's All-Century First All-Star Team - “Honoured Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of FameManitoba Hockey Hall of FameThe Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1985 when the first honoured members were named and plaques were erected in their honour. The first group of inductees was large in order to recognize the accomplishments of Manitoba players, coaches, builders and teams at the...
- In 1998, he was ranked number 96 on The Hockey NewsThe Hockey NewsThe Hockey News, commonly abbreviated to THN, is a North American ice hockey magazine published by Transcontinental. The Hockey News was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Bill Côté, and has since been the most recognized hockey publication in North America...
list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players - Ranked No. 47 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & SonsJohn Wiley & SonsJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
, 2009).
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... |
A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... |
Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... |
PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... |
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1935–36 | New York Rangers New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the... |
NHL | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1935–36 | Philadelphia Ramblers Philadelphia Ramblers The Philadelphia Ramblers were a minor professional ice hockey team based in the Philadelphia Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Ramblers played for six seasons during the infancy of the American Hockey League from 1935 to 1941.-History:... |
CAHL Canadian-American Hockey League The Canadian-American Hockey League, popularly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional ice hockey league that operated from 1926 to 1936. It was a direct ancestor of the American Hockey League.... |
28 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1936–37 | New York Rangers | NHL | 47 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | ||
| 1937–38 1937–38 NHL season -European tour:After the Stanley Cup final finished, the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens played a nine-game exhibition series in Europe, becoming the first NHL teams to play outside North America. Six games were played in England, three in France... |
New York Rangers | NHL | 47 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 56 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1938–39 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 2 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 1939–40 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 61 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 18 | ||
| 1940–41 | New York Rangers | NHL | 47 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 52 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 1941–42 | New York Rangers | NHL | 47 | 4 | 24 | 28 | 65 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 34 | ||
| 1942–43 1942–43 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:... |
New York Rangers | NHL | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1942–43 | Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... |
NHL | 40 | 12 | 25 | 37 | 44 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1943–44 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 50 | 17 | 40 | 57 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1944–45 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 50 | 18 | 23 | 41 | 39 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 1945–46 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 41 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1946–47 1946–47 AHL season The 1946–47 AHL season was the 11th season of the American Hockey League. Ten teams played 64 games each in the schedule. The Cleveland Barons won their fifth F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy as West Division champions... |
Hershey Bears Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears Hockey Club is a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League, and is currently the top affiliate of the NHL Washington Capitals. The hockey club is based in the unincorporated town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, located within Derry Township some 14 miles east of... |
AHL American Hockey League The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League... |
21 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1946–47 | Boston Bruins Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the... |
NHL | 31 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1947–48 | Cleveland-Hershey | AHL | 52 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1947–48 1947–48 AHL season The 1947–48 AHL season was the 12th season of the American Hockey League. Eleven teams played 68 games each in the schedule. The Cleveland Barons won their sixth F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy as West Division champions, and won their fourth Calder Cup as league champions.It was the first season, the AHL... |
Hershey Bears | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1948–49 | New Westminster Royals New Westminster Royals The New Westminster Royals was the name of several professional and junior ice hockey teams based in New Westminster, British Columbia.The first team played from 1912-1914 in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association which was established in 1911.... |
PCHL | 63 | 18 | 48 | 66 | 64 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| 1949–50 | New Westminster Royals | PCHL | 59 | 8 | 29 | 37 | 56 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 22 | ||
| 1950–51 | New Westminster Royals | PCHL | 65 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 54 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1951–52 | Tacoma Rockets Tacoma Rockets The Tacoma Rockets were a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League from 1991 to 1995. They played at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The Rockets were granted as an expansion franchise, but low attendance forced the team to move to Kelowna, British Columbia after only four seasons,... |
PCHL | 63 | 7 | 31 | 38 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| NHL totals | 517 | 83 | 209 | 292 | 473 | 63 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 100 | ||||