Dit Clapper
Encyclopedia
Aubrey Victor "Dit" Clapper (February 9, 1907 in Newmarket, Ontario
– January 21, 1978 in Newmarket, Ontario
) was a Canadian Hall of Fame
ice hockey
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.
, 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 on defence.
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. He was the only active player to be inducted into the Hall. 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 team captain
for longer than any NHL player until Ray Bourque
and Steve Yzerman
.
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.
He is mentioned in the hockey cult movie
Slap Shot with Toe Blake
, and Eddie Shore
as prime examples of old time hockey—the way hockey is supposed to be played.
Retired NHL defenceman Greg Theberge
is Dit's grandson.
Clapper died of complications from a stroke January 21, 1978. He is buried in Trent Valley Cemetery, Hastings, Ontario
.
In 1998, he was ranked number 41 on The Hockey News
list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Newmarket, Ontario
Newmarket is a town in Southern Ontario located approximately 50 km north of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area and is connected to Toronto by freeway, and is served by three interchanges along Highway 404. It is also connected to Highway 400 via Highway 9...
– January 21, 1978 in Newmarket, Ontario
Newmarket, Ontario
Newmarket is a town in Southern Ontario located approximately 50 km north of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area and is connected to Toronto by freeway, and is served by three interchanges along Highway 404. It is also connected to Highway 400 via Highway 9...
) was a Canadian 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...
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...
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.
Athletic career
As a member of the Boston BruinsBoston 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...
, he became the first player to play 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...
for twenty seasons. He was a great player both as a forward
Forward (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, a forward is a player position on the ice whose primary responsibility is to score goals. Generally, the forwards try to stay in three different lanes, also known as thirds, of the ice going from goal to goal. It is not mandatory however, to stay in a lane. Staying in a lane aids in...
and defenceman
Defenceman (ice hockey)
Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...
, being named to All-Star
All-star
All-star is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry...
squads at both right wing
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...
and on defence.
A lifelong member of the Bruins, in 1947 the team retired his number 5 sweater
Hockey jersey
A hockey jersey, traditionally called a sweater , is a piece of clothing worn by hockey players to cover the upper part of their bodies. "Sweater" is the correct reference in Canada, despite the material...
and the Hall of Fame selection committee waived the customary three-year waiting period, and immediately inducted him 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...
upon the night of his retirement. He was the only active player to be inducted into the Hall. 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
International Hockey Hall of Fame
The International Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the Kingston Memorial Centre grounds features many exhibits within their museum about the history of ice hockey.-Historic Hockey Series:...
's museum in Kingston, Ontario. Until he was named as coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, he had served as team captain
Captain (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, each team can designate an official captain for each game. The player serving as captain during the game wears a "C" on his or her jersey...
for longer than any NHL player until Ray Bourque
Ray Bourque
Raymond Jean "Ray" Bourque is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He currently holds records for most goals, assists and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League . Bourque has become near-synonymous with the Boston Bruins franchise, for which he played 21 seasons and...
and Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman
Stephen Gregory "Steve" Yzerman is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League...
.
Coaching
Clapper coached the Bruins for two seasons as a player-coachPlayer-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
and for two more seasons after his retirement
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
. He became the first player in NHL history to play for 20 seasons, and the last active player that played during the 1920s.
He is mentioned in the hockey cult movie
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
Slap Shot with Toe Blake
Toe Blake
Hector "Toe" Blake, CM was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League .-Nickname:His nickname came out of his childhood for his younger sister was unable to pronounce his name...
, and Eddie Shore
Eddie Shore
Edward William Shore was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, iconic for his toughness and defensive skill.Shore won the Hart Trophy as the...
as prime examples of old time hockey—the way hockey is supposed to be played.
Retired NHL defenceman Greg Theberge
Greg Theberge
Greg Ray Theberge is a retired Canadian ice hockey player, and is the grandson of former NHL player and Hall of Famer Dit Clapper....
is Dit's grandson.
Clapper died of complications from a stroke January 21, 1978. He is buried in Trent Valley Cemetery, Hastings, Ontario
Hastings, Ontario
Hastings is an amalgamated village within the municipality of Trent Hills, Northumberland County, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is on the Trent River, in what is considered to be Ontario's "cottage country"....
.
In 1998, he was ranked number 41 on The Hockey News
The Hockey News
The 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.
Awards
- 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...
champion (19291929 Stanley Cup Finals-Boston Bruins 1929 Stanley Cup champions:-See also:*1928–29 NHL season...
as the player-coach, 19391939 Stanley Cup Finals-Boston Bruins 1939 Stanley Cup champions:-References & notes:* Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame . Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7...
, 19411941 Stanley Cup FinalsThe 1941 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings. Boston would win the series 4–0 to win their third Stanley Cup.-Paths to the Final:...
as a player) - NHL First All-Star Team: (1939, 1940, 1941)
- Second All-Star Team: (1944) as a defenceman.
- Second All-Star Team: (1931) as a right wing.
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 | ||
| 1926–27 | Boston Tigers | 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.... |
29 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1927–28 | 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 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1928–29 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 40 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 48 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1929–30 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 44 | 41 | 20 | 61 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 1930–31 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 43 | 22 | 8 | 30 | 50 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 1931–32 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1932–33 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1933–34 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1934–35 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 21 | 16 | 37 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1935–36 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 44 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1936–37 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 17 | 8 | 25 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 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... |
Boston Bruins | NHL | 46 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 1938–39 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 42 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1939–40 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 44 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1940–41 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 24 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1941–42 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 32 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 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:... |
Boston Bruins | NHL | 38 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | ||
| 1943–44 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 50 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1944–45 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 46 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1945–46 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 30 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1946–47 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 824 | 228 | 246 | 474 | 462 | 82 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 50 | ||||