Dit Clapper
| Dit Clapper | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1947 | |||
| Born |
February 9, 1907 Newmarket, Ontario |
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| Died | January 20, 1978 (aged 70) Peterborough, Ontario |
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| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing/Defence | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | Boston Bruins | ||
| Playing career | 1927–1947 | ||
Aubrey Victor "Dit" Clapper (February 9, 1907 – January 20, 1978) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Clapper played his entire professional career for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1947.
Clapper was the first NHL player to play twenty seasons, and one of only two to be an All-Star at both forward and defence. The right wing on the powerful "Dynamite Line"—one of the first forward combinations to receive a nickname in hockey history—along with linemates Cooney Weiland and Dutch Gainor, he contributed to the breaking of several scoring records in the 1930s. Towards the end of his career, he was named player-coach of the Bruins, and held the coaching position after his retirement as a player.
Aubrey Clapper, son of Bill Clapper, was raised in Hastings, Ontario. Clapper was given his nickname at an early age when he would lisp his name, the result coming out "Dit."
Clapper started his hockey career at age 13, playing minor hockey in Oshawa, and going on to play with the junior league Toronto Parkdale club of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1925, scoring a goal in the team's Memorial Cup run that season. The following season he turned professional, playing for the Boston Tigers of the Canadian-American Hockey League.
The Boston Bruins bought Clapper's contract from the Tigers in 1927. Hitherto a defenceman, Bruins' coach Art Ross decided to try Clapper at right wing, and the experiment stuck. He scored his first NHL goal—ten seconds into his first shift—in the season opener against the Chicago Black Hawks.
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