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, the first Honoured Member to be living at the time of his induction.
Clapper was the first NHL player to play 20 seasons, one of only two to be an All-Star at both forward and defence, and the first non-goaltender to play at the age of 40. 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.
Early years
Aubrey Clapper was the son of Bill Clapper, a lacrosse player and factory labourer. He was raised in Hastings, Ontario after relocated several years to Aurora, Ontario (1915–1920) and Oshawa, Ontario (1920–1923). Clapper was given his nickname at an early age when he would lisp his name, the result coming out "Dit."
Clapper was related to Ed Broadbent, whose grandmother was cousins with father Bill.
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.
NHL career
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.
The following season, Ross teamed Clapper up with Cooney Weiland and Dutch Gainor to form the renowned Dynamite Line, The Bruins won the American Division that season and went on to their first Stanley Cup championship, with Clapper scoring the winning goal in the first game of their best-of-three series with the New York Rangers.
In the 1930 season, the league considerably liberalized the passing rules, effectively eliminating offsides. The Stanley Cup champion Bruins took especial advantage, breaking many scoring records and recording the highest winning percentage the league would ever see, unsurpassed as of 2024. Leading the charge was the Dynamite Line, as Weiland led the league in scoring, Clapper finishing third and Gainor finishing ninth; Clapper's goal total of 41 was the third most in league history at that time, he finished the season with a career best 61 points. The Dynamite Line scored 102 of the Bruins' league record 179 goals, as many as last-place Pittsburgh managed.
thumb|Clapper in 1949
While Clapper kept his production high in the 1931 season, Gainor's scoring fell off badly, and the Dynamite Line was broken up at season's end.
By 1938, Ross believed the Bruins needed an overhaul, and as part of it asked Clapper to move back to defence. It was feared he would be forced into retirement, but he came back next year and returned to form and was named a Second Team NHL All-Star on defence.
Player-coach
During the 1944 season, Clapper filled in as interim coach when Art Ross took ill. In 1945 Ross retired as Bruins' coach, retaining his general manager's position, and named Clapper as player-coach, the only one in team history. He played only sporadically thereafter, and retired for good on February 12, 1947. Leading the Bruins to a 10–1 victory over the New York Rangers in his final game (in which Bill Cowley broke the league career scoring record), and at the time the only living Member inducted.
Clapper died, of complications from a 1973 stroke, on January 20, 1978. He is buried in Trent Valley Cemetery in Hastings, Ontario.
In 1983, the Bruins signed former Montreal Canadiens star Guy Lapointe, Lapointe sought to wear his customary #5 jersey, which had been retired in Clapper's honour nearly forty years before.
Clapper was honored by the Bruins during their centennial celebrations in 2024, being Named to the Boston Bruins All-Centennial Team.
- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.
- Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.
- In 1998, Clapper was ranked number 41 on The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players of all time. "Clapper had a simple creed," wrote The Hockey News. "He fought his heart out, bounced players around and took the same kind of punishment he dished out. That's what made him so popular with other players and fans throughout the NHL."
- Former NHL defenceman Greg Theberge is Dit's grandson.
- Named to the Boston Bruins All-Centennial Team.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
- <small>Bold indicates led league</small>
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! colspan="5" |Regular season
! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! colspan="5" |Playoffs
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
|-
| 1925–26
| Toronto Parkdale
| OHA-Jr.
| 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1925–26
| Toronto Parkdale
| M-Cup
| — || — || — || — || —
| 5 || 1 || 0 || 1 || —
|-
| 1926–27
| Boston Tigers
| Can-Am
| 29 || 6 || 1 || 7 || 57
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1927–28
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 42 || 4 || 2 || 6 || 18
| 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2
|-
| 1928–29
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 40 || 9 || 2 || 11 || 48
| 5 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1929–30
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 44 || 41 || 20 || 61 || 38
| 6 || 4 || 0 || 4 || 4
|-
| 1930–31
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 43 || 22 || 8 || 30 || 50
| 5 || 2 || 4 || 6 || 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1931–32
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 48 || 17 || 22 || 39 || 23
| — || — || — || — || —
|-
| 1932–33
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 48 || 14 || 14 || 28 || 42
| 5 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1933–34
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 48 || 10 || 12 || 22 || 6
| — || — || — || — || —
|-
| 1934–35
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 48 || 22 || 16 || 38 || 21
| 3 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1937–38
| 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
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1941–42
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 32 || 3 || 12 || 15 || 31
| — || — || — || — || —
|-
| 1942–43
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 38 || 5 || 18 || 23 || 12
| 9 || 2 || 2 || 4 || 9
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1943–44
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 50 || 6 || 25 || 31 || 13
| — || — || — || — || —
|-
| 1944–45
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 46 || 8 || 15 || 23 || 16
| 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 835 !! 229 !! 248 !! 477 !! 452
! 82 !! 13 !! 16 !! 29 !! 50
|}
Coaching record
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="6"|Regular season !! colspan="1"|Postseason
|-
! G !! W !! L !! T !! Pts !! Division rank !! Result
|-
!Boston Bruins||1945–46
|50||24||18||8||56||2nd in NHL||Lost in Cup Finals
|-
!Boston Bruins||1946–47
|60||26||23||11||63||2nd in NHL||Lost in semi-finals
|-
!Boston Bruins||1947–48
|60||23||24||13||59||3rd in NHL||Lost in semi-finals
|-
!Boston Bruins||1948–49
|60||29||23||8||66||2nd in NHL||Lost in semi-finals
|-
! colspan="2"|NHL Total ||230||102||88||40
|}
See also
- List of NHL players who spent their entire career with one franchise
References
External links
- DIT: Dit Clapper and the Rise of the Boston Bruins by Stewart F. Richardson and Richard J. Leblanc, Paperback: 226 pages, Createspace (July 1, 2012)