Jack Ruttan

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Jack Ruttan bigraphy, stories - Canadian ice hockey player

Jack Ruttan : biography

April 5, 1889 – January 7, 1973

John Douglas "Jack" Ruttan (April 5, 1889 – January 7, 1973) was a Canadian amateur ice hockey player and coach. Ruttan played for the Winnipeg Hockey Club and was a member of the 1913 Allan Cup championship team. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.

Playing career

Ruttan played juvenile hockey with the Winnipeg Armstrong’s Point hockey team that won the Winnipeg juvenile championship of 1906. He switched to the Rustler club the following season which won the 1907 juvenile championship. The following season, Ruttan entered St. John’s College (known today as the University of Manitoba and its team won the Manitoba University Hockey League championship. Ruttan moved up to senior hockey in 1909 and played for the Manitoba Varsity hockey team which won the championship of the Winnipeg Senior Hockey League in 1911. Ruttan moved on to play for the Winnipeg Hockey Club in 1912. That season Winnipeg won the Allan Cup as senior hockey champions of Canada.

When World War I broke out, Ruttan enlisted. Ruttan returned to Canada in 1918, playing one further game for the Winnipeg Somme, but did not continue a competitive ice hockey career. In 1919, Ruttan became an ice hockey coach for the Winnipeg Hockey Club. From 1920 until 1922, he refereed in the Winnipeg League. Ruttan coached a season of the University of Manitoba in 1923–24.

Awards and achievements

  • Allan Cup Championship (1913)
  • Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963
  • “Honoured Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame