Dave Ritchie

Dave Ritchie
Date of birth	October 1, 1891
place of birth	Montreal , Quebec , Canada
date of death	March 6, 1973
Place of death	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
size	170 cm
Weight	82 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
1909-1910	Montreal Westmount
1910-1914	Grand-Mère HC
1914-1917	Quebec Bulldogs
1917	Montreal Wanderers
1918-1919	Ottawa Senators
1919	Toronto Arenas
1919-1920	Quebec Bulldogs
1920-1921	Canadiens de Montréal
1924-1926	Canadiens de Montréal

David Alexander Ritchie (born October 1, 1891 in Montreal , Québec ; † March 6, 1973 ibid) was a Canadian ice hockey player and referee who worked for the Montreal Wanderers , Ottawa Senators , Toronto Arenas during his active career between 1909 and 1926 , Quebec Bulldogs and Canadiens de Montréal played in the National Hockey League on the position of defender . Ritchie scored the first goal in NHL history as a player for the Montreal Wanderers on December 19, 1917.

Career

The Montreal- born Ritchie played in the amateur classes of the province of Québec until 1914 and took part in the Allan Cup in 1913 with Grand-Mère AAA . In 1914, he finally joined the Quebec Bulldogs from the National Hockey Association . The strong offensive defender stayed with the Bulldogs for three years and was the seventh-best scorer in the league in the 1916/17 season with 27 points . After the dissolution of the NHA, Ritchie came through a dispersal draft to the Montreal Wanderers , who were among the founding members of the National Hockey League in the 1917/18 season . In four missions he came to seven scorer points. This included the first goal in NHL history in a 10-9 win over the Toronto Arenas on December 19, 1917 . Shortly after the start of the season, however, the Wanderers ultimately had to stop playing because their venue had burned down on the foundation walls in a fire.

Ritchie landed on another Dispersal Draft, in which the remaining Wanderers players were divided between the remaining teams in the league, at the Ottawa Senators . There he ended the season and moved in January 1919 as a free agent to the Toronto Arenas, for which he only appeared four times. For the 1919/20 season he then returned to the Quebec Bulldogs, which were now part of the NHL. When the team moved to Hamilton for the 1920/21 season , the defender requested a transfer to the Canadiens de Montréal . With him, Harry Mummery and Jack McDonald moved to Montréal, while George Prodgers , Joe Matte and Jack Coughlin were given to the Hamilton Tigers . In addition, the Tigers received Billy Coutu on loan .

For the Canadiens Ritchie completed only six games in the season following the transfer before ending his career. Between 1921 and 1924 he was active as a referee before he returned to the Canadiens squad for a few games due to injury problems in the seasons 1924/25 and 1925/26 .

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	6th	58	15th	6th	21st	50
Playoffs	1	1	0	0	0	0

Web links

• Dave Ritchie at legendsofhockey.net (English)