Robert Ridder

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Robert "Bob" Blair Ridder (born July 21, 1919 in New York , New York , † June 24, 2000 in Mendota Heights , Minnesota ) was an American media entrepreneur and ice hockey official .

Ridder came from a publishing family and grew up in New York City. He attended Harvard University and served in the United States Coast Guard in Duluth , Minnesota during World War II . During this time he also directed the Duluth Heralds , a Coast Guard ice hockey team that played in the Duluth Industrial Hockey League . From 1942 he worked for the Duluth Herald and Duluth News-Tribune , two newspapers from the family media group. He later also got into the radio and television business and owned various publications and broadcasters in the Midwest. These included the radio and television station WCCO in Minneapolis, the Grand Forks Herald , St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press newspapers .

In 1947 Ridder founded the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA; later Minnesota Hockey ), an ice hockey association for the state of Minnesota, together with Don Clark and Everett "Buck" Riley . A little later this was accepted into the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States . From 1947–49 and 52–53 he was President of MAHA. In 1952 and 1956 he was manager of the US national team at the Olympic Games, in which the United States won the silver medal. When the Minnesota North Stars was founded , Ridder paid $ 2 million and was one of the owners of the new NHL team. Ridder later served as the director of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame . Working in various functions and as a sponsor, he remained connected to ice hockey until the end of his life.

Ridder was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976. In 1994 he received the Lester Patrick Trophy for special services to ice hockey in the USA. He has been a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame since 1998 .

Ridder had been married to Kathleen Marie Culman since 1943, with whom he had four children. In Minneapolis, the Ridder Arena was named after both of them.

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personal data
SURNAME Ridder, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ridder, Bob; Ridder, Robert Blair
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American media entrepreneur and ice hockey official
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH New York , New York
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 2000
Place of death Mendota Heights , Minnesota