Aubrey ‘Dit’ Clapper Slam Dunk For Bruins All-Centennial Team
In celebration of the Boston Bruins’ 100th season, NESN is dedicating an episode of the “Ultimate Bruins Show” to each member of the Bruins All-Centennial team. Tune in Thursday at 6 p.m. ET as we honor Aubrey “Dit” Clapper. The Boston Bruins have had an elite group of defensemen don the Spoked-B over their 100 […]
In celebration of the Boston Bruins’ 100th season, NESN is dedicating an episode of the “Ultimate Bruins Show” to each member of the Bruins All-Centennial team. Tune in Thursday at 6 p.m. ET as we honor Aubrey “Dit” Clapper.
The Boston Bruins have had an elite group of defensemen don the Spoked-B over their 100 years in the NHL. Aubrey “Dit” Clapper was the first player in NHL history to play for 20 seasons and only one of nine to do so with the same team. That is just one of the reasons he was selected to the Bruins All-Centennial Team, comprised of the 20 most legendary players in franchise history. Learn more about Clapper’s selection on NESN’s “Ultimate Bruins Show” on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Clapper began his 20-season, 835-game NHL career in the early days of the Bruins, playing in Boston from the 1927-28 season through 1946-47. He was part of the record-setting “Dynamite Line” with Ralph “Cooney” Weiland and Dutch Gainor, that scored 102 of the team’s 179 goals in the 1929-30 season.
He transitioned to the blue line after playing nine seasons as one of Boston’s right wings. Clapper was initially paired with Eddie Shore as the Bruins’ top defensive pair.
“Eddie Shore was the Babe Ruth of the team, Dit Clapper was the Lou Gehrig,” The Sports Museum’s curator Richard Johnson told NESN. ” Clapper was the one player on the Bruins who Shore would not care to tussle with. Clapper was every bit as tough, maybe even a little tougher than Shore, but he didn’t have the eccentricities.”
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Clapper amassed 477 points (229 goals, 248 assists) in 835 games he donned the Spoked-B and was a six-time all-star. He is one of eight players in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup in three different decades (1929, 1939 and 1941).
His No. 5 jersey was retired by the Bruins in 1947, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame the same year.
Clapper joins Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Eddie Shore, Brad Park and Zdeno Chara to complete the six defensemen named to the Bruins All-Centennial Team.