Inspired by Bobby's post on hobby history, I thought I would post about Hall of Famers with interesting stories.
Walter "Babe" Pratt was a star player in both the amateur and professional ranks for two solid decades. Pratt, an imposing defenseman that stood 6’3" and weighed well over 200 pounds, parlayed skill, championships, and controversy into a Hall of Fame career.
Pratt, a Manitoba native born in Stony Mountain on January 07, 1916, began his junior hockey in Winnipeg as a member of a team representing the Atlantic Avenue Rink. As a ten-year old, Pratt helped lift his squad to the Winnipeg Playground Championship in the Under-12 division. In the 1932-33 season, the defenseman joined up with the Elmwood Millionaires of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association. Pratt led the Millionaires in scoring en route to the Manitoba juvenile championship.
In 1933 Pratt continued building upon his legacy by participating for five local teams. Be it the local church squad he represented, his high school team, juvenile hockey, the senior league, or even commercial hockey, each one of Pratt’s squads won its respective championship. With Pratt being the common denominator, it was evident from this early age that he was something special. Ironically, baseball was Pratt’s first love, hence the nickname "Babe" as the blueliner was also an elite baseball player.
Moving on from Manitoba, Pratt continued his amateur career as a member of the storied Kenora Thistles of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association. Joining Kenora at the age of seventeen, Pratt enjoyed good success in 1933-34 as he potted 14 goals and added seven helpers in just 16 contests. In 1934-35, Pratt upped his game as he scored 42 points, 19 by way of the goal, in just 18 games with the Thistles. There’s no doubt that Pratt was ready to turn professional and excel.
Pratt entered the professional ranks as a member of the Philadelphia Ramblers, the minor-league squad for the NHL’s New York Rangers in the Canadian-American Hockey League. In January 1936, and after 28 games and 15 points in Philadelphia, Pratt was bumped up to the Rangers and became a regular. Pratt’s importance to the New York franchise was recognized during the 1937 postseason when the defenseman replaced the legendary, but over the hill, Ching Johnson on the blue line. Pratt and his defensive partner Ott Heller were regarded by many as the best pairing in the NHL and proved their worth as both helped lead the Rangers to the 1940 Stanley Cup championship. In fact, during 48 regular season games in the 1939-40 season, the duo allowed the opposition just 17 goals to be scored while they were on the ice. Pratt scored a career high 28 points, four times finding the back of the net, while leading the Rangers to the regular season championship.
Pratt’s career to this point had been more than outstanding, but even greater accolades were in his future. On November 27, 1942, after appearing in just four contests with the Rangers during the 1942-43 campaign, Pratt was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Hank Goldup and Red Garrett. Pratt skated for the Leafs in 40 games, racking up 37 points, good for almost a point per game.
Pratt enjoyed his finest season in 1943-44. In 50 contests, Pratt lit the lamp 17 times and added 40 assists for 57 total points, a record for NHL defensemen that lasted for 21 years until another Hall-of-Famer, Chicago’s Pierre Pilote, broke Pratt’s total by 2 points, but needing 20 more games to do so. Pratt’s heroics earned him a berth on the 1944 NHL First All-Star Team and the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. In 1944-45, Pratt’s fine defensive play and 41 points were good enough to earn an NHL Second All-Star Team berth and an etch on Lord Stanley’s Cup after scoring the game winning goal in the seventh game of the finals against the Detroit Red Wings.
On January 30, 1946 Pratt was suspended by NHL President Red Dutton for betting on NHL games. Pratt’s gambling had been known by Dutton, but the ignoring of warnings by Dutton led the League President to hand down his sentence. Pratt did admit that he bet on hockey, but stated that he never bet on Leafs games. According to Dutton, "He’s no rookie. Been in the league 11 years. He knows the league rules and laws. Mind you, I have no proof that Pratt bet against his own team. But we can’t let such things as he has admitted go on in hockey."
Pratt had been losing most of his bets, and that translated into tons of money. Pratt was earning an annual salary of $6000 and tried to convince Dutton that he would stay on the straight and narrow and not mingle with seedy types, as well as not wager on NHL hockey. Pratt knew he could not earn that same money in the "real" world. On February 15th, just 17 days later, the NHL pardoned Pratt, perhaps from the pressure put on the NHL by fans and writers who pointed out how corrupt the game was to begin with. Pratt missed just nine games.
Conn Smythe’s answer to two aspirin for this particular headache was a June 1946 trade of Pratt to the Boston Bruins in exchange for the rights of Eric Pogue (who never appeared in an NHL game) and cash. Pratt’s final NHL season was in 1946-47 when the defenseman accumulated just eight points in 31 contests. A demotion to the minor leagues saw Pratt appear in 21 games with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League during the 1946-47 campaign.
Pratt split the 1947-48 campaign between two AHL squads, Hershey and the Cleveland Barons. Pratt’s four final seasons were spent on the west coast with the New Westminster Royals of the Pacific Coast Hockey League. Pratt dominated the PCHL at times, earning several individual honors. The defenseman was named to the PCHL Northern Division First All-Star Team and won the Northern Division Most Valuable Player award in both 1949 and 1950 and was named as a league-wide PCHL First Team All-Star in 1951. After hanging up the skates, Pratt stayed on to coach the Royals in 1952-53.
In 517 NHL regular season contests, Pratt accumulated 292 points, 83 of them by way of the goal. Twelve goals and 17 assists were added during postseason play to go along with his two Cup victories. In 1966, Walter "Babe" Pratt was elected into Hockey’s Hall of Fame.
Jim. Excellent read on a great player. It is so refreshing to read posts like yours and Bob's. Hopefully this will be the start of the new direction this board could go. Job well done.
