Walter Peter "Babe" Pratt (January 7, 1916 – December 16, 1988) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

/ left winger who played for the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

and the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

between 1935 and 1947. He is the father of the NHL hockey player, Tracy Pratt. Babe was an important member of two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

winning teams, the 1940 Rangers and 1945 Maple Leafs. He won the Hart Trophy in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966. In January, 1946 Pratt was caught betting on hockey games and was subsequently suspended from the NHL. Pratt admitted to gambling but denied ever placing a bet against his own team. After promising to quit betting he was reinstated to the

. His last NHL season was with the Boston Bruins in 1946–47 and he played in the minors after that. He subsequently worked as an analyst for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

's ''

Hockey Night In Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' telecasts from Vancouver in the 1970s and served as a goodwill ambassador of the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

. Pratt died of a heart attack in the media lounge of the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver during the first intermission of a Canucks game on December 16, 1988. The Canucks honored Pratt's memory by stitching "BABE" on their sweaters for the remainder of the hockey season. In 1998, he was ranked number 96 on ''The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

MJHL The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior ice hockey, Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirt ...

Scoring Champion (1935) *Turnbull Cup MJHL Championship (1934) *

championship ( 1940 and 1945) *NHL First All-Star team Defence (

) * Hart Memorial Trophy winner (1944) *NHL second All-Star team Defence ( 1945) *Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966 *Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1990 *Selected to

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

's All-Century first All-Star team *Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame *In 1998, he was ranked number 96 on ''

The Hockey News ''The Hockey News'' (''THN'') is a Canadian-based ice hockey magazine. ''The Hockey News'' was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Cote and has since become the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a reader ...

list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players * In the 2009 book ''100 Ranger Greats'', was ranked No. 47 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons *Tied for most assists by a defenceman in one game with 6 *Scored the game-winning goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Babe 1916 births 1988 deaths Boston Bruins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Brandon Wheat Kings players Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Elmwood Millionaires players Hart Memorial Trophy winners Hershey Bears players Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Manitoba Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees Kenora Thistles (MJHL) players National Hockey League broadcasters New Westminster Royals (WHL) players New York Rangers players Philadelphia Ramblers players Stanley Cup champions Tacoma Rockets (WHL) players Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks announcers 20th-century Canadian sportsmen