Robert J. "Bob" Whidden (born July 27, 1946) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

player and

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

ice hockey

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He played

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. He was born in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and was involved in ice hockey in various capacities for over fifty years.

Playing career

Whidden played junior hockey with the

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

(OHA) from 1965 to 1967. In 1967, the Marlboros won the J. Ross Robertson Cup (OHA championship) and the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between ...

(Canadian

Major Junior Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

championship). He played four years with the

Cleveland Crusaders The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976. Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1976. ...

of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

as the back-up to future Hall-of-Famer

Gerry Cheevers Gerald Michael "Cheesie" Cheevers (born 7 December 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) between 1961 and 1980. Cheevers is best known for ...

. He also played with the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...

and

Baltimore Clippers The Baltimore Clippers were a minor league professional ice hockey team from in Baltimore, Maryland, playing in the Baltimore Civic Center. The Clippers were members of the American Hockey League from 1962 to 1976, and then played one season i ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

, the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affi ...

of the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...

, and the

Mohawk Valley Comets They Mohawk Valley Comets are a former professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York. They were a member of the North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the ...

of the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternat ...

Coaching

Whidden spent 21 years as the coach of the hockey team at St. Edward High School in

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. The population was 5 ...

, a suburb of Cleveland. In 1985, his first year as head coach, Whidden led the team to the

Ohio High School Athletic Association The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...

(OHSAA) State "big school" hockey championship. He coached several players who were drafted by the NHL, including

Todd Harkins Todd Michael Harkins (born October 8, 1968) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 48 National Hockey League games for the Calgary Flames and Hartford Whalers. Harkins was drafted by the Flames in the 2nd round, 42nd ove ...

Brett Harkins Brett Alan Harkins (born July 2, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey left wing, who played for 18 years. He played in the National Hockey League in four stints with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Columbus Blue Jackets b ...

, and

Michael Rupp Michael Ryan Rupp (born January 13, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey center. He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins,N ...

. Whidden's Eagles won ten OHSAA state titles and seven Baron Cups (

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census results, the five-county ...

Championships), and finished with a career record of 507-149-28. His 507 wins rank fourth among coaches in OHSAA history. He retired in March 2005 after winning the tenth title and being named Ohio High School Hockey Coach of the Year by the

National Federation of State High School Associations The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. NFHS's headquarters are located in White River State Park in In ...

. In July 2009, St. Edward named Whidden to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame, class of 2009.

Honours

*1967 Memorial Cup Winner (player) *10 OHSAA state titles (coach) *7 Baron Cups (coach) *500 Wins as a high school head coach *Cleveland Hockey Legends Ring of Honor *In 2011, his hometown inducted him into the House of Kin Sudbury Hall of Fame

Personal life

He is married to Irma and has three sons, Rob and Jarrett, both of whom followed in their father's coaching footsteps, and Tyler. Rob took over as head coach of St. Edward's hockey team in 2005 and won the 2008 Ohio state championship. In August 2006, Jarrett was named head coach of Kent State Golden Flashes men's ice hockey team following a minor league career.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whidden, Bob 1946 births Baltimore Clippers players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Charlotte Checkers (EHL) players Cleveland Crusaders players Ice hockey people from Ontario Living people Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from Greater Sudbury Toronto Marlboros players