John Douglas Ruttan (April 5, 1889 – January 7, 1973) was a Canadian

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

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 ...

player and coach. Ruttan played for the

Winnipeg Hockey Club The Winnipeg Hockey Club (also known as the Winnipeg Winnipegs) were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba founded in 1890. After the Winnipegs won the 1931 Allan Cup, they represented the Canada men's ...

and was a member of the 1913

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...

championship team. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 1963.

Playing career

Ruttan played juvenile hockey with the Winnipeg Armstrong's Point hockey team that won the Winnipeg juvenile championship of 1906. He switched to the Rustler club the following season which won the 1907 juvenile championship. The following season, Ruttan entered St. John's College (known today as the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

and its team won the Manitoba University Hockey League championship. Ruttan moved up to senior hockey in 1909 and played for the Manitoba Varsity hockey team which won the championship of the Winnipeg Senior Hockey League in 1911. Ruttan moved on to play for the Winnipeg Hockey Club in 1912. That season Winnipeg won the Allan Cup as senior hockey champions of Canada. Ruttan had served in the

Canadian militia The Canadian Militia is a historical title for military units raised for the defence of Canada. The term has been used to describe sedentary militia units raised from local communities in Canada; as well as the regular army for the Province of Ca ...

for five years prior to the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914: three years with the 100th Winnipeg Grenadiers, and two with the 34th Fort Garry Horse. In April 1915, he enlisted with the

10th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, he did not serve on the front lines due to several health issues, including

pharyngitis Pharyngitis is inflammation of the back of the throat, known as the pharynx. It typically results in a sore throat and fever. Other symptoms may include a runny nose, cough, headache, difficulty swallowing, swollen lymph nodes, and a hoarse vo ...

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...

, and a

duodenal ulcer Peptic ulcer disease is when the inner part of the stomach's gastric mucosa (lining of the stomach), the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus, gets damaged. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while ...

. Sent back to Canada in 1917, Ruttan helped organize the Winnipeg Military Hockey League for the 1917–18 season. Established to help the war effort, the three teams used names from recent battles: Somme, Vimy, and Ypres. Ruttan played one game with the Somme team, his last competitive match. In 1919, Ruttan became an ice hockey coach for the Winnipeg Hockey Club. From 1920 until 1922, he refereed in the Winnipeg League. Ruttan coached a season of the University of Manitoba in 1923–24.

Awards and achievements

Championship (1913) * Inducted into the

in 1963 * Honoured Member of the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named ...

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Jack Ruttan
biography at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruttan, Jack 1889 births 1973 deaths Canadian military personnel of World War I Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Manitoba Bisons ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Winnipeg Hockey Club players Canadian ice hockey defencemen 20th-century Canadian sportsmen