#109 - Dit Clapper

Dit Clapper (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #109)

Adjusted Stats

1927-1928   Bos       75 GP   12 goals   3 assists     15 points     0.20 PPG
1928-1929   Bos*     75 GP   35 goals   8 assists     43 points     0.58 PPG
1929-1930   Bos       82 GP   80 goals   39 assists   118 points   1.44 PPG
1930-1931   Bos       80 GP   53 goals   19 assists   72 points     0.90 PPG
1931-1932   Bos       82 GP   36 goals   46 assists   82 points     1.00 PPG
1932-1933   Bos       82 GP   32 goals   32 assists   65 points     0.79 PPG
1933-1934   Bos       82 GP   22 goals   26 assists   48 points     0.58 PPG
1934-1935   Bos       82 GP   44 goals   33 assists   77 points     0.94 PPG
1935-1936   Bos       75 GP   29 goals   32 assists   61 points     0.81 PPG
1936-1937   Bos       82 GP   36 goals   17 assists   53 points     0.65 PPG
1937-1938   Bos       79 GP   12 goals   19 assists   31 points     0.40 PPG
1938-1939   Bos*     72 GP   27 goals   27 assists   54 points     0.75 PPG
1939-1940   Bos       75 GP   21 goals   38 assists   59 points     0.78 PPG
1940-1941   Bos*     82 GP   16 goals   35 assists   51 points     0.62 PPG
1941-1942   Bos       55 GP   5 goals     20 assists   25 points     0.46 PPG
1942-1943   Bos       62 GP   7 goals     25 assists   32 points     0.52 PPG
1943-1944   Bos       82 GP   7 goals     31 assists   38 points     0.47 PPG
1944-1945   Bos       75 GP   11 goals   19 assists   30 points     0.40 PPG
1945-1946   Bos       49 GP   3 goals     5 assists     8 points       0.15 PPG
1946-1947   Bos       8 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points       0.00 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1927-1928   Bos       2 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points       0.00 PPG
1928-1929   Bos*     5 GP     2 goals     0 assists     2 points       0.48 PPG
1929-1930   Bos       6 GP     6 goals     0 assists     6 points       1.00 PPG
1930-1931   Bos       5 GP     3 goals     6 assists     8 points       1.69 PPG
1932-1933   Bos       5 GP     1 goal       1 assist      3 points       0.55 PPG
1934-1935   Bos       3 GP     2 goals     0 assists     2 points       0.55 PPG
1935-1936   Bos       2 GP     0 goals      1 assist     1 point         0.55 PPG
1936-1937   Bos       3 GP     3 goals     0 assists     3 points       1.01 PPG
1937-1938   Bos       3 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points       0.00 PPG
1938-1939   Bos*     12 GP   0 goals     1 assist      1 point         0.12 PPG
1939-1940   Bos       5 GP     0 goals     3 assists     3 points       0.53 PPG
1940-1941   Bos*     11 GP   0 goals     6 assists     6 points       0.58 PPG
1942-1943   Bos       9 GP     2 goals     3 assists     5 points       0.50 PPG
1944-1945   Bos       7 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points       0.00 PPG
1945-1946   Bos       4 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points       0.00 PPG

Career - 1436 GP, 488 goals, 474 assists, 962 points, 0.67 PPG
Career-Highs - 80 goals (29-30); 46 assists (31-32); 118 points (29-30); 1.44 PPG (29-30)
Avg. (20 seasons) - 72 GP, 24 goals, 24 assists, 48 points, 0.67 PPG
Peak Avg. (29-37) - 81 GP, 42 goals, 31 assists, 72 points, 0.89 PPG, 1 Cup

Playoff Career - 82 GP, 19 goals, 21 assists, 40 points, 0.49 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 6 goals (29-30); 6 assists (30-31); 8 points (30-31); 1.69 PPG (30-31)

Accolades - None
All-Star Teams - 3-time 1st-team, 3-time 2nd-team
3-time Stanley Cup Champion

You've got to love the names of the old-time NHL greats: Busher Jackson, Tiny Thompson, Dit Clapper, Vaj Johnson (ok, I made that last one up). It sounds less like an NHL all-star team than the supporting cast of a Ron Jeremy film.

Enough kidding, though. Dit Clapper accomplished something I'm pretty sure it's safe to say won't be accomplished again: he was revered as one of the better goal-scoring right-wingers of his era, making two second-team all-star teams, then converted into one of the best defensive defencemen in the league as Eddie Shore's storied career was coming to a close. All in all, he made six all-star teams (two as a RW, four as a D), and despite scoring 80 goals and 118 points in 1929-1930, he's primarily remembered as one of the best defencemen to play for the Bruins (and that's saying something).

What this tells me is that Clapper was a supremely gifted skater, no doubt ahead of his time, when the fundamentals of hockey weren't as ingrained in the NHL as they are today. Only Red Kelly has been able to make a similar transition, and his was from defence to forward, not the other way around. For Clapper to have been willing to learn how to play the back end at the age of 29, after he had already established himself as an excellent right-winger, shows a commitment to his team that is admirable. The three Stanley Cup championships were Clapper's reward.

If there's a knock on Clapper, it's that his offensive production seemed to dry up come postseason time. This didn't seem to be an issue in the Bruins' 1939 and 1941 Cup runs, when Clapper was needed more for his defensive play than anything, but his 2 points in the 1929 Cup run is a little underwhelming. Still, this was in an era when the playoffs consisted only of the Cup finals between the regular season's best teams, so one could argue that the stretch drive of the regular season was the equivalent of today's postseason.

Although part of an era that's near impossible to judge, Clapper has to earn points for being a three-time champion and earning first-team all-star honours three years in a row at defence after being arguably the second-best right-winger of the 1930s behind Charlie Conacher. Oh, and of course he also earns points for his hilarious name.