Jack Ruttan

John Douglas Ruttan, known as Jack, was a Canadian amateur hockey player and coach born on April 5, 1889, who died on January 7, 1973. He is best known for winning the Allan Cup with the Winnipeg Hockey Club in 1913 and being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.

Ruttan began playing juvenile hockey with Winnipeg’s Armstrong’s Point team, which won the city’s juvenile championship in 1906. He moved to the Rustler club the next season, and they took the 1907 juvenile title.

In 1908, he joined St. John’s College (now the University of Manitoba), whose team won the Manitoba University Hockey League championship. He stepped up to senior hockey in 1909 with the Manitoba Varsity team, which captured the Winnipeg Senior Hockey League championship in 1911. In 1912, he joined the Winnipeg Hockey Club, and that season the club won the Allan Cup as Canada’s senior champions.

Before the First World War, Ruttan spent five years in the Canadian militia: three 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, and was promoted to captain.

He never served on the front lines due to health problems including pharyngitis, appendicitis, anemia, and a duodenal ulcer. Sent back to Canada in 1917, he helped organize the Winnipeg Military Hockey League for the 1917–18 season, which featured three teams named after recent battles—Somme, Vimy, and Ypres—to support the war effort. He played one game with the Somme team, his last competitive match.

In 1919, Ruttan became a coach for the Winnipeg Hockey Club. From 1920 to 1922, he refereed in the Winnipeg League, and he coached the University of Manitoba for the 1923–24 season.

His honours include the 1913 Allan Cup championship, induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963, and recognition as an honoured member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.