Robert Ridder

Robert Blair Ridder (July 21, 1919 – June 24, 2000) was an American ice hockey administrator, media businessman, and philanthropist. He was the founding president of the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association, and managed the United States men's national ice hockey team at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. He was a director in the Knight Ridder media company which controlled several television and radio stations, and newspapers in Minnesota. His wealth allowed him to be a founding owner of the Minnesota North Stars and helped him provide funding for the construction of Ridder Arena at the University of Minnesota. For his work in hockey in the United States, he received the Lester Patrick Trophy, and was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the IIHF Hall of Fame.

Early life

Robert Blair Ridder was born on July 21, 1919, in New York City.^[1][2] He was the fifth of seven children to parents Victor F. Ridder and Marie Thompson, and the grandson of Herman Ridder.^[3] As a youth he became interested in hockey attending New York Rangers games at the Old Madison Square Garden.^[4] He graduated from Harvard University,^[1][2][5] and served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II.^[6] He married Kathleen Culman and moved to Duluth, Minnesota in 1943.^[7][8]

Hockey career

Ridder began his ice hockey career in 1943 with the Duluth Heralds, an amateur

Ridder was one of the eight original co-owners of the Minnesota North Stars. His group paid the $2 million expansion fees in the 1967 NHL expansion to bring a National Hockey League team to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.^[10][11]

Media business

Ridder worked in the family business Ridder Publications, which merged into the

Ridder volunteered with the American Red Cross, the Saint Paul Urban League, and the Saint Paul United Fund.^[6] He served on the USA Hockey Foundation, and was a director for its Hall of Fame.^[1][2][5] He was a co-chair of the task force to build a women's-only hockey arena at the University of Minnesota.^[11] Ridder and his wife contributed $500,000 towards the construction of Ridder Arena, dedicated to the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team, but he died before its completion.^[13][14]

Later life and honors

Ridder died on June 24, 2000, at his home in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.^[10][11][6] He had been married for 56 years and had four children.^[15]

Ridder received the AHAUS citation award in 1967, for of contributions towards American amateur hockey^[16] He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.^[2][10] He received the Lester Patrick Trophy during the 1993–94 NHL season, in recognition of his contribution to ice hockey in the United States.^[17][18] He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1998, in the builder category.^[10][19] He was posthumously inducted in the inaugural class of the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2001.^[6] The American Hockey Coaches Association recognized Ridder and his widow in 2009 with the Joe Burke Award, for dedication to women's ice hockey.^[13][20] The University of Minnesota awards the "Kathleen C. and Robert B. Ridder Scholarship" annually to a student athlete on the Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team.^[13]

References