The Philadelphia Flyers’ Mel Bridgman, 10, checks the Boston Bruins’ Brad Park, 22, as the Bruins’ Dallas Smith, 20, recovers the puck in the first period of an NHL playoff game in Boston on May 5, 1976.The Associated Press
Despite coming close twice, Mel Bridgman never had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
But Mr. Bridgman, who died Nov. 6 at the age of 70 in a Victoria hospital after two recent heart attacks, still made indelible notches in National Hockey League history both as a player with five clubs and, albeit briefly, as a team executive. In the process, he pulled off a series of firsts.
When he was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975, Mr. Bridgman became the first player from B.C. to be chosen No. 1 overall in the NHL draft. He was also the first player in the club’s history to be chosen with the top pick. The team has not had the opportunity to make a first-overall pick since then.
It took Mr. Bridgman a few seasons to appreciate the accomplishment.
“When you are in the middle of a career, you don’t think too much about it because you’re enjoying the game so much,” he told a USA Hockey interviewer.
“But when you consider the number of teams and players we had then, maybe 40 to 50 new players entered the league every year. To be considered one of the best, it just means more to me as the years pass.”
Mr. Bridgman, shown in 1991, was appointed the first general manager of the Ottawa Senators expansion team at the age of 36.Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press
Melvin John Bridgman was born April 28, 1955, in Trenton, Ont. He was the youngest of three children born to Richard Bridgman, a federal government meteorologist, and Mary Bridgman (née Watt), who was a teacher and later a homemaker.
Young Mel took up hockey seriously after his father was transferred to Thunder Bay, Ont. Richard Bridgman’s next transfer sent the family west to Victoria, where Mel emerged as a top prospect and left a lasting impression on the future NHLers Geoff Courtnall and his younger brother Russ.
“I idolized Mel growing up,” Geoff Courtnall said.
The Courtnall brothers saw their father, Archie Courtnall, coach Mel in the Victoria Racquet Club minor hockey program, and continued to watch Mel as he moved up to the junior ranks with the Nanaimo Clippers of the BC Hockey League and then became a top prospect with the Western league’s Victoria Cougars. With the Cougars, Mel displayed a mix of brawn, toughness and scoring ability; he was a highly capable pugilist in an era of infamous brawls.
“Mel was one of the toughest guys I saw play, especially in junior,” Mr. Courtnall said, recalling that he returned to action after getting his broken jaw wired shut after a fight in a playoff game against New Westminster.
In his final junior season in 1974-75, Mr. Bridgman set a since-broken league scoring record with 66 goals, 91 assists and 157 points along with 175 penalty minutes as Victoria placed first overall in the regular season. He also helped Canada’s world junior team win a silver medal.
Mr. Bridgman so impressed Flyers general manager Keith Allen that he traded veteran centre Bill Clement, minor-league defenceman Don McLean and the team’s first-round draft selection (18th overall) to the Washington Capitals for the right to take Mr. Bridgman with the No. 1 selection.
But the shy, introverted and homesick Mr. Bridgman was not immediately welcomed into the fold of the Broadstreet Bullies, who had fought their way to back-to-back Stanley Cups. His new teammates thought his lack of eye contact was a sign of aloofness.
After realizing the mistake, captain Bobby Clarke took Mr. Bridgman with him wherever he went for a week, helping him come out of his shell. Mr. Bridgman fared well in his 1975-76 rookie season, demonstrating through his fighting and physical skills that he was worthy of Broadstreet Bullies membership.
That season, Mr. Bridgman played for the Flyers as they faced a Russian team, Central Red Army, for the first time and won; he helped his club match a 23-game unbeaten streak set by the Boston Bruins in 1940-41; and he was charged with assault causing bodily harm after beating up Maple Leafs defenceman Borje Salming in a fight during a raucous third game of a quarter-final series in Toronto.
The 20-year-old was charged along with teammates Joe Watson and Don Saleski, who were involved in a separate stick-swinging and jostling incident with a fan and police officer. Teammate Bob Kelly was also charged during those playoffs after throwing his glove into the stands at Maple Leaf Gardens in Game 6, striking and temporarily blinding a female usher. (They later walked into court together as angry protesters denounced violence in hockey. Mr. Bridgman and Mr. Saleski’s charges were dropped, while Mr. Watson and Mr. Kelly were fined $750 and $250 respectively.)
Mr. Bridgman helped the Flyers return to the Stanley Cup finals but they were denied in their quest for a third-straight championship as Montreal posted a four-game sweep.
From the archives: A scheme, a team and a dream come true
When Mr. Clarke became a player-assistant coach in 1979-80, Mr. Bridgman assumed the captaincy and helped the club compete as the roster was evolving and the Broadstreet Bullies era was nearing its end. He captained the Flyers back to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to the powerhouse New York Islanders. (Mr. Bridgman was haunted for years after being on the ice as Bob Nystrom scored the Cup-winning overtime goal in Game 6.)
After two years of difficult contract negotiations, Mr. Bridgman was traded to Calgary early in the 1981-82 season. Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher thought so highly of Mr. Bridgman that he sent captain Brad Marsh to Philly in a one-for-one deal.
Mr. Bridgman helped instill the new culture and work ethic that Mr. Fletcher and Flames coach Al MacNeil sought as a means to help reverse the club’s losing ways that were prevalent when the franchise was based in Atlanta.
“We had a bunch of guys that had come up from Atlanta that, rightly or wrongly, had a reputation for partying and not competing and Mel, bless his soul, decided he was gonna change guys’ [attitudes],” said Jim Peplinski, a former teammate.
Mr. Bridgman only played two seasons with the Flames, but Mr. Peplinski credits him for helping the team develop what they needed to become Stanley Cup finalists in 1985-86 and champions in 1988-89.
“Mel was a piece of that puzzle,” Mr. Peplinski said.
Mr. Bridgman departed the Flames via trade to New Jersey, becoming a captain for the second time. He was a consistent scorer and tough guy in three of his four seasons with the Devils, producing at least 60 points and 100 penalty minutes in each, but the team never made the playoffs.
Over the years, Mr. Bridgman mentored Geoff Courtnall and other players in what it took to be a pro.
“He was actually a great sounding board to me during my career,” Mr. Courtnall said. “I talked to Mel quite a bit.”
In 1986-87, Mr. Bridgman was traded to Detroit and helped the team reach the 1986-87 Clarence Campbell Conference semi-final against Mr. Courtnall’s Edmonton Oilers. Putting the rivalry aside, the two got together for dinner before the fourth game of the series that the Oilers won in six en route to the Cup.
After two seasons with Detroit, Mr. Bridgman returned to his B.C. roots, joining the Vancouver Canucks, but he played only 15 games with the team before retiring.
During his playing career, Mr. Bridgman completed college business courses. He later obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
In 1991, the Ottawa Senators expansion team appointed him their first general manager at the age of 36, although he had no NHL management experience.
As the Senators’ general manager, Mr. Bridgman makes his selection in the expansion draft at the NHL meetings in Montreal on June 18, 1992.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Mr. Bridgman spent a year getting the Sens ready for their first season, but the franchise got off to a bad start owing to a series of gaffes. At the NHL expansion draft, the Senators failed to bring a power cord or battery with a laptop containing their list of preferred players. As a result, Mr. Bridgman repeatedly made selections that breached the draft’s rules, then had to apologize and make other choices.
“It was not done well,” former Globe and Mail hockey writer Eric Duhatschek said.
Mr. Bridgman was probably not solely responsible for the miscues, but he bore the blame, Mr. Duhatschek added.
“Mel Bridgman was the public face of that franchise, and they emerged from that expansion draft with a bit of a black eye,” said Mr. Duhatschek.
Mr. Bridgman was fired less than 24 hours after the Senators completed their first season with a dismal 10-70-4 record.
Some of Mr. Bridgman’s questionable moves carried over into later seasons as the Senators languished at the lower end of the standings. His selection of Alexei Yashin second overall in the club’s inaugural 1992 entry draft never produced the success that management had envisioned. Mr. Yashin, for the most part, did not live up to his billing with Ottawa.
“One of the reasons that they got off to such a stumbling start was that they were not particularly well organized,” Mr. Duhatschek said.
Mr. Bridgman never sought another NHL management position after his Ottawa experience.
“The media raked him over the coals in Ottawa,” said Jamie Bridgman, one of Mel Bridgman’s four children. “My brother, the day after he was fired, was bullied at school. So, I think part of it was having kids and not wanting to put them through that.”
25 years in, Ottawa apologizes for nothing
The Bridgman family then settled in the Los Angeles area, where Mel worked in finance and as a player agent while coaching his sons’ hockey teams.
“I don’t know if I ever heard him yell at a player on the team,” Jamie said.
He credits his father with helping him become a top athlete and earn a field-lacrosse scholarship from the University of California-Santa Barbara.
Mr. Bridgman also helped out in a flower shop owned by his then-wife and played recreational hockey in various tournaments as well as pickup hockey with his IMG agency colleague Michael Barnett and film and television industry figures, including the movie producer and future Seattle Kraken co-owner Jerry Bruckheimer.
“He was just really thoughtful,” Jamie said of his father. “He loved connecting with people. He could tell a story, talk to anybody. But also, he would listen. He was really good at listening to other people’s stories. He was very humble. [He] didn’t talk a lot about being an ex-professional athlete.”
In recent years, Mr. Bridgman divided his time between Courtenay, B.C., his children’s homes in California, and Colombia, where he resided during the COVID-19 pandemic. After a stroke in 2023, Mr. Bridgman’s mobility was reduced. His family suspects he might have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an incurable brain disease linked to head trauma. Mr. Bridgman had suffered multiple concussions while playing hockey during an era when players routinely returned to the ice after incurring head injuries.
The Bridgman family has launched a memorial fund in Mel Bridgman’s name that will fund CTE research.
Mr. Bridgman leaves his sons, Jamie, Patrick and Geoffrey Bridgman; daughter, Christine Sterling; sister, Mary Ann Tuller; ex-wife, Ann Carter; and two grandchildren.
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