Longtime Medicine Hat Tigers broadcaster Bob Ridley addresses the crowd ahead of a speech during his banner unveiling at Co-op Place on April 2, 2022.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation didn’t have to do a lot of leg work when it came to finding the right legacy broadcaster to honour.
The scout foundation has named an award after longtime Medicine Hat Tigers broadcaster Bob Ridley, announcing the creation of the Bob Ridley “Golden Microphone” Honorarium, which will recognize a member of the media or broadcasting profession for their dedicated years of service at the Major Junior level.
“Being honoured by the Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation is just a wonderful thing, something you don’t expect,” Ridley said. “Obviously they got their heads together and thought that I deserved some recognition for all the wonderful years that I spent broadcasting Tigers hockey, and also driving the bus and so on. So it’s a fantastic award and I appreciate it.”
It’s the second award named in Ridley’s honour, as the Western Hockey League unveiled the Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence in 2021. That award is presented annually to a distinguished member of the radio, TV or print journalism industry in recognition of outstanding contributions to sports journalism and the WHL.
The 80-year-old finished his WHL broadcasting career in 2022 with 4,022 games on the mic, an unprecedented number, alongside driving the team bus for 45 seasons.
Dennis Beyak, a former WHL executive and NHL play-by-play voice who is an associate director with the WCPHSF, said in a release there was no question Ridley deserved the honour.
“From 1970 to 2022, when the Medicine Hat Tigers bus pulled up, the first person you saw was Bob,” Beyak said. “Park the bus, up to the broadcast booth, call the game and get back down to help load the bus. A lot of great players wore the Tigers jersey, but to many the face of the franchise is Bob Ridley.”
Ridley’s award joins two others in the Foundation’s library, the Ace Award and the Two Glens’ Honorarium.
The Ace Award honours the memory of Garnet (Ace) Bailey, a longtime scout who was aboard the second plane flown into the World Trade Center in New York City Sept. 11, 2001. The Two Glens’ Honorarium, announced in early November, is in memory of Glen Cochrane and Glen Dirk, a pair of veteran scouts, both of whom passed from cancer in early 2024.
All three awards come with a donation from the scouts foundation, to be made on behalf of the recipient to an individual or charity of their choosing.
“From the beginning this foundation wanted to honour the scouting fraternity, but giving back was also very important to everyone,” said Beyak. “And there isn’t a better way to connect the two than with charitable donations. There are many that need help, and this foundation wants to help. Ace Bailey, Glen Dirk and Glen Cochrane were always willing to lend a hand. Same for Bob Ridley.”
The WCPHSF held its inaugural wall of honour induction dinner on July 30, honouring 45 past and present scouts. Medicine Hat’s Blair Reid was among the 45 named to the wall.
“The scouts got together and said, ‘We should be doing something for the hockey community and for the community itself,'” Ridley said. “So they formed this foundation and they’ve got a number of scouts who have been vetted into the Scouts Hall of Fame, and this will be a continuing thing year after year, where they will induct scouts into the hall of fame.
“So they’re honouring themselves, but they’re also helping other people that are in need as well.”
Ridley attended the inaugural ceremony in July and is looking forward to the 2025 Wall of Honour induction dinner for the first presentation of the award in his name. The date is to be announced and the foundation says the next group of inductees is expected to be announced in January.
“All I can say is that it’s a tremendous honour and I thank the scouts very much for thinking of me and selecting me to be a part of not only their organization, but also to help out in any small way that it can through the foundation,” Ridley said. “I’m really excited for it and it’s a wonderful thing to be part of.”
