A Look At Mike Ridley: Part Two

Winnipeg's Mike Ridley was a star forward with the Washington Capitals that is still one of the highest-scoring Manitoba-born NHLers of all time.

Here is part two of the two-part story on Mike Ridley’s dynamic NHL career. Enjoy!

Joining the New York Rangers as a free agent out of training camp, Ridley led the team in scoring his rookie year with 65 points. Not too bad at all from the 22-year-old university student who had no expectations when he first went into the Rangers training camp. The only problem would be the transition of going from Winnipeg to living in New York City as a young man away from home for the first time.

“Nowadays they have people that take care of you, but back then it was basically, 'Here's a real estate agent, find a place to live.' I ended up renting a place with goalie Terry Kleisinger, and that lasted about two or three weeks before he was sent down to the minors. So I was by myself, renting the top floor of a house in Rye, New York, which is about thirty minutes north of the city. I had a rental car to drive myself down every day, but no one helped me out. I had to buy my own cutlery, dishes, and everything. Today, they make sure that the rookies are well taken care of, but I'm happy to say that I managed to tough it out! My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, was living in Winnipeg. Everything I knew was back in Winnipeg. I was still enrolled in school back in Winnipeg because I wasn't planning on making the Rangers, since it was just a tryout. There were a thousand times I probably thought about quitting and going home. If I could have snapped my fingers and been home in Winnipeg playing for the Bisons and going to school, I would have done it a thousand times at least. Obviously, I knew I was playing in the NHL, and to pick up and quit would be stupid and out of the question, but I really did miss being home in Winnipeg a great deal.”