Former National Hockey League centre Mel Bridgman of Trenton, Ontario passed away on Saturday at the age of 70 according to Adam Beauchemin of CTV News Ottawa on Sunday. Bridgman played 14 seasons in the NHL from 1975 to 1989.
Bridgman played for five NHL franchises. He was with the Philadelphia Flyers from 1975 to 1981, the Calgary Flames from 1981 to 1983, the New Jersey Devils from 1983 to 1987, the Detroit Red Wings from 1987 to 1988, and the Vancouver Canucks in 1989.
In 977 games, Bridgman had 252 goals and 449 assists for 701 points. He was a +102 with 1625 penalty minutes, 141 power-play points, 26 shorthanded points, 26 game-winning goals, and 1740 shots on goal.
Bridgman also played 125 games in the postseason. He had 28 goals and 39 assists for 67 points. He was a +7 with 298 penalty minutes, eight power-play points, six shorthanded points, four game-winning goals, and 193 shots on goal.
Also in Bridgman’s career, he had one hat trick, one Stanley Cup Playoff overtime winner and scored on one penalty shot. The playoff overtime goal came in game one of the preliminary round of the 1978 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a 3-2 Flyers win over the Colorado Rockies. Bridgman scored at the 23 second mark of the extra period. Bridgman scored from defenseman Jimmy Watson of Smithers, British Columbia and Orest Kindrauch of Nanton, Alberta on an all-Canadian goal. The hat trick came in a 6-4 Flyers win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 29, 1981, and the penalty shot goal came in a 6-1 Red Wings loss to the Los Angeles Kings on March 25, 1987.
Bridgman was the first overall pick in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft by the Flyers. He was the Flyers’s captain from 1979 to 1981, the Devils’s captain from 1984 to 1987, and the Ottawa Senators’s captain from 1992 to 1993.
