Bob Brownridge

Originally the Bob Brownridge Trophy (including the two seasons that Clarke was the recipient), and later known as the Bob Brownridge Memorial Trophy. Saskatchewan born Brownridge (1918–1972) was a player with the Eastern Hockey League's New York Rovers (1938–1941), leaving to serve with the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II, then played post-war with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League's Calgary Stampeders (1945–1949), winning the 1946 Allan Cup. He retired and became a businessman in Calgary, later the founding owner (1966) of the WHL's Calgary Centennials. In 1971, he secured a founding World Hockey Association (WHA) franchise, to be called the Calgary Broncos. However, after the February 1972 inaugural WHA draft, and before the October 1972 start of the first WHA season, Brownridge unexpectedly died and the team folded.