Photos courtesy of Scott Roblin

By Scott Roblin

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VIDEO: Tigers greats reflect on Ridley’s 4,000 game milestone

Feb 26, 2021 | 6:21 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It’s easy to see the impact Tigers play by play voice Bob Ridley has had over 51 years of WHL broadcasting when you look at the names he’s called.

From the early days of Lanny McDonald and Tom Lysiak to recent stars like Cole Sillinger and James Hamblin, Ridley has called generations of Tigers through 3,398 games.

As he gets ready to call his history making 4,000^th contest on Saturday night against the Red Deer Rebels, former Tigers players and WHL icons have been coming out of the woodwork to wish Ridley well.

CHAT Sports spoke to former Tigers McDonald, Hamblin, Kelly Hrudey and Emerson Etem, longtime WHL broadcaster Cam Moon, and Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins to hear their thoughts on the Ridley and his pending milestone.

“When I played for the Hat and my dad couldn’t make it to the games, he would always say he would turn it on and listen to [Ridley’s] voice and close his eyes,” said McDonald. “It was like he was actually sitting in the stands.”

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“I still don’t understand how we haven’t seen Rids on an episode of Ice Road Truckers,” Etem joked. “Just the weather that was thrown at us, going through the Canadian Rockies on Highway 1 on our way to Kootenay, single-lane stretches and Rids just said, ‘Bring it.’”

“I’ve never forgotten all those bus trips where I would go up and stand by [Ridley],” said Hrudey. “We would chat and [Ridley] would tell me about some of the history of some of the players that had come before me. Much love Bob, once again congratulations from the Hrudeys.”

“What he’s done will never be equalled,” said Desjardins. “In terms of the amount of games, how does a guy go 50 years without being sick for one game. It’s incredible.”

“Congrats on 4,000 and here’s to 4,000 more,” said McDonald.