In the sixty-fifth edition of “Legends of the Game” we look at the career of Ken Ruttan
From the Peterborough &District Sports Hall of Fame & Museum:
Ken’s lacrosse career began in Peterborough in 1952 and from 1954 to 1956 he was on three minor Ontario championship teams and one Junior “B”. In 1957, at age 16, his Junior “A” lacrosse club were Eastern Canadian Finalists. The following years, from 1958 to 1960, he played for the Peterborough Senior “A” lacrosse team while still junior age. Returning to junior lacrosse in 1961 with the Hastings Legionnaires, Ken won the McIntosh Trophy as the MVP as his team won the OLA title and defeated the Burnaby Norburns to win the Minto Cup. In 1962 Ken was selected by the Brampton Juniors to strengthen its bid for the Minto Cup but was defeated by Victoria Shamrocks. He returned to senior action in 1963 with the Brooklin Redmen, Mann Cup finalists in 1964 and 1965 and was a member of the 1966 Peterborough Mann Cup Champion Pepsi Petes.
Ken represented Canada in 1967, playing in the first World Field Lacrosse championship, winning a bronze medal. In 1968 he played 10 games in the Professional Lacrosse League with Peterborough prior to retirement.
Ken was a rugged defenceman and one of the best two-way players in the game, amassing over 700 points during his 10 year career. He was in the top ten in OLA scoring five times. In 1997 Ken was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
From the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame:
Ken was a big, burly defenseman who intimidated opponents with his size and defensive abilities, yet he was quite an offensive threat.
As a member of the Junior A Hastings Legionnaires, Ken was a league top ten scorer winning the Dennis McIntosh Memorial Trophy as OLA Junior Series MVP in 1961 and later winning a Minto Cup title that year.
In 1964, Ruttan experienced his first Mann Cup final with the Senior A Brooklin Merchants, but it wasn’t until 1966 that he could drink from the cup as a member of the Mann Cup champions Peterborough Pepsi Petes.
He was a member of the 1967 Team Canada Men’s Field Lacrosse team that won a bronze medal.
Inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997.
Inducted into the Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
Inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2009.
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
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