The voice of the Western Hockey League‘s Medicine Hat Tigers is hanging up his microphone, the team announced Tuesday.
“For 52 years, Bob Ridley was the voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers,” the team tweeted. “Bob will be greatly missed and we wish him all the best on his retirement.”
In 2021, Ridley hit an impressive broadcasting milestone, calling his 4,000th WHL game. He told Global News at the time that since becoming the Tigers’ broadcaster, he only missed one game in more than 50 years.
READ MORE: Legendary WHL broadcaster Bob Ridley hits 4,000 game mark
According to CHAT News, who Ridley also worked for, the broadcaster missed all but one game of the 2021-22 season because he had to undergo cancer treatments. Ridley told CHAT News that the experience gave him a long time to think and he realized “maybe it’s time to back away.” He indicated he wanted to be able to spend more time with family and friends.
“I just thought it was the right time,” he told CHAT News.
In Februrary 2021, the WHL acknowledged Ridley’s impressive career by unveiling the newly-created Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have that passion that love for the game,” Ridley told Global News in 2021.
“That’s what’s kind of kept me going all these years and I hope I can do it a little while longer, for goodness sakes. After all, that’s what it’s been all about.”
Ridley was not simply a broadcaster with Medicine Hat’s WHL club. He also spent decades pulling double duty, driving the Tigers’ team bus while also calling the team’s games.
READ MORE: Behind the Game: Life behind both the microphone and the wheel
In 2011, Ridley was inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame and in 2019 he was inducted into the Western Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
–With files from Cami Kepke, Global News