Mel Bridgman

Melvin John Bridgman (April 28, 1955 – November 6, 2025) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League for five teams, from 1975–76 through 1988–89. Born in Trenton, Ontario, he spent his early years in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where he first began to play hockey seriously. The youngest of three siblings, he was the son of Richard, a meteorologist, and Mary (née Watt), a teacher who later became a homemaker. As a teenager, he moved with his family to Victoria, British Columbia, following a job transfer for his father.

Bridgman was drafted first overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft. He played 977 career NHL games, scoring 252 goals. He participated in two Stanley Cup Finals with the Flyers, in 1976 and 1980, and served as team captain for both the Flyers and the New Jersey Devils during his career.

After his playing days, Bridgman became a player agent and front office executive, serving as the first general manager of the contemporary Ottawa Senators franchise.